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Elmer Gantry Overview:

Elmer Gantry (1960) was a Drama - Film directed by Richard Brooks and produced by Bernard Smith.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Sinclair Lewis published in 1927.

SYNOPSIS

Fine adaptation of Sinclair Lewis's 1927 novel about a charismatic ex-football player who becomes an evangelist, plagiarizing speeches to promote himself above all else as he successfully exploits the folks of America's Corn Belt during the '20s.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1960 --- Ceremony Number 33 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorBurt LancasterWon
Best Supporting ActressShirley JonesWon
Best Music - ScoringAndre PrevinNominated
Best PictureBernard Smith, ProducerNominated
Best WritingRichard BrooksWon
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Elmer Gantry BlogHub Articles:

SUMMER UNDER THE STARS BLOGATHON: Shirley Jones in ELMER GANTRY (1960)

By Lara on Aug 28, 2013 From Backlots

Today’s star of the day on TCM is the ever-popular Shirley Jones, a talented and versatile performer who made a name for herself in movie musicals and ultimately went on to steal America’s heart as Mrs. Partridge on the 1970′s television series “The Partridge Family.” A... Read full article

Entre Deus e o Pecado (1960) / Elmer Gantry (1960)

By Lê on Nov 30, -0001 From Critica Retro

Entre Deus e o Pecado (1960) / Elmer Gantry (1960) Quando um filme garante um Oscar a um ator, nós cinéfilos rapidamente ficamos interessados neste filme. Quando o ator que ganhou o Oscar tem uma carreira tão prolífica e interessante quanto a de Burt Lancaster, só podemos imaginar que sua... Read full article

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Elmer Gantry Quotes:

Lulu Bains: Oh, he gave me special instructions back of the pulpit Christmas Eve. He got to howlin' "Repent! Repent!" and I got to moanin' "Save me! Save me!" and the first thing I know he rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man's footsteps!
Elmer Gantry: I was accosted by three painted women. Your streets are made unsafe by shameless, diseased hussies, rapacious pick-pockets, and insidious opium-smokers.
Elmer Gantry: Sin, sin, sin! You're all sinners! You're all doomed to perdition!
Jim Lefferts: You look like a man who could use a drink.
Elmer Gantry: You know somethin', Jim? There oughta be a law against drinkin'.
Jim Lefferts: There is. Prohibition.
Elmer Gantry: That's against sellin', not drinkin'.
Jim Lefferts: Amen.
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.
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Elmer Gantry Facts
The character "Jim Lefferts" is clearly based on H.L. Mencken. Elmer Gantry mentions Mencken at about the 88th minute of the film.
Director Richard Brooks did not want Shirley Jones for the role of Lulu Bains, but Burt Lancaster insisted. As a result, Brooks gave Jones no direction in the filming of a very difficult scene. Brooks eventually admitted to her that he couldn't see anyone else in the role.
To keep word from leaking out as to how the novel would be adapted to the screen, only the film's six major stars were given access to the complete screenplay.
Pat Hingle landed the title role, but before filming began, he became caught in a stalled elevator in his apartment building. He lost his balance while trying to crawl out and fell 54 feet down the shaft. He sustained massive injuries, including a fractured skull, wrist, hip and leg, and several broken ribs. He also lost his little finger on his left hand. Hingle spent much of the next year relearning how to walk and was forced to give up the part in order to recover from his horrific injuries.
In a hate-filled sermon, Gantry denounces a number of "heresies" including "Russellism". This is a reference to Charles Taze Russell, first president of the (current) Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the legal organization used by Jehovah's Witnesses.
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