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{"id":993,"date":"2008-03-07T00:11:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-07T00:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2008\/03\/billy-graham-the-biopic\/"},"modified":"2008-03-07T00:11:00","modified_gmt":"2008-03-07T00:11:00","slug":"billy-graham-the-biopic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2008\/03\/billy-graham-the-biopic.html","title":{"rendered":"Billy Graham — the biopic?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>
Billy Graham has appeared in many movies, most of them produced by his own company \u2014 I wrote an article on the subject three years ago<\/a> \u2014 but as far as I can tell, no one has ever played<\/i> him before, except in parodies long and short like Tricia\u2019s Wedding<\/a><\/i> (1971) and White House Madness<\/a><\/i> (1975). That will soon change, however, since a movie called Billy: The Early Years<\/i> is set to start shooting in Nashville later this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

The funny thing is, no casting announcements have been made yet, save one \u2014 and it\u2019s a head-scratcher. Hal Holbrook<\/a>, who was recently nominated for an Oscar for his effective supporting role in Sean Penn\u2019s Into the Wild<\/i>, has been cast in the film, and in a story<\/a> posted by The Tennessean<\/i> on February 22, it is said that the film \u201cfocuses on the early years of Billy\u2019s life and career, and especially on his relationship with his mentor, Charles Templeton, who will be played by Hal.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one slight problem with this. Charles Templeton<\/a> was 29 years old when he and Billy Graham, who was then 26, co-founded Youth for Christ in 1944. And Templeton was 42 years old when he proclaimed himself an agnostic in 1957. Hal Holbrook, meanwhile, is currently 83 years old.<\/p>\n

Is Holbrook playing the old<\/i> Templeton, who died in 2001 at the age of 86, only six years after writing a book reportedly critical of Graham called Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith<\/a><\/i>? He certainly can\u2019t be playing the young<\/i> Templeton. If Holbrook is<\/i> playing the old Templeton, then who knows, this could be a more interesting film than anyone might have expected \u2014 told from the point of view of a spiritual doubter and former colleague of Graham\u2019s as he looks back on their early years together.<\/p>\n

The alternative is that the original Tennessean<\/i> story was wrong. And it may be worth noting that a follow-up story<\/a> posted by The Tennessean<\/i> on February 27 simply says that Holbrook is playing \u201cthe famed preacher\u2019s mentor,\u201d without saying who that mentor is<\/i>, exactly. (The story also quotes director Robby Benson to the effect that the film is \u201ca period piece that takes place between the late 1930s and goes into the 1950s.\u201d) Likewise, a report on the TV station WKRN<\/a> that is also dated February 27 simply says that Holbrook is playing \u201cthe role of Graham\u2019s mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n

As ever, I guess we\u2019ll find out in the weeks and months to come, as more casting details are announced and the film goes into production.<\/p>\n

(Hat tip<\/a> to CT Movies. The photo above, taken from this website<\/a>, depicts Charles Templeton, J. Stratton Shufelt and Billy Graham boarding a plane for England in 1946. This was apparently the first-ever trip to Europe for all three men.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"