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I was enamored of this film long before I ever read Sinclair Lewis's novel and discovered that director Richard Brooks was only telling part of the story and that his Elmer Gantry was not a weak hypocrite. For Brooks the key part of the novel was Gantry's encounter with Sister Sharon Falconer, and that becomes the climax of this 1960 film. Besides, Lewis freely admitted that his Elmer Gantry was more of a caricature than a real human being, even if most people assumed he modeled Gantry and Falconer on Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson. Clearly their fictional counterparts have had an exchange of consciences, but it is the conflict between the showman and the true believer that Brooks found to be most compelling, which explains how one chapter in the middle of the book became this particular movie.
We begin with the novel and the description of a holiday spent in a saloon where salesman Elmer Gantry is regaling the boys with jokes and stories. When a group of Salvation Army sisters come in trying to raise money for the unfortunate, Gantry is able to enthrall the collection of drunks enough to get them to contribute. Gantry had studied to be a preacher once upon a time, but then was forced to leave the seminary. Now it seems the spirit is once again upon him. Although he is able to walk into a black church and make himself right at home, he has a harder time trying to become part of the traveling revival company of Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons). Falconer is resistant to his charm, but falls for his personal story of how in a moment of despair in a hotel room he opened up a drawer and found a Gideon Bible.
While Gantry preaches hellfire and damnation, Sister Sharon depicts heaven as a land of milk. He keeps urging her to go to Zenith to see if their act can play the big time, but she is resistant. Her right-hand man, William L. Morgan (Dean Jagger), the m has his doubts as well, but in the end the thought of all those souls needing to be saved and her dream of being able to build a tabernacle and no longer have to work out of a tent proves too much of a temptation. In the big city Gantry knows how to grease the wheels, which means how to manipulate the businessman George F. Babbitt (Edward Andrews), but there are two major obstacles.
The first is the reporter Jim Lefferts (Arthur Kennedy), who is basically H.L. Mencken with charm and manners. His pointed critique of Falconer's credentials comes across as reasonable and I think one of the film's best moments is when Sister Sharon finds the perfect words to make even the most famous agnostic in America get on his knee. The second is Lulu Barnes (Shirley Jones), a prostitute in Zenith who knew Gantry back in his seminary days. When her pimp sees the opportunity to extort money from Gantry by revealing their past, Lulu sees a chance to extract personal revenge (another memorable moment in the film comes when Gantry has occasion to ask the pimp, "Don't you know that hurts?). How these obstacles are overcome sets up the climax of the film, where redemption becomes a prelude to first an apparent miracle, and then a disaster literally beyond belief.
There is pretty much universal agreement that the part was perfect for Lancaster, where he had the charisma he displayed in "The Crimson Pirate," but with maturity and restraint that had his power crackling off the screen. The film provided Lancaster and Jones with far and away the best roles of their careers and each received well-deserved Oscars for their performance, as did Brooks for his adapted screenplay. For that matter, I think this is Simmons' finest performance and a case can be made for what Kennedy and Jagger turn in as well. The film was nominated for Best Picture, but lost out to "The Apartment," and André Previn's dramatic score was the film's other nomination.
Granted, the debate over which characterization of Elmer Gantry is more realistic, or more rhetorically potent, the one in the novel or the one in the film, is well worth having. The big question is whether Gantry is ultimately first and foremost a salesman or a conman, that is to say, whether he enjoys making the sale or in reaping the profits. In between the time that "Elmer Gantry" was released we have had Jim and Tammy Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, and other scandals in the evangelical community, so it may seem that the film is somewhat prescient in its depictions, but then the hypocrites have been around almost as long as the poor that we always have with us. Besides, in this film, Brooks certainly depicts the power of faith and the need for people to believe as well as the shallowness of some of those in the pulpit.
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Great Blu Ray Transfer. Patti Page Shines in a Supporting Role
Though her role is more in the background, singer Patti Page shines in her movie debut. Her gospel vocals help propel the story and she's very poignant in the final scenes after the fire, as she joins Lancaster in singing "I'm On My Way."
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