Elmer Gantry [VHS]

In ELMER GANTRY Burt Lancaster has the best role of his illustrious career. He essentially is playing himself - a gifted hustler who accidentally finds himself in a profession for which he is a perfect fit. As an evangelist he shows that he understands people and is easily able to manipulate the crowds of devout believers attending his services. Lancaster gives the performance of his life. It is easy to see how much he is enjoying himself in this movie.

The cast includes accomplished character actors Arthur Kennedy and Dean Jagger. Don't miss Patti Page in a minor but important role.

The screenplay was adapted from a book by Sinclair Lewis about religious evangelism in the American Midwest in the 1920's.

ELMER GANTRY won Academy Awards in 1960 for Best Actor (Burt Lancaster), Best Supporting Actress (Shirley Jones) and Best Adapted Screenplay. Nominations were also received for Best Picture and Best Scoring of a Dramatic picture.

A tour de force by Burt Lancaster. Enjoyed every second of every minute of this film

Elmer Gantry doesn't need a lightshow, radio mikes or his own TV channel, he creates his own energy and carries all before him with a gift of the gab that can turn any situation to his advantage. Phoney as a two-dollar bill and first seen drinking, womanising and fighting in that order, Gantry is a crude, vulgar showoff with a vocabulary that belongs in an outhouse who goes from selling vacuum cleaners to selling religion in a travelling revival show. Worming his way under her guard to become bad cop to Jean Simmons' Sister Sharon's good cop, he damns them and she saves them. If he's a sharp operator, she's not exactly a mug herself: "God chose me. I chose you." Before long, he's converting her to the ways of the flesh and all hell breaks loose...

Sinclair Lewis' novel may well be Book of the Month Club choice stuff, but at least in those days books of the month were about something. A work of both ambition and substance, this is the kind of film that Day of the Locust wanted to be. Sharing many of the same themes, but putting them over with breathless energy, it is filled with outstanding moments. Gantry's reunion with Shirley Jones is touchingly pathetic without being openly sentimental, giving a real sense of wasted lives, and there is real tension in the miracle leading up to the genuinely apocalyptic ending that puts Frank Capra's earlier Miracle Woman to shame.

The sexual chemistry between the leads is just as convincing, and the film is not without humour as well, even throwing in a sly in-joke when Gantry tells how Arthur Kennedy's doubting Thomas learned his use of words from "Sinclair Lewis, lot of other atheists." The films own use of language is superb, and not just when sermonising. It is hard to believe that some of the dialogue crept past the 50s censors - although there is no foul language, the screenplay is incredibly daring for its day. Shirley Jones recounts to her fellow whores the time Elmer "rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my father's footsteps" in the pulpit one Christmas Eve, while Gantry propositions Sharon with "I'd like to tear those holy wings off you, make a real woman of you. I'd show you what heaven's like." It's no surprise that MGM pulled out of a planned version in the mid-50s to be produced by and star William Holden (who was so sure the film would be made he turned down the lead in Giant to make it).

It may not be Lancaster's greatest performance, but in true Oscar-winning fashion it's hands down his showiest - at times you want to tell him to put those teeth away before he hurts someone. You know exactly what he is in any given scene, it's putting them all together that makes it hard to get a complete picture. Gantry's semi-redemption is more subtle and complex and elusive than the cinematic norm and therefore more poignant.

Both Simmons and Oscar-winner Jones, cast wildly against type as the fallen woman, are superb. The under-appreciated Arthur Kennedy, in what is almost a dress rehearsal for his cynical reporter bit in Lawrence of Arabia also offers strong support: the moment where his dictation of a newspaper article matches the power of Gantry's oratory and stops the other reporters in their tracks is beautifully underplayed.

The DVD includes a trailer with Lancaster's Gantry selling the film the way he sells religion. Wearing its length lightly and taking you with it every step of the way, this is more than worth the money, with outstanding direction and screenwriting from Richard Brooks and great performances from all concerned, Elmer Gantry is terrific.