Interesting read

In the first scene of Lilith in the nightclub I thought she looked exactly like "Will & Grace's" Debra Messing. With maybe a touch of "Folgers'" "Mrs. Olsen" thrown in.

As did the writer's of Cheers and Frasier know both the folklore and the book/film when, for laughs in these instances, they named pyschiatrist Frasier's psychiatrist wife "Lilith."

Sure, she is identified with succubae, she'll get to you while you sleep so beware. In the film she is the psychologist who indeed has access to her patients'deeper secrets and therefore has power over them. And wasn't it her who sowed the seeds in Carlisle's (Powers) ears about using that knowledge to hit the big time?

According to the commentary track on the recently released DVD Lilith was the first wife of Adam under Jewish Folklore who left Adam to join with Satan. I'm sure that Gresham and the screenwriters knew this bit of trivia in naming the character.

Yes I agree. The spiritual aspects of this film reminded me so much of Burt Lancaster's "Elmer Gantry". If you haven't seen it, I would strongly suggest you do so for a nice comparison film.
Dire_Straits
Lover of all B&W;
especially
film-noir

Yeah, and I'm fascinated by the way this movie depicts psychiatry and religion as forms of carny hucksterism! [Of course, religion doesn't take TOO hard a beating, since as his wife points out, Stanton's "spiritualism" is clearly a manipulative corruption of true Christianity. I imagine any harsher comparison would have been tough to get by the censors in those days!].