A little over 60 years ago, “The Hoodlum Priest” hit movie theaters across America. This powerful 1961 black and white movie told the story of Dismas Clark, S.J., and his work with “ex-cons.” In the film, Father Clark creates Dismas House, the first halfway house for men coming out of prison. However, Father Clark fails in his effort to guide ex-con Billy Lee Jackson. In the end, he must walk him to the gas chamber and watch him die.
Based on the true story of Father Clark, much of the film was shot in St. Louis and in Jefferson City, Mo. Now-long-gone sites appear in the film, such as a bar called the Dublin Village, a low-class watering hole boasting “The Longest Bar in Town.” The movie also includes many scenes of Produce Row in North St. Louis, which is still active today.
The life of Charles ‘Dismas’ Clark, S.J.
Charles Clark was born in 1901, one of seven children. His father worked in the dangerous coal mines of Pennsylvania. Charles was a tough kid, but his favorite game was to play priest. His sister recalled once that “Charles was distributing Holy Communion in the form of oyster crackers and proceeded to use a well-aimed fist on one of his flock whom he thought was not participating in the proper spirit.”
Clark’s family later moved to Illinois. His father Tom died when he was 16, and his family struggled. Charles rebelled against the injustices of life and started stealing. Worried, his mother forced Charles to go to confession to a visiting Jesuit priest who helped Charles turn his life around.
In the fall of 1919, Charles Clark entered the Jesuit seminary of St. Stanislaus in Florissant, Mo. From 1926 to 1929, he taught at St. John’s College in Belize (at the time, the assignment was for Jesuits who did not fit in elsewhere). Ordained in 1932, Father Clark taught Latin at the local Jesuit high school in St. Louis and took final vows in 1937. During World War II, Father Clark served as an Army chaplain; being Clark, he connected most to the soldiers who got in trouble.
After the war, Father Clark became a retreat leader and did parish mission work. A popular speaker, his frankness packed them in. However, that honest speaking sometimes got Father Clark in trouble, too. He connected easily with the sinners, but not so much with the “good people.”
One day, Father Clark found himself outside of the city jail in St. Louis. Curious, he went inside and found a prisoner in a cell lying in his own vomit. He learned that the prisoner had been beaten into a false confession. Father Clark had found his mission. He made more visits to the city jail and discovered more mistreatment of prisoners and injustices in the court system. In particular, he became aware of the lack of support for men leaving prison.
Father Clark started working with former prisoners to find them jobs and places to live. Certain facts became clear: Prisoners with no support had a high recidivism rate. Since they had no support or options, they often went back to crime. By comparison, prisoners coming out of prison who received support—a place to live and a job—had a very low recidivism rate. And it was far cheaper to support an ex-convict to find a productive place in society than to pay the expense of an arrest, trial and incarceration for a later crime.
In his talks and sermons, Father Clark felt it important to tell people about prison life and the harsh realities of prison conditions. He wanted listeners to take responsibility for the criminal justice system that operated in their names, with their tax money. As is still the case today, most people were totally unaware of what happened to those caught up in the criminal justice system.
Father Clark started imagining a house for ex-cons. In 1959, he founded Dismas House, in remembrance of the good thief on the cross at Jesus’ crucifixion, to whom Jesus promised “today you will be with me in paradise.” As is mentioned in “The Hoodlum Priest,” the good thief is the only person in the gospels to get such a promise. To better connect with ex-cons, he changed his name to “Dismas.” In the late 1950s, a reporter gave him the title “The Hoodlum Priest.”
After the release of 1961’s “The Hoodlum Priest,” Father Clark distanced himself from the film, in part because he disliked its love story about a society girl who falls for the struggling ex-con, Billy Lee. Although Dismas House received $10,000 for the rights to the story and another $75,000 from a fundraiser connected with the movie, Father Clark did not get the kind of long-range funding he had hoped for. Dismas House is still active today, although it long ago cut ties to the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, several recent Dismas House directors have been involved in financial scandals.
When Father Clark opened Dismas House in 1959, there were about 300,000 inmates in prisons in the United States. Today there are almost one and a half million.
Dismas Clark is one of several St. Louis “Hollywood priests.” Daniel Lord, S.J. (1888-1955) worked with Cecil B. DeMille on the 1927 silent movie, “The Kings of Kings,” and then wrote the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code. John M. Corridan, S.J. (1911-1984), who did graduate studies in St. Louis, inspired the character of Father Barry in the 1954 movie “On the Waterfront.” William Barnaby Faherty, S.J. (1914-2011), a historian, wrote a novel, A Wall for San Sebastian, that became the 1968 movie “Guns for San Sebastian,” with music by Ennio Morricone. Decades ago, Father Faherty’s office displayed a large photo of him on the movie set standing between actors Anthony Quinn and Charles Bronson.
Sinatra sings for Dismas House
The House itself was built with the support of the prominent lawyer Morris Shenker, who was better known for his significant role in the development of Las Vegas and for his representation of Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa. And the Teamsters union in St. Louis was very supportive of Father Clark, often giving jobs to the men who lived there.
Two years after Father Clark died, local union leader Harold Gibbons convinced Frank Sinatra to do a fundraiser for the charity. On Father’s Day, June 20, 1965, Mr. Sinatra gave a concert at Kiel Opera House in St. Louis to raise money for Dismas House. Calling his show “The Frank Sinatra Spectacular,” he brought his Rat Pack buddies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Also performing were Johnny Carson, The Four Step Brothers, Kaye Stevens, Trini Lopez, Count Basie with his orchestra led by Quincy Jones and the Johnny Polzin Orchestra.
The rediscovery of the film of this concert in the 1990s actually led to a resurgence of interest in Mr. Sinatra and his Rat Pack. The concert is one of the few filmed examples of “The Summit” act first performed in Las Vegas by Mr. Sinatra and his Rat Pack. You can still find it on YouTube, or buy a DVD of the entire three-hour show that includes the performances of The Four Step Brothers, Kaye Stevens, Trini Lopez and more.
But after watching, make sure to track down a DVD of “The Hoodlum Priest,” and travel back in time to the amazing story of Charles "Dismas" Clark, S.J.
