dougdoepke No need to recap the plot or echo consensus points.Thanks to the movie, I got to memorize Lancaster's beaming rows of perfect teeth, all 500 of them. He does chew up the scenery, but I guess it's excusable since Gantry's supposed to be a natural showman. The movie was cutting edge 1960. Taking on revivalists was never big in the Hollywood playbook. But that's what both Lewis's novel and the movie adaptation do. Needless to say, the film was controversial when first released, many theatres refusing to show it, even one in my home town if I recall correctly. Lancaster's Gantry is pretty clearly a natural performer drawn to any kind of stage where he can command and feed his ego. Money seems secondary to that overriding desire as does the Lord. Importantly, Gantry's also an entrepreneur, working out business arrangements with others, church pastors included. Needless to say, it's not a pretty picture of revivalist tent shows or of some church pastors.On the other hand, Sister Sharon (Simmons) appears sincere in her divine mission, appearing on stage like an angel. Her role crucially provides some compensation to revivalism and its believers. The trouble is the good Sister is overwhelmed by Gantry's personality and incorporates him into the show despite his questionable motives. Thus she's conflicted between the demands of mind and body, a not uncommon human conflict that most any audience can grasp. Meantime, looking on cynically is newsman Lefferts (Kennedy) who in today's terms appears something of a secular humanist. Thus, he's sympathetic to the needy people seeking solutions even in the revivalist brand. Note how the supplicants are almost uniformly elderly and needy looking, a good realistic touch. Though the movie exposes much that's false with popular religion, the purity of the divine message is left to shine through like the untouched cross standing above the burning tabernacle. It's a symbol loaded with meaning, and no doubt helped get the movie sold to reluctant distributors. Overall, the movie remains an interesting mix of personalities and character, still relevant even 60- years later. Kudos to Lancaster and Brooks for taking on controversy at a time when movies generally avoided such.

AaronCapenBanner Richard Brooks directed Burt Lancaster in this vibrant and cynical story of Elmer Gantry, a glib, hard-living traveling salesman who latches onto a true-believing, fire & brimstone preaching woman named "Sister" Sharon Falconer(Jean Simmons), who has a traveling revivalist church that Gantry, who has a rudimentary knowledge of the bible, and a way with the people, quickly makes his own(with Sharon's approval of course) At first, things go well, but before too long Gantry's past catches up with him when a former love of dubious character(played well by Shirley Jones) pays him a visit, and he is caught in the act of giving money, which threatens the ministry and sets events spiraling out-of-control to the fiery climax.Powerful, supremely well-acted film shows the dark side of a charismatic personality, and those gullible enough to follow them. Not really an attack on religion, since the same rule could be applied to politics, both then and now...

JasparLamarCrabb Richard Brooks adapted the Sinclair Lewis novel with dynamite results. A perfectly cast Burt Lancaster has the title role, a money hungry charlatan who insinuates himself into the world of Jean Simmons (as a very Aimee Semple McPherson-like evangelist). Mayhem ensues as Lancaster finds his past catching up to him. The ever daring Brooks gets props for tackling this difficult novel, which in 1960 was still far too controversial to make it to the screen in any unexpurgated version. Lancaster is tremendous in his Oscar winning role & he's well matched by Simmons, who is not quite the angel she appears to be. Dean Jagger (as one of Simmons's handlers) is excellent as are the oddly cast supporting players: Patti Page; Arthur Kennedy; John McIntire. Edward Andrews plays George Babbitt and Shirley Jones is astounding, forever erasing her good girl image as the infamous Lulu Baines. Andre Previn did the music and John Alton did the high gloss photography.

Lee Eisenberg Richard Brooks's adaptation of Sinclair Lewis's "Elmer Gantry" looks at the revivalist movement of the 1920s, but it could just as easily be about modern-day evangelical Christianity. Burt Lancaster plays the title character, a shyster clergyman exploiting the beliefs of the faithful in middle America. With his fiery speeches, Elmer comes across as a man of the people, but he's only after their money. Jean Simmons co-stars as an evangelist based on Aimee Semple McPherson. She actually believes in what she's doing, but the self-aggrandizing Elmer simply rides her coattails. And then there's Shirley Jones as a prostitute who has her own story about Elmer.It's important to understand that the early 20th century had seen the rise of revivalist Christianity in response to the influx of Catholics from Europe. These predecessors of evangelicalism were the ones who pushed for the establishment of prohibition (which had disastrous results). The Scopes Trial set them back due to the perception that they were a bunch of ignorant yokels*, but they returned in the 1970s in response to everything that happened in the '60s. Elmer Gantry is depicted as a hypocritical preacher, but he could easily be any politician. There are few things as creepy as exploiting people's beliefs just to get them to support you.*The "Elmer Gantry" character Jim Lefferts is based on H.L. Mencken, who notably depicted the people in Dayton, Tennessee, as backwards hicks, which they basically were.