Elmer Gantry

Starring:Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger, Shirley Jones, Patti Page, Edward Andrews, John McIntire, Hugh Marlowe, Joe Maross, Philip Ober, Barry Kelley, Wendell Holmes, Dayton Lummis, Mary Adams Hayes, David McMahon, John McKee (II), Peter Brocco, Charles Horvath, Ken Terrell
Director: Richard Brooks
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Brothers and sisters, can we get a witness for this woeful tale of saints and sinners? Burt Lancaster earned his only Oscar as the wide-smiling, glad-handing, soul-saving charlatan Elmer Gantry, a salesman who turns his gift for preaching into a career at the pulpit. Climbing on board the barnstorming evangelical tour of revivalist Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons), a true believer in the Aimee Semple McPherson mold, Gantry declaims, invokes, and sermonizes his way to the top until a former flame-turned-prostitute (Shirley Jones in an Oscar-winning performance) threatens to reveal his dark past as a womanizer and con man. Lancaster harnesses all his physical vigor and natural charisma for this role, literally throwing himself into his preaching with the vigor of an acrobat and the sing-song delivery of a gospel singer--he even brays like a hound to show the Holy Spirit within him. Gantry is a showman, pure and simple, and while he doesn't fool true-believer Sister Sharon, he gives her a few object lessons in playing the crowd. Director Richard Brooks, who also took home an Oscar for his screenplay (adapted from the Sinclair Lewis novel), creates a rousing drama both on and off the pulpit, and provides fine roles for an excellent supporting cast, including Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger, John McIntire, and singer Patti Page. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Elmer Gantry.......2007-06-27

Based on the bestselling novel by Sinclair Lewis, this tale of a lustful, larger-than-life charlatan's fall from grace owes its strength to the force of Lancaster's dynamic, Oscar-winning performance. His Gantry preaches hellfire and brimstone, but loves life--and women--with a hearty gusto that is as pure as Sister Falconer's vanity is unbecoming. Jones also took home an Oscar, playing against type in a sultry turn as a minister's daughter who became Gantry's lover. Also great is Arthur Kennedy as an atheist journalist modeled on the great H.L. Mencken. Fiery and sharp, Brooks's satirical take on Bible-thumping hypocrisy and hucksterism speaks volumes in today's world.

Elmer Gantry my review.......2007-06-09

Elmer Gantry was good for its time. Burt Lancaster, Shirley Jones and Jean Simmons all do great, in a way Jean Simmons is more beleivable than Burt Lancaster. The supporting cast who play the city leaders are good at their part. Elmer Gantry is a classic and one of the best of its kind.

"The Lord sure moves in mysterious ways.".......2007-04-09

To say that this is a great movie,is an understatement in many ways.I have watched this movie a number of times over the years and recently got my own copy. It was one of my all-time favorite movies and after watching it again last night ,it impressed me once again. Since the last time I watched it someting new has taken place; that being Amazon Customer Reviews.In the past,one might read or hear a review of a book or movie if you were lucky,but in a short time it would be hard to find one on anything a couple of years old. I guess there were always sources to find old reviews if you knew where to find them;but this was not accessable to the "ordinary joe".
Now it's a whole different story. After watching the movie again,I couldn't wait to check out the Customer Reviews. Here I found 39 Reviews.I read every single one,helpful and otherwise. There are all kinds of things in these reviews and coming from Customers of every stripe and color;they are all different and and particularly different from what we got in the past,namely,only Editorial Reviews. Some CR's give a brief summary of the movie,some are written with a personal bias,some add information about Oscars,some give opinions of the meaning the author was attempting to convey,and so forth. I even enjoyed the few that "slammed" the movie;because it was interesting to find why someone might dislike such a movie, that was held in such wide high regard. It is hard to pick one review over another,but if you were to read only a few;don't miss the review of Lawrence Bernabo of March 17,2005.I only wish I had the knowledge and skill to write a review like that.
I hadn't thought about it;but from reading the reviews,the movie was based on a book written in the 1920's by Sinclair Lewis and the movie is essntially from only one chapter. I couldn't find any CR's on the book; but I'm intending to read it,now that I know about it.If the movie is only one chapter,the whole book must be good.
Another thing I learned from the CR's is that the movie is somewhat based on two well known revivalists at the time. My father was a young man in the 1920's and I can remember him mentioning the names of Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson the personalities some reviewer suggested Elmer Gantry and Sister Sharon Falconer were based on.
No wonder I enjoy this movie so much. There is little doubt that this is a Classic and is as good to watch today as when it first came out in the 1960's.
Not only that,the CR's show what a wonderful resource,we now have at our disposal;but then again; I already knew that.

Satire on the Revival Business.......2007-02-14

This film shows a 1920 speakeasy. Elmer Gantry is feeling no pain, and walks around to collect money on Christmas Eve for the Salvation Army. His sleaziness and dishonesty are quite apparent. After hopping a freight train, he jumps off to avoid being robbed. He seems to live without working, just going from town to town. [A crooked gambler or a confidence man?] Next he shows up at a revival meeting, where a young woman preaches and passes buckets for donations. [Is this entertainment before radio and movies?] Elmer's attempt to meet Sister Sharon Falconer is rebuffed; she knows the type.

Can a salesman switch to a new line of products? [Many say it's the personality not the product.] Elmer's speech is quite popular with the audience. But what makes him give up smoking and drinking? Or inspire his speeches? There is another scene where a member of the audience begins to bark! Revivals grew out of the rural frontier, where people gathered like at a social event. A revival in Zenith can bring in church members, converts, donations, and publicity. But the revival company needs a guarantee to cover their fixed costs. [No one thinks of cutting costs.] George Babbitt explains why they must fill the churches - so people won't be tempted by other diversions (like politics). Sister Sharon's speech moves the crowd. It's a successful social event.

The film shows how the press can turn public opinion against the revival meeting. [No mention of their hidden agenda.] There is an interesting philosophical conversation in the editor's office. Elmer shows his dialectical skills; he learned rhetoric at his seminary school. God's will brought Sister Sharon to Zenith, she will be able to build her tabernacle. There is a large amount of Populism in his speech; he attacked powerful corporations. [Rural farmers were hit by the Depression in 1921.] Elmer's call for popular revolt seems quite radical. He leads an attack on a speakeasy, then a brothel. Local gambling dens are overlooked.

Elmer's past catches up with him: a blonde in a hotel room. This is a trap to photograph him in the act, a trick often used against reformers. They ask for a huge amount in blackmail, and for Sharon to deliver the cash. The publication of the photos are a front page scandal. Attendance drops off. Some rowdies show up to create a disturbance. [Did shutting down local vice hurt the wallets of the local ruling class?] A man who went deaf suddenly appears. After Sister Sharon lays her hands on him and calls for his healing. It works! [No ringer here.] But a discarded cigarette causes a fire and a panic. Is this the work of a devil? No fire regulations? Sister Sharon leaves for a better world. [I don't know if this film is true to the book. It is a good story, but the ending seems weak.]

Why did people in rural areas turn to revivalism? 1921 saw the beginning of the Great Depression for them. Other organizations like the Populists or the Socialists were suppressed, their leaders jailed. Religion was the only way they could assemble together without being stopped. That is why the corporations were against them.

Elmer Gantry.......2007-01-10

Powerful performances by Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons. Thinly veiled tale of selling salvation for money which is as relevant today as it was back when the film was made.

Average customer rating:

Elmer Gantry
Elmer Gantry my review
"The Lord sure moves in mysterious ways."
Satire on the Revival Business
Elmer Gantry

Elmer Gantry [Region 2]
Starring: Burt Lancaster , Jean Simmons , Arthur Kennedy , Dean Jagger , and Shirley Jones
Director: Richard Brooks
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( E ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00007L3R0

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Customer Reviews:

Elmer Gantry.......2007-06-27

Elmer Gantry my review.......2007-06-09

"The Lord sure moves in mysterious ways.".......2007-04-09

Satire on the Revival Business.......2007-02-14

Elmer Gantry.......2007-01-10

Powerful performances by Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons. Thinly veiled tale of selling salvation for money which is as relevant today as it was back when the film was made.

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