To me it seemed that the movie was a rush job. The book is a very powerful tool for telling the word of Christ. According to the sequel: "Beyond The Cross and the Switchblade" after the movie came out contributions started to drop off. Finally Pastor Wilkerson found out that due to the success people thought their contributions were no longer needed. Funny thing, the distributor of the film went bankrupt. Overall the work that "Teen Challenge" later to become "World Challenge" is tremendous. From a tiny acorn a mighty oak has grown.
Review of The Cross and the Switchblade
