Elmer Gantry (1960)

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writers:

Richard Brooks (screenplay)
Sinclair Lewis (novel)

Release Date:

7 July 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The screen has never known a man like ELMER GANTRY

Plot:

Elmer Gantry is a fast talking, hard drinking traveling salesman who always has a risqué story and a...

Plot Keywords:

Church | Traveling Salesman | Evangelist | Revivalism | Preacher

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 10 nominations

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

Runtime:

146 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated

Company:

Elmer Gantry Productions

Trivia:

Among the writers Gantry condemns in one of his sermons is Sinclair Lewis, the author of the book the film is based on.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Set in 1927, when Elmer is on railway tracks after jumping from a moving train, a 1950s Ford can be seen in the distance.

Quotes:

George Babbitt: Besides, I'm for a free press, for free enterprise... and for whatever the hell the other freedoms are!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Dying Breed: The Making of 'The Leopard' (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Let Jesus Come into Your Heart

Sin, sin, sin! You're all sinners! You're all doomed to perdition!

Based on the muckraker Sinclair Lewis' novel, and superbly translated to the screen by Richard Brooks (In Cold Blood , The Professionals, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), this story of huckster-ism by religion is a masterpiece.

Burt Lancaster player the greatest role of his career, getting his only Oscar for his performance. Lancaster, so good in such films as From Here to Eternity, Atlantic City, and Seven Days in May, was spellbinding as the salesman for God.

Shirley Jones (The Music Man, "The Patridge Family," was simply delicious as Gantry's first conquest, and now a "five-buck hooker," that he left behind: "Oh, he gave me special instructions back of the pulpit Christmas Eve. He got to howlin' "Repent! Repent!" and I got to moanin' "Save me! Save me!" and the first thing I know he rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man's footsteps!" 1960 was a great year for movies, and this was certainly one of the best of that year, and one of the best of all time. If you want to see real acting, this film should be on your "must-see" list.