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Elmer Gantry (1960)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
7 July 1960 (USA)
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Tagline:
The screen has never known a man like ELMER GANTRY more
Plot:
Elmer Gantry is a fast talking, hard drinking traveling salesman who always has a risqué story and a...
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Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won 3 Oscars.
Another 8 wins
&
10 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Actor Maross Dies
(From WENN. 11 November 2009, 8:11 AM, PST)
The Golden Age Of TV Comedy Returns: Disgraced Evangelist Jim Bakker To Auction Off Episodes Of His Series
(From CinemaRetro. 8 March 2009, 4:11 AM, PDT)
(From WENN. 11 November 2009, 8:11 AM, PST)
The Golden Age Of TV Comedy Returns: Disgraced Evangelist Jim Bakker To Auction Off Episodes Of His Series
(From CinemaRetro. 8 March 2009, 4:11 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
However You See This, It's Fascinating
more (54 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast) | Burt Lancaster | ... | Elmer Gantry |
 | Jean Simmons | ... | Sister Sharon Falconer, nee Katie Jones |
 | Arthur Kennedy | ... | Jim Lefferts |
| Dean Jagger | ... | William L. Morgan |
| Shirley Jones | ... | Lulu Bains |
| Patti Page | ... | Sister Rachel |
| Edward Andrews | ... | George F. Babbitt (as Ed Andrews) |
| John McIntire | ... | Rev. John Pengilly |
| Hugh Marlowe | ... | Rev. Philip Garrison |
| Joe Maross | ... | Pete |
| Philip Ober | ... | Rev. Planck |
| Barry Kelley | ... | Police Capt. Holt |
| Wendell Holmes | ... | Rev. Ulrich |
| Dayton Lummis | ... | Mr. Eddington, newspaper publisher |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
146 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
A highly controversial novel in its day, no studio initially wanted to finance the film.
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Goofs:
Errors in geography: The location where Sister Sharon confronts the police captain and fire chief over erecting her tent is purported to be in Lincoln Nebraska. The opening part of the scene shows mountains in the background. There are no mountains around Lincoln.
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Quotes:
Elmer Gantry:
Sin, sin, sin! You're all sinners! You're all doomed to perdition!
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in 'White Christmas': A Look Back with Rosemary Clooney (2000) (V)
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Soundtrack:
Let Jesus Come into Your Heart
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (54 total)
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It took a long time before I watched this movie on VHS. I had boycotted it for years, thinking it was too anti-Christian to support with my money, either renting or buying it. Finally, in the summer of 2005 I took a look after seeing several Burt Lancaster films and being reminded how good an actor he was. Well, he didn't disappoint here, either, with a fantastic performance as those of you who have seen this already know. Lancaster is absolutely mesmerizing as "Elmer Gantry." At times I wondered if he wasn't overacting, but his character called for a very animated salesman-type person. So, I'll give him the credit and assume he was just playing his role, not hamming it up too much as it often appears.
"Gantry" gave the best speeches in this film and even though many people think he was the charlatan all the way through, I disagree. I think he had changed in the end. At any rate, Lancaster made him into a believable person.
He certainly was a lot more believable than Jean Simmons' female evangelist, "Sister Sharon." Anyone who knows Scripture, knows that NO evangelist - real or not - would say or do some of the things she said-did in here. Nonetheless, Simmons gives just as riveting a performance as Lancaster, her character just being lower-key than the fiery "Gantry."
The most shocking role to me was played by wholesome (can you say "Oklahoma!"?) Shirley Jones, who only appears in the last part of this long film but plays a memorable character: a hooker who had past encounters with Elmer Gantry and now wants to expose him for the womanizing heathen she thinks he is, and succeeds in doing so but is ashamed of her actions in the end.
Arthur Kennedy also is fascinating as the skeptical atheist-type newspaper reporter who softens quite a bit at the end. Meanwhile, the big-city businessman "George Babbitt" (Edward Andrews) was the only really annoying and overblown character in the film and typical of what Hollywood does today when they want to make a "relgious" person look bad.
I mention all these actors before remarking about the story because the acting and the characters are what make this movie so well-done and entertaining. As for the story, I don't believe this film is the "expose" and critical critique of evangelists Liberal film critics would have you believe. In fact, compared to filmmakers in the following decade - the '70s - they were quite tolerant. "Sister Sharon" was basically a sincere - if not misguided in spots - evangelist and a Believer and so was "Elmer" as he says at the end of the film.
Yes, there is some theology nonsense in here that simply isn't Scriptural and there is an obvious Hollywood bias against evangelists, but I expected far worse. To be fair, there were a lot of Biblically-sound lines in this script, too. And - by the way - not all evangelists are corrupt, despite what you see on film. (Don't hold your breath waiting for Hollywood to do a bio on the most famous one of them all: Billy Graham.)
As a Christian, I still don't trust the intent of the filmmakers but I found the film fascinating overall and think it's excellent work. I'm glad I got the movie. Better late than never!