Brothers and Sisters! As I look upon the Rotten Tomatoes reviews of Elmer Gantry, I am overwhelmed by the criticism that I see. Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum accuses director Richard Brooks of being "the ultimate vulgarizer of serious literature." "If not for the amazing performance of Burt Lancaster, the film would collapse under its own self-righteousness," suggests reviewer Wesley Lovell. But, do not heed these false prophets! These representatives of media and academia. Elmer Gantry is actually a fine film that works as both a character piece and religious/social commentary.
Looking at some of the cast, one might think that the film is full of one-note characters whose only purpose is to contribute to the social commentary. There's George F. Babbitt (Edward Andrews), a businessman who puts his financial concerns above moral ones. There's William Morgan (Dean Jagger), revival producer/promoter who seems more interested in filling seats than saving souls. There's Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons), a self-made revival leader who allows herself to be used by Gantry. Then there's Gantry himself, with Burt Lancaster giving what some deem to be an over-the-top perfrormance. Gantry, the charlatan who uses his skills as a salesman to bring more people into the revival. Gantry, the man who can't resist his vices. Gantry, who seems to be genuinely moved by the Spirit. Gantry, who uses Sister Sharon before attempting to save her. Wait, perhaps there's more to Brother Gantry than simple satire. As a matter of fact, there is something that Brooks brings to most of the characters of the film - Love! Love, the morning and the evening star. From Sister Sharon to Morgan to Lefferts to Gantry to Lulu, Brooks shows enough love and empathy for his characters to make them multidimensional beings. Sister Sharon plays the victim most of the film, her piety dirtied by Gantry, but the film finishes with her assuming power and being destroyed by misplaced faith/hubris. Lulu alternates between being furiously angry with Gantry and desperately in love with him. Morgan protects Sister Sharon in a way that shows both appreciation and exploitation. Lefferts wants to bring Gantry's revival down, but by attacking his arguments and movement rather than by the character assassination of Gantry. He even seems to vacillate between admiration and repulsion for Gantry.
Oh, my friends, Elmer Gantry is a messy ol' film. It moralizes. It's heavy handed. It somersaults. But! It also portrays interesting characters. It gets at the essence of one man's complicated relationship with religion. It's a 1960s morality film that still has relevance. Elmer Gantry's a hell of a film, alright.
Side Notes
There's an interesting point about humanity wanting some kind of perfect being ruling over it and guiding human actions. As Lefferts says, "[people] don't like their gods to be human." It's far more comfortable to think of our deities - and even political leaders and artists - as flawless. Yet, Brooks suggests with Gantry's last lines, perhaps this lack of acceptance of any gray area is overly naive or simplistic given the complex universe that we inhabit. "When I was a child, I understood as a child and spake as a child," Gantry tells a crowd (quoting 1 Corinthians 13:11) that hopes he will reassure them and pardon their failings. "When I became a man, I put away childish things." We can read this as Gantry having a moral realization, but perhaps we can also read it as him having grown into a man who understands the world - and himself - as it is.
Something one of the characters mention - "people often find religion after a war" - got me thinking about another film that deals with individual's relationships to a modern religious movement and each other. While they have different focuses and extremely different tones, it's still interesting to think of Elmer Gantry and The Master as spiritual cousins. Anderson's film makes the religious aspects slightly more peripheral in order to focus on the interplay between the characters, but religion is still very much a part of The Master. Brooks and Lewis's emphasis is much more satirical, but Brooks still manages to develop interesting characters. The films' central characters - Quills and Gantry - spend most of the film using a religious movement (in one way or another) as a crutch before ultimately severing ties and moving on. Neither The Master nor Elmer Gantry tell us what precisely happens to them, but we assume that they'll still be stumbling through this world on their own.
Crew & Cast
Written & Directed by Richard Brooks (The Professionals, In Cold Blood, Blackboard Jungle, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Lord Jim)
Cast
Burt Lancaster - Elmer Gantry
Jean Simmons - Sharon Falconer
Arthur Kennedy - Jim Lefferts
Dean Jagger - William L. Morgan
Shirley Jones - Lulu Bains
Patti Page - Sister Rachel
Edward Andrews - George F. Babbitt