Elmer Gantry (1960)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

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

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 21

3:30 PM

TCM

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Antrim	...	Man in saloon (uncredited)
Larry J. Blake	...	Mac (bartender) (uncredited)
Peter Brocco	...	Benny (photographer) (uncredited)
Budd Buster	...	Valet (uncredited)
George Cisar	...	Friend (uncredited)
Ralph Dumke	...	Friend (uncredited)
Sally Fraser	...	Prostitute (uncredited)
Everett Glass	...	Rev. Brown (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Hobo in boxcar (uncredited)
Mary Adams Hayes	...	Salvation Army worker (uncredited)
Charles Horvath	...	Hobo in boxcar (uncredited)
Rex Ingram	...	Preacher of black congregation (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Extra at revival meeting (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Radio station official (uncredited)
Norman Leavitt	...	Friend (uncredited)
Robert P. Lieb	...	Police captain (uncredited)
Barbara Luna	...	Prostitute (uncredited)
John McKee	...	Photographer / Reporter (uncredited)
David McMahon	...	(uncredited)
Ed Nelson	...	Man on phone at Sister Sharon headquarters (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Train conductor (uncredited)
Gloria Pall	...	Girl in brothel (uncredited)
Milton Parsons	...	Revivalist (uncredited)
Charles Perry	...	Man at revival meeting (uncredited)
John Qualen	...	Sam (storekeeper) (uncredited)
Dan Riss	...	Radio announcer (uncredited)
Max Showalter	...	Deaf man (uncredited)
Marjorie Stapp	...	Lady in red on Christmas Eve (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Choir member (uncredited)
Jack Stoney	...	Revival tent roustabout (uncredited)
Ken Terrell	...	Blind man (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	...	Egg thrower (uncredited)
Ray Walker	...	Friend (uncredited)
Michael Whalen	...	Rev. Phillips (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson	...	Clean-up man (uncredited)
Jean Willes	...	Prostitute (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Brooks

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Brooks		screenplay
Sinclair Lewis		novel

Produced by
Bernard Smith	....	producer

Original Music by
André Previn

Cinematography by
John Alton

Film Editing by
Marjorie Fowler

Art Direction by
Edward Carrere		(as Ed Carrere)

Set Decoration by
William F. Calvert		(as Bill Calvert)
Frank Tuttle

Costume Design by
Dorothy Jeakins

Makeup Department
Harry Maret	....	makeup artist
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (as Robert Schiffer)
Joan St. Oegger	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Gilbert Kurland	....	executive production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tom Shaw	....	assistant director (as Thomas P. Shaw)
Robert Webb	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Fred J. Brown	....	sound effects editor (as Fred Brown)
Harry D. Mills	....	sound (as Harry Mills)

Stunts
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Charles Horvath	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard H. Kline	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant (uncredited)

Music Department
Ken Darby	....	associate music supervisor
Kenyon Hopkins	....	conductor (uncredited)
Albert Woodbury	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Elmer Gantry Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1961) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1961) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1965) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS) (widescreen)

Other Companies

• Solters & Digney  publicity

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:

Sister Sharon is seen briefly outside a movie theater advertising a film. The title is not given but the stars names are given as Rudolph Valentino and Agnes Ayres, suggesting that the film is almost certainly The Sheik (1921).

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time we see Lulu, she leans on the back of a chair, a newspaper in her hand, and her right shoulder strap has fallen down. In the next shot her left shoulder strap is down instead.

Quotes:

Elmer Gantry: I have here in my pocket - and thank heaven you can't see them - lewd, dirty, obscene, and I'm ashamed to say this: French postcards. They were sold to me in front of your own innocent high school by a man with a black beard... a foreigner.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Women of the House: Women in Film (#1.9)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

I'm on My Way

"You're all sinners! You'll all burn in hell!"

"Elmer Gantry" is an amazing film that does not seem dated at all, having lost none of its bite or appeal with the passing of time. Taken from the classic Sinclair Lewis novel of the same name, director Richard Brooks garnered an Oscar for Best Screenplay for his adaptation, and Burt Lancaster won his sole Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Elmer Gantry. Gantry is an over-the-top opportunistic traveling salesman who teams up with evangelist Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons) to promote religion in 1920's America. Gantry turns out to be the perfect publicity compliment to Sister Sharon, who, unlike him, is a true believer. Where she is quiet and gentle with her manner of preaching, he is all fire and brimstone, literally throwing himself about the audience and inflaming them into repentance.

Burt Lancaster commands the screen: all flashing teeth, athletic energy, charisma, and wild hair, using his own physical prowess to great advantage. The angelic and lovely Jean Simmons, who had legions of adoring male fans when she was in her ethereal prime, portrays Sister Sharon (loosely based on a well-known real-life revivalist of the early 1920's, Aimee Semple McPherson, about whom I'd heard from my grandmother) in a manner reminiscent of her character in "Spartacus" - she was the perfect choice for this role, as was Lancaster for his.

Shirley Jones was awarded the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her lively portrayal of prostitute Lulu Bains, whose past history with Gantry comes back to haunt him, with some of the best lines in the film - gleefully laughing as she dances about a room full of her fellow prostitutes, she recounts that "He rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man's footsteps!" Watching Burt Lancaster in his prime use his athletic ability (he was a circus acrobat before he became an actor) and physical grace helps make his performance truly electrifying. And he also manages to believably evolve Elmer Gantry from loud-mouthed salesman to a sympathetic and honest human being over the course of the film.

The top-notch supporting cast includes Arthur Kennedy, Patti Page, Dean Jagger, and John McIntire.