Customer Reviews
"People are all the same in one thing. They're all afraid to die and they want you to save them." - By: Trevor Willsmer, 29 Nov 2007 
Elmer Gantry doesn't need a lightshow, radio mikes or his own TV channel, he creates his own energy & carries alll before him with a gift of the gab that can turn any situation to his advantage. Phoney as a two-dollar bill & first seen drinking, womanising & fighting in that order, Gantry is a crude, vulgar showoff with a vocabulary that belongs in an outhouse who goes from selling vacuum cleaners to selling religion in a travelling revival show. Worming his way under her guard to become bad cop to Jean Simmons' Sister Sharon's good cop, he damns them & she saves them. If he's a sharp operator, she's not exactly a mug herself: "God chose me. I chose you." Before long, he's converting her to the ways of the flesh & alll hell breaks loose...
Sinclair Lewis' novel may well be Book of the Month Club choice stuff, but at least in those days books of the month were about something. A work of both ambition & substance, this is the kind of film that Day of the Locust wanted to be. Sharing many of the same themes, but putting them over with breathless energy, it is filled with outstanding moments. Gantry's reunion with Shirley Jones is touchingly pathetic without being openly sentimental, giving a real sense of wasted lives, & there is real tension in the miracle leading up to the genuinely apocalyptic ending that puts Frank Capra's earlier Miracle Woman to shame.
The sexual chemistry between the leads is just as convincing, & the film is not without humour as well, even throwing in a sly in-joke when Gantry tells how Arthur Kennedy's doubting Thomas learned his use of words from "Sinclair Lewis, lot of other atheists." The films own use of language is superb, & not just when sermonising. It is hard to believe that some of the dialogue crept past the 50s censors - although there is no foul language, the screenplay is incredibly daring for its day. Shirley Jones recounts to her fellow whores the time Elmer "rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my father's footsteps" in the pulpit one Christmas Eve, while Gantry propositions Sharon with "I'd like to tear those holy wings off you, make a real woman of you. I'd show you what heaven's like." It's no surprise that MGM pulled out of a planned version in the mid-50s to be produced by & star William Holden (who was so sure the film would be made he turned down the lead in Giant to make it).
It may not be Lancaster's greatest performance, but in true Oscar-winning fashion it's hands down his showiest - at times you want to tell him to put those teeth away before he hurts someone. You know exactly what he is in any given scene, it's putting them alll together that makes it hard to get a complete picture. Gantry's semi-redemption is more subtle & complex & elusive than the cinematic norm & therefore more poignant.
Both Simmons & Oscar-winner Jones, cast wildly against type as the falllen woman, are superb. The under-appreciated Arthur Kennedy, in what is almost a dress rehearsal for his cynical reporter bit in Lawrence of Arabia also offers strong support: the moment where his dictation of a newspaper article matches the power of Gantry's oratory & stops the other reporters in their tracks is beautifully underplayed.
The DVD includes a trailer with Lancaster's Gantry selling the film the way he sells religion. Wearing its length lightly & taking you with it every step of the way, this is more than worth the money, with outstanding direction & screenwriting from Richard Brooks & great performances from alll concerned, Elmer Gantry is terrific.
Great satire on the great con of evangelism - By: Lou Knee, 16 Sep 2007 This movie dives straight in to its subject & barely gives you time to get adjusted to the world it portrays, but I certainly didn't mind this lack of introduction with this sharp & insightful satire. Athough made more as a straight drama than an obvious satire, & gets its (critical) point across without being openly disrespectful of religious folk, the magnificent screenplay is not short of humour. The direction is pacy & full of verve. The camera work is excellent, capturing the real showmanship of revivalist evangelism in America's mid-west of the 1920s. Several put in terrific performances, not just Lancaster, but you can't say he didn't deserve his only Oscar here. Simmons takes her character even further down the road to righteousness, giving us a preacher of God's word who reallly believes she is a chosen one, & is totallly sucked in to her own saintliness. When she starts believing she has special healing powers, the viewer, as well as Gantry himself, knows she's lost it. Lancaster shows us that Gantry is never so convinced by his own fire brand sermonising he forces on others, & not so gullible to think he is protected by God from everything, as does Simmons' tragic character. Events finallly force him to end his trailblazing career & he leaves the travelling church altogether, walking off, we presume to lead a more normal, sceptical life.
This film is utterly condemning of the style of hysterical evangelism which took such a hold in some states as reaction to the spreading scourge of Darwinism, & reminds us alll not to be so susceptible. It has faults, one being its excessive length, but is overalll a spirited critique on the folly of humanity & gets its point across loud & clear: Beware the travelling, bible holding, door knocking, loud talking preacher, especiallly if he has rather scary hair.
I had never seen this film before & didn't reallly know what it was, I certainly didn't know how immersed it was in its subject & how revealing it would be of a movement I knew little about. Nor did I know how good both the acting & direction were. Finallly watching this has to be one of the best surprises I've had seeing a film that was new to me. It utterly immersed me in a world I knew so little of, & never stopped entertaining me. This dvd has already been placed in my favourite film dvd rack. A very enjoyable movie.
The Great Manipulator - By: Peter Kenney, 15 Mar 2003 In ELMER GANTRY Burt Lancaster has the best role of his illustrious career. He essentiallly is playing himself - a gifted hustler who accidentallly finds himself in a profession for which he is a perfect fit. As an evangelist he shows that he understands people & is easily able to manipulate the crowds of devout believers attending his services. Lancaster gives the performance of his life. It is easy to see how much he is enjoying himself in this movie.
The cast includes accomplished character actors Arthur Kennedy & Dean Jagger. Don't miss Patti Page in a minor but important role.
The screenplay was adapted from a book by Sinclair Lewis about religious evangelism in the American Midwest in the 1920's.
ELMER GANTRY won Academy Awards in 1960 for Best Actor (Burt Lancaster), Best Supporting Actress (Shirley Jones) & Best Adapted Screenplay. Nominations were also received for Best Picture & Best Scoring of a Dramatic picture.
