Elmer Gantry (1960)

96% of critics liked it
(28 reviews)
83% of users liked it
(2,947 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 operation… More 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 operation rises to fame and fortune, enough so that Sharon realizes her dream of building her own enormous tabernacle. These ambitions are put in jeopardy when a prostitute (Oscar-winning Shirley Jones), a former minister's daughter who'd been deflowered by Gantry years earlier, lures Gantry into a compromising situation and has photographs taken. It took several years for any Hollywood studio to take a chance with Sinclair Lewis' novel, and when it finally did arrive on the screen, producer/director Richard Brooks was compelled to downplay some of the more "sacrilegious" passages in the original. Also appearing in Elmer Gantry are Arthur Kennedy as an H.L. Mencken-style atheistic journalist, and Edward Andrews as George Babbitt, a character borrowed from another Sinclair Lewis novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 26 min.
Directed By: Richard Brooks I
Written By: Richard Brooks I
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Jul 7, 1960 Wide
On DVD: Mar 6, 2001
Studio: 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.
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, Oscar Guy
If not for the amazing performance of Burt Lancaster, the film would collapse under its own self-righteousness.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Greatly enhanced by the spirited Oscar performance by Burt Lancaster.
Dan Jardine, Slant Magazine
The film pulls few punches in its story of the hypocrisy, materialism, and opportunism at the heart of the evangelical world of Bible-thumping barnstorming revival troupes
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Lancaster pulls out all the stops in one of his most memorable roles as the lustful, ambitious charlatan of Sinclair Lewis's powerful novel.
Kim Newman, Empire Magazine
This gets progressively nastier and winds up with an impressive hellfire finish.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Burt Lancaster gives one of his most memorable and zestiest performances as the lustful, charismatic evangelist charlatan in Richard Brooks' loose adaptation of Sinclair Lewis 1927 powerful novel.
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.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Hypocrisy and religion exploited! Lancaster and Shirley Jones are terrific.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Still powerful expose of evangelism.
, Film4
Lancaster puts in a thrilling, Oscar-winning performance in this cynical satire on religious evangelism which was considered extremely controversial at the time of its release.
Daniel M. Kimmel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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Read all 14 critic reviews

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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
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 Simmons, as well as fantastic direction from Richard Brooks. There's also some great photography and location work on display to boot. Oh, and a fantastic script from beginning to end. A brilliant little film.
moon r

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
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 con man joins a Christian tent revivalist across America's Bible Belt. The film actually begins with a printed warning to keep youngsters away ... nuff said.
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.
First L

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
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 begins to deliver his own fire-and-brimstone sermonizing to the followers. Sister Sharon sees Gantry for exactly what he is, but is convinced he has been sent by God to do his work for her. Or perhaps it's just that she finds him so irresistably charming. It is suggested in the movie that Sister Sharon convinces Gantry to give up his booze and women and lead a clean lifestyle. It's also suggested Gantry is a true believer in the Lord, a little rough around the edges, perhaps, but one of God's flock nonetheless. In this respect, the movie hardly condemns the narrow-mindedness of the fundamentalist, but it does present a side and allows the audience to form it's own opinions. Gantry shows us the birth of tentshow revivalism, the prohibition-era "one nation under God" narrow-mindedness of the day. Elmer openly mocks the Theory of Evolution (just like everyone else did at the time) and accuses those who write negative press about his church of being "atheists". It's not class warfare Gantry wages from the pulpit, but intellectual warfare. He frequently makes reference to the fact that he, like his followers is simple and uneducated (placing this as if it were a virtue) and mocking those who speak "big words" and attend Yale and Harvard. It's a cheap tactic in any time period (sorry Sarah Palin), and is probably the most telling tactic exposed in the movie. This could be the Jim and Tammy Faye Baker story. While the performances are good, at two and a half hours, the movie drags, and it drags at the point (threats of blackmail and infidelity) where it's should generate the most intensity. Add to that a tacked-on dramatic ending, and you have a pretty disappointing film.
Tim S

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

Religious satire, I love it! Gantry has an image to uphold for his flock, he has the skills to be a dynamic preacher, but how long can he keep fooling the flock because he's really a conartist.
Jake B

Considered a minor classic in most circles Elmer Gantry is a strange little bit of blasphemy in that it isn't really that blasphemous. It tells the story of Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster), a drunk drifter/salesman in the early 1900s. In his youth Elmer studied to become a… More
Considered a minor classic in most circles Elmer Gantry is a strange little bit of blasphemy in that it isn't really that blasphemous. It tells the story of Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster), a drunk drifter/salesman in the early 1900s. In his youth Elmer studied to become a preacher, but was expelled when he gave into some of his own...animalistic instincts. One day he drifts into the Revival tent of Sister Sharon (Jean Simmons), and he attempts to join up with the group posing as a preacher himself. The setup seems like a begining for vicious satire, yet the film lacks the teeth to take any stance on the plot points. Character motivations/actions are sometimes non-sensical, perhaps a product of the cencorship codes of the era, but all of the performances are strong and the film is filled with nicely composed and crisply shot scenes.
Hal M

An absolute tour d' force for Burt Lancaster. His best role ever, and I can't imagine another actor in his stead. Great direction by Brooks, and a great story (based on an American classic--Nobel prize winner Sinclair Lewis's novel by the same name). Burt didn't… More
An absolute tour d' force for Burt Lancaster. His best role ever, and I can't imagine another actor in his stead. Great direction by Brooks, and a great story (based on an American classic--Nobel prize winner Sinclair Lewis's novel by the same name). Burt didn't win the Oscar for this, but Shirley Jones won for Supporting Actress. She shouldn't have. Yes I LOVE her in The Music Man but the only reason she wins this is because she plays "against type" (a floozie) and Academy voters are suckers for that. This film should be standard fare in American Studies courses. It focuses on personalities and plot, not on belief-bashing, so a reviewer notes the more anti-religious aspects of the novel are toned down, but I don't disapprove. Entertainment wins out over "scoring points" this time.
cody f

I would find Jesus if Burt told me to.