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Elmer Gantry (1960)

Elmer Gantry (1960)
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Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster), a drunken, dishonest street preacher allegedly patterned on Billy Sunday, wrangles a job with the travelling tent ministry conducted by Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons). Thanks to Gantry's enthusiastic hellfire-and-brimstone sermons, Sister Sharon's operation rises to fame and fortune, enough so that Sharon realizes her dream of building her own enormous tabernacle. These ambitions are put in jeopardy when a prostitute (Oscar-winning Shirley Jones), a former minister's daughter who'd been deflowered by Gantry years earlier, lures Gantry into a compromising situation and has photographs taken. It took several years for any Hollywood studio to take a chance with Sinclair Lewis' novel, and when it finally did arrive on the screen, producer/director Richard Brooks was compelled to downplay some of the more "sacrilegious" passages in the original. Also appearing in Elmer Gantry are Arthur Kennedy as an H.L. Mencken-style atheistic journalist, and Edward Andrews as George Babbitt, a character borrowed from another Sinclair Lewis novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, (more)
Director(s):
Richard Brooks
Format(s):
DVD
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Synopsis of Elmer Gantry

Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster), a drunken, dishonest street preacher allegedly patterned on Billy Sunday, wrangles a job with the travelling tent ministry conducted by Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons). Thanks to Gantry's enthusiastic hellfire-and-brimstone sermons, Sister Sharon's operation rises to fame and fortune, enough so that Sharon realizes her dream of building her own enormous tabernacle. These ambitions are put in jeopardy when a prostitute (Oscar-winning Shirley Jones), a former minister's daughter who'd been deflowered by Gantry years earlier, lures Gantry into a compromising situation and has photographs taken. It took several years for any Hollywood studio to take a chance with Sinclair Lewis' novel, and when it finally did arrive on the screen, producer/director Richard Brooks was compelled to downplay some of the more "sacrilegious" passages in the original. Also appearing in Elmer Gantry are Arthur Kennedy as an H.L. Mencken-style atheistic journalist, and Edward Andrews as George Babbitt, a character borrowed from another Sinclair Lewis novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
147 mins

Complete Cast of Elmer Gantry


Director(s):
Richard Brooks
Writer(s):
Richard Brooks
Producer(s):
Bernard Smith
Elmer Gantry Awards:
  • 1960 - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
  • 1960 - National Board of Review - Best Supporting Actress
  • 1960 - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Actor
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    Kurt S.

    This is an outstanding film adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis novel. Burt Lancaster earned every inch of his Academy Award statuette with his rip-roaring portrayal of the shady and opportunistic evaneglist. As the plot unfolds, we see how the line blurs between business and religion, true faith and clever marketing. Even so, despite the cynicism of the story, this is not an anti-religious movie.

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    Douglas B.

    Superb. The evangelist theme and musical stars may mislead modern audiences; in fact this movie shows some great talents at the peak of their careers. Great acting from Burt Lancaster as the quick-talking salesman who turns into an evangelist [possibly even a sincere one, it is left unclear] as a device to seduce naive true believer Shirley Jones - a very dark combination of Music Man and Guys and Dolls. Although there is a story arc, Gantry's growth is by no means a trite love story - he has to work for redemption and even at the end it is not clear whether he has achieved it. Yet, even with the shadiness of the lead role, this movie is not a slam on evangelical religion, nor it is a smirk on the human failings of some of ther preachers - the great scandals were still 20+ years into the future. It does take a pretty hard look at the hypocrisy of politicians and the intolerance of "mainstream" religious groups. An enjoyable, if somewhat intense, movie, well worth your time.

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    Raymond M.

    Excellent movie with a supurb cast. The irony of the film showed the nation's enormous divide between the religious-right and the anti-religious progressive left wing that's even more prevelant today than ever. Burt Lancaster is so wonderful that he's almost too much. Definitely worth seeing, but you should be in the mood to hear hellfire and brimstone religious rants during the great depression era.

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