Kirkepiscatoid

Yes, it's late Sunday night, and I am indulging in my secret lust for silent movies on TCM. "The Godless Girl" was Cecil B. DeMille's farewell to the silent era. Here's the TCM blurb on it (Actors' names my additions):

"Judith Craig (Lina Basquette), the daughter of an atheist, forms a club called The Godless Society in her high school and begins to recruit members. Bob Hathaway (George Duryea), a stalwart Christian lad, incites the students to attack the atheists, and there is a riot. Grace is killed as a direct consequence of this disturbance, and Bob and Judith are sent to the state reformatory. Bob and Judith are badly treated by the head guard (Noah Beery), and Bob, attacking the grocery man, escapes with Judith in his wagon. They are quickly recaptured and locked in cells. A fire breaks out, and Bob rescues both Judith and the head guard. As a result of this selfless bravery, Bob and Judith are returned to freedom, facing life with a renewed faith in Divine Providence."

All's well that ends well, right? Christianity trumps atheism, even back in 1929. But what made this premiere on TCM worth the watch for me was the new musical score by Carl Davis. I am sitting there watching the movie and noticing one song, of which many variations are being played. All of a sudden, I am thinking, "Hey, wait a minute, that song's in the hymnal! We sing it on Holy Week!"

Of course, I am blanking on the song at first so I grab the laptop and go to the Oremus Hymnal. Obviously, no one is here to hear me except the dogs, as I gleefully exclaim, "I've got it!" It was "O Sacred Head Sore Wounded." Well, really it's Herzlich thut mich verlangen, but who's gonna argue such a fine point?

Well, I was quite a sight, sitting there after midnight, every time they played it, singing,

O sacred head, sore wounded,
defiled and put to scorn;
O kingly head surrounded
with mocking crown of thorn:
What sorrow mars thy grandeur?
Can death thy bloom deflower?
O countenance whose splendor
the hosts of heaven adore!

Hey, you know you've arrived when you recognize songs outside of church as being from the 1982 Hymnal! The Kirkepiscatoid School of Film can be such fun sometimes...