Elmer Gantry

Elmer Gantry (1960)

  • 96% of critics liked it
    (28 reviews)

  • 83% of users liked it
    (3,026 ratings)

Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster), a drunken, dishonest street preacher allegedly patterned on Billy Sunday, wrangles a job with the travelling tent ministry conducted by Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons). Thanks to Gantry's enthusiastic hellfire-and-brimstone sermons, Sister Sharon's… More

Play Trailer

PG,
Directed By
Written By
Richard Brooks I
Genres
Drama, Classics
In Theaters
Jul 7, 1960 Wide
MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Brooks honors the spirit of Lewis' cynical commentary on circus-type primitive exhortation with pictorial imagery that is always pungent. He also has written dialog that is frank and biting.

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

    Brooks was the ultimate vulgarizer of serious literature.

  • Geoff Andrew, Time Out

    With a host of fine performances, and a strong sense of period and place conveyed by John Alton's lush camerawork, there's still plenty to enjoy.

  • A.H. Weiler, New York Times

    The briskly paced drama of a religious opportunist, his colleagues and his times utilizes the tools of the motion picture in expert fashion.

  • Wesley Lovell, Cinema Sight

    If not for the amazing performance of Burt Lancaster, the film would collapse under its own self-righteousness.

Read all 14 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Tim S


    I find it very difficult to believe that Elmer Gantry made in to movie screens in 1960. It almost seems like a lynchpin or things to come in the decade. Religious satire mixed with the amazing performance of Burt Lancaster. Unbelievable. There's also a great performance from Jean… More

  • Universal D


    Richard Brooks mesmeriising adaptation of Sinclair Lewis's book (--- what's killing Christianity is not unbelievers on the outside but rather the phony piety of those professing belief---) is chock full of noteworthy performances and riveting scenes as a silky smooth talking… More

  • AJ V


    This movie has a good story and actors, I didn't get to see the end, though, so I should watch this movie again.

  • Devon B


    Burt Lancaster stars in the title role as a charmingly loud and lascivious travelling home appliance salesman who enjoys preaching the word of the Lord as a hobby. When he attends a revivalist tent meeting led by Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons), he cons his way into the fold and… More

  • Tim S


    Probably one of the best screenplays ever written. Lancaster makes me want to be a better man.

Read all 10 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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