Elmer Gantry (1960)

A fast-talking traveling salesman with a charming, loquacious manner convinces a sincere evangelist that he can be an effective preacher for her cause.

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writers:

Richard Brooks (screenplay), Sinclair Lewis (from the novel by)

Stars:

Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, Arthur Kennedy

Won 3 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Burt Lancaster	...	Elmer Gantry
Jean Simmons	...	Sister Sharon Falconer
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	...	Eddington

Storyline

Elmer Gantry is a fast-talking, hard-drinking traveling salesman who always has a risqué story and a hip flask to entertain cronies and customers alike. He is immediately taken with Sister Sharon Falconer, a lay preacher whose hellfire-and-damnation revivalism has attracted quite a following. Gantry uses his own quick wit and Bible knowledge to become an indispensable part of Sister Sharon's roadshow, but his past soon catches up with him in the form of Lulu Bains, now a prostitute. While Gantry seeks and eventually gets forgiveness from Sharon, tragedy strikes when she finally manages to get out of her revivalist tent and opens a permanent church.

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Plot Keywords:

preacher | religion | tent revival | evangelist | traveling salesman | 

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Taglines:

The screen has never known a man like ELMER GANTRY

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Don Ameche was originally cast as William L. Morgan, but when the film's start was delayed, he left the production and was replaced by Dean Jagger.

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Goofs

Approximately two-thirds through the movie, in an outdoor scene where Gantry (Lancaster) is showing reporter Jim Lefferts (Arthur Kennedy) a newspaper headline, Gantry is initially wearing a bow-tie (clearly a clip-on - another goof for 1927), then all of a sudden is wearing a necktie and a vest is added to the suit (obviously, a different suit).

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

Scrolled before the opening credits: "We believe that certain aspects of Revivalism can bear examination- that the conduct of some revivalists makes a mockery of the traditional beliefs and practices of organized Christianity! We believe that everyone has a right to worship according to his conscience, but- Freedom of Religion is not license to abuse the faith of the people! However, due to the highly controversial nature of this film, we strongly urge you to prevent impressionable children from seeing it!"

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Connections

Featured in And the Oscar Goes To... (2014)

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Soundtracks

Onward Christian Soldiers
(1865) (uncredited)
Music by Arthur Sullivan (1871)
Words by Sabine Baring-Gould
Sung at the Zenith revival meeting
Jazzy version played on a trumpet
Reprised later in a church

User Reviews

A Much Better Than Average Literary Adaption

For some reason Richard Brooks seemed to think of himself as the man best suited to turning great novels and plays into films, but if the results were at best entertaining ("The Brothers Karamazov", "Cat on a hot tin roof") they tended to fall far short of the originals. If "Elmer Gantry" worked better than most was largely due to Brooks ability to tell a rattling good yarn at a cracking pace and to the performances of a superb cast.

Burt Lancaster seemed born to play the role of the lustful traveling salesman whose desire for the Aimee Semple McPhearson-like Sister Sharon turns him into a charismatic preacher, (his performance here is a virtual reprise of his performance as Starbuck in "The Rainmaker" a few years earlier). As Sharon, Jean Simmons gives a luminous performance, all fragility and repressed sexuality and singer Shirley Jones is a revelation as a trampy prostitute; (both she and Lancaster were rewarded with Oscars). Not great then, but several cuts above what it might have been.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 August 1960 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Elmer Gantry

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elmer Gantry Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound)

Color:

Color (Eastman Color)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1