The Hiding Place is among the most effective (and popular) of Christian evangelical films because it concentrates first and foremost on the dramatic and compelling story it has to tell, rather than on attempting to convert people to the filmmaker's beliefs. Because the story being told is one about people whose religion is a living and breathing part of their lives, it succeeds both in sending a message and being an effective dramatic work. That said, there are a few moments when the film veers into proselytizing, but the bigger problem with the film as a film is that the story, as powerful as it is, is presented a bit too earnestly and without sufficient imagination. There are times when the viewer wishes director James F. Collier had found a new way to present the information onscreen or had come up with images as compelling as the story (and had trimmed ten or fifteen minutes along the way). Fortunately, The Hiding Place has a top-notch cast and benefits from sterling performances from old reliables like Julie Harris, Arthur O'Connell, and Eileen Heckart. But it's Jeanette Clift's Corrie that holds the film together; a seeming natural, Clift inhabits the role with an impressive honesty.