He would be the executive of that combination; he would be the super-president of the United States, and some day the dictator of the world [409]. Jim observes his defeat from his bed, laid ill with a bug no doubt divinely-sent. So scandalous was Lewiss portrayal of religion that the novel was banned in several cities and denounced from In Elmer Gantry Lewis suggested that what is wrong with the small town, what is wrong with business practices, and even what is wrong with the intellectual attitudes that make it difficult for the scientist to go about his research honestly are all due to the hold Protestantism has on American consciousness. For example, the division between Northern and Southern Baptists is explained in this way: [B]efore the Civil War the Northern Baptists proved by the Bible, unanswerably, that slavery was wrong; and the Southern Baptists proved by the Bible, irrefutably, that slavery was the will of God. Later in the novel, Frank Shallard realizes how threatened conservative clergymen are by scientific knowledge and how inadequate they are to preside over educational institutions. He seeks out Shallard, who has largely given up his faith but has been persuaded by a Methodist pastor to continue in the ministry and is now at a church in Zenith. You're all doomed to perdition. (Courtesy of Degebo, Berlin, Germany.) Excellent recounting based on the controversial Sinclair Lewis novel that got three Academy Awards . But they could be healed constantly, and of the same disease.. WebElmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster) is a slick traveling salesman who is a boozer and a dog hound. Edward J. Piacentino, "Babbittry Southern Style: T. S. Stribling's Unfinished Cathedral". He had learned to assemble Jewish texts, Greek philosophy, and Middle-Western evangelistic anecdotes into a sermon. Franks mentor has been Father Pengilly, a fanciful figure whom we have already discussed. Before long, he marries Cleo Benham, the choir director, but finds her an unenthusiastic lover. Elmer would probably not be able to answer this question. WebIn 1960, Elmer Gantry, based on the best-selling 1927 novel by Sinclair Lewis, was brought to the screen by writer/director Richard Brooks. It might seem that the last thing in the world Lewis wanted was sympathy for Elmer Gantry, whom he regarded, he told Allen Austin years later, as a hypocrite through and through. Yet he wrote in the Nation in 1928, Actually, I like the Babbitts, the Dr. Pickerbaughs, the Will Kennicotts, and even the Elmer Gantrys rather better than anyone else on earth. Furthermore, he told Betty Stevens that the Babbitts were my children and I wanted to reform them. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). He is immediately taken with Sister Sharon Falconer, a lay preacher whose hellfire-and-damnation revivalism has attracted quite a following. But both the show and their relationship are threatened when one of Gantry's ex-lovers decides that she must settle a score with the charismatic performer. Pengilly sees through him with the spiritual eye of an eagle, and asks, Mr. Every one knew of some case in which each of the others had stolen, or was said to have tried to steal, some parishioner, to have corrupted his faith and appropriated his contributions. He graduated from Yale in 1908 and worked in various jobs in the publishing industry, including editor, reporter, manuscript reader, and reviewer. Dr. Howard Bancock Binch is a prominent Baptist who defends the literal interpretation of the Bible in his writings. Burt Lancaster plays the eponymous anti-hero as rogue of such charm that you almost want him to succeed; while the ambiguous character of his partner Sister Falconer (Jean Simmons), who doesn't seem to know herself whether is she a fellow-fraud or a genuine messenger of God, makes a perfect dramatic foil. The public has the power to end the careers of Falconer and Gantry; however, Gantry and Falconer sell the revivals, and eventually Falconers church, in a way that pleases the public. 5 Mar. The second is the date of Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. In the following essay excerpt, Light examines quixotic elements in Elmer Gantry. He is soon invited to preach at one of her meetings. He says both. Most distressing of all, says Frank, the sermons of the preachers are agonizingly dull. So Frank leaves the church temporarily to enter the army where he learns to be common with common men; he schools himself further with Ethan Frome, Pre Goriot, Tono-Bungay, and Renans Jesus. However, Lewis does not seem to have had such an intention at first; once again, half the novel is concerned with one theme and half with a related but different one. I am not going to explain the Scriptures. Like a priestess she takes him to the chapel, a shrine with hangings, a crucifix, statues of the Virgin, and heathen idols, including a naked Venus. Ad Locust is a traveling salesman for the Pequot Farm Implement Company who befriends Elmer on the train to Monarch. Elmer attends Mizpah Theological Seminary, a Baptist institution in Babylon, in the Midwest. In creating the evangelist Sharon Falconer, the author presents himself with a bigger, although more complex, target. It's easy to miss the Katar River restaurant, hidden away in a little industrial strip behind the Lake & Hiawatha shopping center in south Minneapolis. Anywhere. He has been educated by Roger Williams, Adoniram Judson, Luther, Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, George Washington, Lincoln, Robert Ingersoll, William James, and Frasers Golden Bough. Except in some of its sexuality (there are a couple cringe-making lines), however, the film doesnt feel outdated today. The fundamentalists believe that if even one thing in the Bible is questioned it is only a matter of time before faith is undermined completely. The sociological factor that works against Elmer is the entire small-town Protestant environment in which he was raised. Lewis seems to have had a particular loathing of the conversion experience that is so central to Protestant spirituality. The novel's protagonist, the Reverend Dr. Elmer Gantry, is initially attracted by booze and easy money (though he eventually renounces tobacco and alcohol) and chasing women. It comes when Elmer regales Pengilly with a self-congratulatory story about the success of Elmers ministry in Zenith. She cries out, Oh, dont! Despite this though the film is still quite engaging and enjoyable as it delves into this world with a certain amount of glee; the fact that it peels off this world to look at Gantry specifically is a bit of a shame because it cuts under that focus a little. Judson Roberts is an evangelist who is the state secretary of the Y.M.C.A. In fact, the film could be seen as prescient, as both religious revivalism, and celebrity-scandal driven journalism (another of its subjects), have arguably become more prevalent since it was made. Prayings the cheapest first-rate medicine I know, he says. ****. Jim doubts the literal truth of the Bible and has contempt for the church. Elmer is forced to agree, but promises himself he will find a way out of the engagement. But occasionally Lewis tries to endow him with a soul, as in the incident of his conversion at Terwillinger College. 73738. All those who profess to be religious in the novel are shown as hypocrites or morons; the best we can expect, apparently, is a nominal profession of belief for the sake of convenience: the good shepherd is the one who sees that his lambs are fed with material food, not stale spiritual claptrap. The last date is today's The acting and directing is superb to the point that it becomes difficult to remember that it is only a movie. Sharon Falconer is an equally striking example of his satiric power. Elmer moves in ever-higher social circles and goes on a three-month speaking tour aimed at the youth of America. Meanwhile, Hettie turns out to be a married woman who, with her husband, tries to blackmail Elmer. Modern, yet extreme examples of this include ISIS, a violent terrorist organization that is somehow able to recruit privileged teens from Western countries, and the Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, which used liberal ideology to attract minorities and young people. Elmer Gantry has been called the purest Lewis by Schorer. Firearm Discussion and Resources from AR-15, AK-47, Handguns and more! WebHollywood legend Burt Lancaster nabbed a Best Actor Oscar as glad-handing, soul-redeeming charlatan Elmer Gantry, a huckster who spins his talent for preaching into a mtier behind the pulpit. When he teams up with evangelist Sister Falconer, he sells religion from a tent to 1920's America, helping Falconer with her aim of getting out of the tent into her own temple and building a proper congregation. [2][3] Harry Zenz is a student at the Mizpah Theological Seminary. WebHappy Birthday # 75..Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey, An Actress. Sit down and take in everything this film is offering, you won't be disappointed. From the exceptionally talented pen of noted author Sinclair Lewis comes this entertaining story of a fast-talking, yarn-spinning vacuum salesman with the natural gift of persuasion. Religion, can't 'live' with it, can't live without it Good drama that had the potential to be one of the greats, Worth seeing even if time has lessened its controversial value. As the music dies, Gantry picks up where they left off and continues the hymn. Mahlon Potts is the influential minister of the First Methodist Church in Zenith. At a revival meeting he does not like to include all the preachers in town. The psychological factor that works against Elmer is the mechanics of the conversion experience. 'Until the nineteenth century, actors were classed as Rogues & Vagrants. Mrs. Evans Riddle is the proprietor of the Victory Thought Power Headquarters in New York. As Elmer (Burt Lancaster) is a saleman with a powerfully persusive tongue who joins up Sister Sharon Falconer (glamorous Jean Simmons) along with her colleagues , Sister Rachel (Patti Page) , William L. Morgan (Dean Jagger) touring grass-roots evengelist circus during the depressed twenties . publication in traditional print. At Terwillinger College, Elmer captains the football team. Addeddate 2017-01-24 22:02:04 Identifier in.ernet.dli.2015.184871 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t87h71c67 Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 Ppi 600 Scanner Internet Archive Python library 1.2.0.dev4. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were many evangelists, like Elmer and Sharon Falconer in the novel, who traveled around the country conducting revival campaigns for large audiences. Some characters from Lewis even read Sinclair Lewis himself; the Reverend Philip McGarry asks his friend Frank Shallard to forget that you have to make a new world, bettern the Creators, right away tonightyou and Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells and H. L. Mencken and Sinclair Lewis (Lord, how that book of Lewis, Main Street, did bore me ).. Af Like Sharon, she drew huge crowds and practiced faith healing. Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/film-review-burt-lancaster-s-oscar-winning-elmer-gantry-trylon-theater-monday-and-tu/). WebElmer Gantry was a labor of love for Brooks, who had dreamed of filming Lewis's novel for more than a decade and spent two years writing the script, which won the Oscar for Best Despite his doubts, and following Zechlins advice, Shallard decides to remain in the church. Definitely a film to see on the big screen. A hundred and eleven people died that night, including all the gospel-crew save Elmer.. Lulu becomes devoted to Elmer but he gets bored with her. Elmer Gantry is a satirical novel written by Sinclair Lewis in 1926 that presents aspects of the religious activity of America in fundamentalist and evangelistic circles and the attitudes of the 1920s public toward it. His father was a physician. Edward A. Martin, "The Mimic as Artist: Sinclair Lewis". Though the bulldog of the football team in college, Elmer shows his cowardice during the fire in Sharon Falconers tabernacle (which is built out over the water): In howling panic, Elmer sprang among them, knocked them aside, struck down a girl who stood in his way, yanked open the door, and got through it the last, the only one, to get through it. He then ran out a little into the surf and dragged in a woman who had already safely touched bottom, and then at least thirty more who had already rescued themselves. Blessed Virgin, Mother Hera, Mother Frigga, Mother Ishtar, Mother Isis, dread Mother Astarte of the weaving arms, it is thy priestess . They read from the Song of Solomon. The fledgling work even had legs, if short ones. Thus equipped, Elmer advances to conquer the world. He thinks they might, for all he knows, be true, and that is enough for him. Edward Shillito, "Elmer Gantry and the Church in America", This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 16:54. Jean Simmons is lovely and convincing as as Sister Sharon Falconer, the charismatic female evangelist who wins Gantry's heart (and lust)as they team up to jump-start America's dwindling religious beliefs. You're all sinners! 2 hr 26 min. The boy sees the preacher as a man who can possibly heal his crippled leg. Finally, in the summer of 2005 I took a look after seeing several Burt Lancaster films and being reminded how good an actor he was. He is drawn back to preaching when he falls in love with Sharon Falconer, and he hones his publicity and fundraising skills with her for several years until her death. | Go out slowly! George Killough, "Elmer Gantry, Chaucer's Pardoner, and the Limits of Serious Words". https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/elmer-gantry, "Elmer Gantry This is indeed what happened to Dr. Bruno Zechlin, one of the faculty at Mizpah, who lost his fundamentalist faith even before he received his theological doctorate. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2022 The University of Alabama J. E. North is the executive secretary of the National Association for the Purification of Art and the Press (Napap). She teaches classes in Concentration, Prosperity, Love, Metaphysics and Oriental Mysticism, and invites Elmer to join her. Or maybe as something more. He dealt with the connection between small-town provinciality and the religious proclivities of the time, the relationship between the gospel of Christianity and the gospel of business; and, because the novel was written out of the atmosphere surrounding the Scopes Monkey Trial, he dealt with the conflict between science and religion. But it's Elmer's past, which catches up with him in Zenith, that may be his, and by association Sister Sharon's, downfall. Elmer works diligently and is rewarded at the Methodists Annual Conference by being sent to a bigger church, at Rudd Center. Philip McGarry, Ph.D. in economics and philosophy, is made to show that no educated person can believe in Christianity except in a very vague way: the only dogma he was known to give out positively was the leadership of Jesusas to whose divinity he was indefinite. The good pastor, the Reverend Andrew Pengilly, finds God in nature, feels religion rather than reasons about it, and doesnt give a hang for doctrinal differences. In it he established ties with Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith. ( Elmer Gantry stirs soul, provokes thought was the headline in that mornings Tennessean.) Thus, Schorer concludes, there is no pressure upon Elmer to be forced into a position of new self-awareness. He also thinks that Baptist leaders are word-splitting, text-twisting, applause-hungry, job-hunting, medieval-minded second-raters . Horace Carp hates the Baptists and wants to switch to the more upscale Episcopalians as soon as possible because this will give him a better social position in which he will be able to marry a nice rich girl. Brother Karkis only wants his divinity degree so he can get a better paying job. He marries well and eventually obtains a large congregation in Lewis's fictional Midwestern city of Zenith. Dinner at the Governors Ball with Eddie Fisher. In 1905, after two years study, he is ordained. In the film, Gantry happens upon one of Falconers revivals being held in a country town. But what perhaps made Elmer Gantry seem like such an act of outrage to so many readers is that Lewis did not simply treat religion in relation to other aspects of American life; he saw it instead as the molder of basic attitudes, most of which were, in his opinion, bad. Tries to give the kid a break. Although most entertaining when Gantry is actually preaching (mainly in the opening half of the film), the intelligent script moves on from it's basic premise (that Gantry is a charlatan) to explore wider questions of the nature of humanity and society. She is also an insane perversion of the sanctity of the elect, for she declares to Elmer, I cant sin! If I could only believe it! A fast-talking traveling salesman with a charming, loquacious manner convinces a sincere evangelist that he can be an effective preacher for her cause. NATIONALITY: British Introduction of Gantry Girder. Elmer, with the help of T. J. Rigg, turns the tables on her and preserves his career. When Elmer is converted, Jim moves out of his room in disgust. Within the sphere of a traveling troupe of bible beating, evangelicals on a religious crusade, the author's hero, one Elmer Gantry (supurbly played by Oscar wining Burt Lancaster) is as energetic as his tales. There is a good priest whose career runs counter to that of the bad priest Gantry, but he ceases to be a priest. But he had never encountered vice . Binch is a dreadful character who leers at Sharon and has an excessive interest in church fundraising. Literally, in one case, when the tabernacle catches fire at the end of the movie. More mundane examples include the star power of Scientology and Christian rock concerts. That night she seduces him. WebMoward Consultancy Inc. WebMemorable Moments. Yes, sir-ree, it might feel simplistic but at least it's fair and square. We are all bored by tired old men explaining the Bible through their noses! WebWhen hedonistic but charming con man Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster) meets the beautiful Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons), a roadside revivalist, he feigns piousness to join There is a great deal of fantasy in the novel, but it is weird and crude and goes badly with the realism. The woman who does match Lancaster is Oklahoma-born Patti Page, making her film debut. | The bill had always been defeated, but it was gaining more votes in every session [407408]. Cecil Aylston is Sharon Falconers assistant. He confesses his love for her and they begin an affair, peppering their lovemaking with religious imagery. Lewiss first real success came with Main Street (1920), the book that made him famous. When Deacon Bains discovers Gantrys affair with Lulu and forces him to propose, Gantry tricks another man into an entanglement with Lulu and is released from the engagement. In Bible stories, in the words of the great hymns, in the anecdotes which the various preachers, quoted, he had his only knowledge of literature. Lewis exercises his bitterness against the failures of the church by making the church itself accountable for Elmers being no better educated. I love the big onesmurder, lust, cruelty, ambition! She invites Elmer to visit the old Falconer place in Virginia, but when they arrive, she confesses that she is really just Katie Jonas, born in Utica, whose father worked in a brickyard. Movies Podcasts Reviews Podcasts Reviews 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. Sharon believes she is above sin and that she can do anything she wants to because she is Gods messenger. There Fire is mentioned throughout the film, and cinematographer John Alton sets the mood by casting dark red and brown shadows. Bess Needham marries Frank Shallard and bears him three children. By what name was Elmer Gantry (1960) officially released in India in English? Sinclair Lewiss Elmer Gantry (New York, 1927) is a ferocious satire against Protestant fundamentalist religion in the American Midwest. Elmer Gantry Book Details Author Bio for Lewis, Sinclair Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) was a noted American writer. You could even argue that Gantry is performing a kind of public service, meeting a need with maximum opportunism but without malice.