Finding Sister Aimee

Almost 80 years after missing radio preacher Aimee Semple McPherson was found alive in the desert outside Douglas near the Mexican border in an alleged kidnapping ordeal, a feature film about her spiritual trials and troubles will have its world premiere Sept. 10 in Globe.

Before the likes of controversial American televangelists Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, Jerry Falwell and Jimmy Swaggart, earlier generations were mesmerized by "Sister Aimee," a pioneering female radio preacher whose meteoric rise was followed by missteps, a criminal charge challenging her kidnapping story and her death from an overdose of barbiturates in 1944.

From her 5,000-seat Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, starting in 1923, McPherson captivated audiences with soul-saving Pentecostal sermons and promises of healing and salvation. Soon her broadcasts were heard around the nation — originating from her radio station, KFSG — and the Foursquare Gospel movement was launched.

Richard Rossi, an independent filmmaker with his own history in Pentecostal preaching, acting and evangelism, will debut the film, "Aimee Semple McPherson," whose cast includes Rance Howard, father of actor-director Ron Howard. Rossi, 42, says it was Rance Howard who encouraged him to persevere in making the film on a Screen Actors Guild contract for less than $75,000 with expenses deferred until distribution.

In 2001, Rossi produced a 37-minute documentary, "Saving Sister Aimee." His research on McPherson and interviews for that work compelled him to write a script for a full-length film on the enigmatic evangelist.

"I was very ambitious, and I wrote a script that was 180 pages," and when filming ended it equated to a nearly four-hour film, Rossi said. Now through editing and many rough screenings, it has been reduced to 110 minutes.

"When I was a little boy (in Pittsburgh), I was really interested in evangelists," he said. He remembers that he was forbidden from to listen to Pittsburgh-based national faith healer Kathryn Kuhlman, who traveled the country for nearly half a century. "I was in a Catholic grade school, and I remember nuns talking about whether it was OK to go and see her," he said.

That Kuhlman’s work caused controversy fascinated him. When his father was hospitalized for manic depression when Rossi was a teen, Rossi landed in a surrogate family led by an evangelist who immersed him in Pentecostal preaching and outreach.

Through the ensuing years, Rossi preached and served as a pastor and church consultant. He moved into acting and filmmaking, always interested in the edgier sides of faith. In 1992, he produced a documentary on faith healing and exorcism. Later, Rossi wrote Christian rock songs and sang them in nightclubs.

In 1998, he produced a play based on the 1927 Sinclair Lewis novel "Elmer Gantry," which parodied the hypocrisy, tactics and religiosity of evangelists. "I played Elmer Gantry in the play, and I didn’t realize at that time that ‘Elmer Gantry’ was loosely based on Aimee McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman."

"Paths kept leading me back to Aimee McPherson," he said. As her story unveiled her vulnerabilities and loneliness, the more Rossi said he saw himself. "I was trying to help everybody else, but I was feeling empty inside. It was like I was trying to fix the whole world, but I couldn’t fix myself. It was a pretty lonely feeling," he said.

"My film tries to explore the lonely side, this struggle that she went through," he said. "I guess, in all honesty, I identified with her."

McPherson, who was married three times and divorced twice, disappeared in May 1926 while swimming near Venice, Calif.

Five weeks later, McPherson reappeared near Douglas, saying she had been kidnapped and held for ransom. Press coverage raised widespread doubt about her story, and a subsequent grand jury investigation led to a charge of perjury. The charge came amid allegations that she had actually run off with her radio station operator to Carmel, Calif. The charge was dismissed, but the episode put a stigma on her ministry and appeal.

"She used theatricals in her sermons, which was pretty amazing," Rossi said. "Hollywood could come to study her sets and her acting." Charlie Chaplin helped her design the proscenium arch at the Angelus Temple. For his film, Rossi cast Chaplin’s granddaughter, Kiera Chaplin, in a role.

The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, which McPherson founded in 1922, continues today with about 320,000 members in 1,834 churches in the U.S. plus 141 countries. Her son, Rolf McPherson, led the church for 44 years after her death.