Still the supporting cast is brilliant as well. He ends up as a minister in the Episcopal church. He feels little desire to practice what he preaches. Elmers next position is at a church in Monarch. Elmer Gantry shows the necessity and sincerity involved in these functions, as well as the dangers of falling into the trap of hypocrisy and greed, through its highly humanized leads, Elmer Gantry and Sister Sharon Falconer. He speaks in many big cities and acquires a new secretary, Hettie Bowler, with whom he has an affair. They are encouraged by Dr. Zechlin, who tells him that no reasonable person can be a believing Christian; nevertheless, he ought to stay in the church to liberalize it from withinin effect, to destroy it. "Elmer Gantry" United Artists Simon received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her performance as a runaway housewife in "The Happy Ending" (1969), Elmer Gantry is not, however, a movie about making good choices. She is also a pious churchgoer who has always wanted Elmer to become a preacher. The second is the date of WebDaily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state and national news along with advertising. Elmer Gantry: The Trap of Hypocrisy and Greed - Studying After his wedding to Cleo, he gasps to himself, Oh, good God, Ive gone and tied myself up, and I never can have any fun again! His treatment of her on the wedding night is reminiscent of Eddie Schwirtzs treatment of Una Golden. B. It is success that proves faith in this religion, not the other way round. One night, Hetties husband catches them together; blackmail threats follow, and Gantry realizes that Hettie is part of the plot. Over seventy-five years after it first appeared, Elmer Gantry still has power to shock as well as amuse. "Elmer Gantry" can be considered the quintessential exploration into the omnipresent duality existing between a person's religious faith and simultaneous character defects. What Made Buster Keatons Comedy So Modern? | The New Yorker In this scene at the end of the Fired from the ministry after going drinking rather than contacting his new church, he works for two years as a traveling salesman. 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. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance Web"Success is not the key to happiness. Is there really a conflict between science and religion, between reason and faith, or can the two live in harmony? [4] One cleric suggested that Lewis should be imprisoned for five years, and there were also threats of physical violence against the author. Mahlon Potts is the influential minister of the First Methodist Church in Zenith. It was the best-selling work of fiction in America for the year 1927, according to Publishers Weekly.[6]. Two years before adapting Elmer Gantry to the sceen, writer and director Richard Brooks, also adapted and directed The Brothers Karamazov (1958), which featured William Shatner (the original Captain Kirk) in his first movie role, as the saintly brother Alexei. Despite his doubts, and following Zechlins advice, Shallard decides to remain in the church. The result would be the fascist state against which Babbitt, in anticipation of 1984, warns. , Sinclair Lewis and the Method of Half-Truths, in Society and Self in the Novel, Columbia University Press, 1956, pp. In a very Elmer Gantry moment, starting at 2:54, after singing the Lord gave us two good hands, brothers and sisters, one for the givin and one for the takin, Shortly after the publication of Elmer Gantry, H. G. Wells published a widely syndicated newspaper article called "The New American People", in which he largely based his observations of American culture on Lewis' novels. Gantry introduces savvy business practices to Sharons ministry and manipulative psychology to the services themselves, and Sharon becomes wealthy as a result. Firearm Discussion and Resources from AR-15, AK-47, Handguns and more! Lewis seems determined to avoid religious discrimination: all sects appear in equally bad light. His dissatisfaction with his life, as well as his drinking, lying, and philandering give the audience a portrait of an unsavory man. A typical picaresque narrative chronicles the exploits of a rogue, an immoral but not criminal character who lives by his wits. He is so good that it is hard to Bell, a Black youth who had recently transferred out of Central to the High School for Recording Arts, was on Centrals campus to visit one of his former teachers. He joins up with Mrs. Evans Riddle, who teaches New Thought, a Westernized version of Indian religion. He is a simple, decent, pious man who is loved by his congregation. Source: Bryan Aubrey, Critical Essay on Elmer Gantry, in Novels for Students, Thomson Gale, 2006. Based on the evidence in the novel, there is some truth in this comment. She is flirtatious, and able to get men to do her bidding. After two more Reverend Jacob Trosper is the dean and chief executive of Mizpah Theological Seminary. They were outside of respectable societylike Kingsand I am not sure but that this was better for their art and their happiness than to be classed as lecturers, tax-payers, tennis-players, suburban householders, and lovers of dogs.' In the film, Gantry happens upon one of Falconers revivals being held in a country town. At a revival meeting he does not like to include all the preachers in town. She dresses in exotic outfits such as Grecian robes, and uses a gold and white pyramidal altar. It looks like we don't have any synopsis for this title yet. Disappointingly though, Pengillys arguments do not rise above the commonplace. Gantrys conversion makes him the talk of the campus, and Jim soon moves out. Box sets galore! In the following essay excerpt, Dooley calls Elmer Gantry a picaresque novel that begins as a satire of revivalism.. The select mini requires bed leveling and will eventually need you to do a gantry support modification as it is only supported on one side. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Elmer Gantry Watching it today, it is hard to be surprised by any such suggestion since my cynical generation is much more accepting that nothing is what it seems and everyone has an agenda. comment. According to Mark Schorer, in his introduction to Sinclair Lewis: A Collection of Critical Essays, No novel in the history of American literature outraged its audience so completely, and very few novels in American literature had a larger immediate audience. The book was banned in Boston and other cities and denounced from hundreds of pulpits. He manipulates his way into Sister Sharon Falconer (played brilliantly by the late Jean Simmons who should have won an Oscar for her performance in this role). WebHappy Birthday # 75..Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey, An Actress. Elmer Gantry may have a rather unsavoury past but the one thing he can do better than anyone is sell himself, pots, pans, anything. The novel tells the story of a young, narcissistic, womanizing college athlete who abandons his early ambition to become a lawyer. Lewiss version of what passed for religion in the United States of the 1920s brought him threats against his life and gave his name the same rhetorical function in Protestant fundamentalist sermons as that of Clarence Darrow, Darwin, and the devil himself. WebElmer Gantry. Jim observes his defeat from his bed, laid ill with a bug no doubt divinely-sent. And even if you saw the big sign outside, you probably wouldn't know that this is specifically an Ethiopian restaurant, and a very good one. In his preparation for the ministry, it is ironic that Elmer plagiarizes his first (and most frequently useful) sermon from the social reformer Robert G. Ingersoll: Love is the only bow on lifes dark cloud. The clash between fundamentalists and liberals comes to a dramatic and violent climax in the final incident involving Shallard. Web1. Gantry uses his own quick wit and Bible knowledge to become an indispensable part of Sister Sharon's roadshow, but his past soon catches up with him in the form of Lulu Bains, now a prostitute. Driven by ambition to become a bishop, he is hugely successful, and is given bigger and bigger churches. In 1944, his son Lieutenant Wells Lewis was killed in action in France during World War II. Ed. Besides being an effective satire targeted against religious hypocrisy, Elmer Gantry provides insight into the clash of cultural forces in America in the 1920s. Initially, he is an enemy of Elmer and tries to prevent him from becoming president of the student body for the second time. 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. 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. In this essay, Aubrey discusses how Lewiss characterization in Elmer Gantry serves his satiric purpose. Elmer Gantry and Sister Sharon Falconer, the two main religious leaders of the film, are portrayed as morally dubious though Gantry has a small redemption and Falconer clearly truly believes in her cause. With Jim (who is more skeptical and quick-witted than Gantry) home sick in bed, Gantry attends the meeting with his mother and is converted. There is no character development, and so Elmer, after his character is first established, does not change during the course of the novel. User Ratings ." Directed and written by Richard Brooks, based on the 1927 novel by Sinclair Lewis. But shifting moods again, she can acknowledge that she is just an ignorant young woman with a lot of misdirected energyand even an evil one: Oh, I hate the little vicessmoking, swearing, scandal, drinking just enough to be silly. He looks stern and Elmer is afraid of him. In Newark, New Jersey, Alvin Shipwreck Kelly sat atop a flagpole for twelve days, and in Chicago, the gangster Al Capone was tightening his grip on bootlegging. Within the Protestant church, a battle rages between the traditionalists, or fundamentalists, who believe in the literal truth of the Bible, and the liberals, who believe that some parts of the Bible may be understood in a symbolic sense. A hundred and eleven people died that night, including all the gospel-crew save Elmer.. Although it's difficult to know if Gantry's spiritual motivation is genuine or merely a ploy, throughout the film, one is kept guessing. 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. As a preacher, he shamelessly plays on peoples emotions and their fear of Hell. He uses the church to further his own ambitions for power and fame. There, Gantry befriends the Methodist bishop and is appointed pastor of a church in Banjo Crossing. . Still, Falconer dies for her beliefs and is shown to fervently believe in God; she clearly wants to save people. The public has the power to end the careers of Falconer J. E. North is the executive secretary of the National Association for the Purification of Art and the Press (Napap). Like everything else in the Lone Star State, our dreams were big from the start. How long would a drunkard listen to the counsel of one who had never been inside a saloon? ." In order to conquer her, he must use his extensive repertoire of biblical quips, quotes and bawdy antidotes. She's a true believer. It is a fairly narrow assault, since Lewiss targets are confined to Protestant churches and revival campaigns, but within that range, Lewiss fire is deadly and continuous. He is friendly but self-important; everyone thinks he is popular, but in fact he has almost no friends. Later Frank is thrown from the church and he ventures forth as a worker in a charity organization. Novels for Students. He begins a course of home study, in a brief episode which must play ironically against Benjamin Franklins self-education. And yet Lewiss attitude to his character is a little more complex than this long list of his faults might suggest. Elmer reads Browning, Tennyson, Dickens. As he gains experience, Elmer attempts to broaden his mind. JayDee's Movie Musings - Page 106 - Movie Forums He later becomes a lawyer. Mark Schorer, in his biography of Lewis, records a remark that Lewis made to his friend Richards Brooks in 1946. While Gantry seeks and eventually gets forgiveness from Sharon, tragedy strikes when she finally manages to get out of her revivalist tent and opens a permanent church. Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on twentieth century literature. 41930. The dean sends Gantry and classmate Frank Shallard to pastor a nearby church. Gantry befriends a famous criminal attorney, T. J. Rigg, who becomes his adviser and confidant. A lady runs by Elmer in a blue jacket, and her jacket is on fire. Elmer wants to marry her but she says she is too old for marriage (she is thirty-two, three or four years older than Elmer) and she must also remain free to devote herself to her missionary work. Singer Patti Page in her first film role, with Burt Lancaster, in "Elmer Gantry", Opening title of "Elmer Gantry" (1960), directed by Richard Brooks, Richard Brooks directs Burt Lancaster and Shirley Jones in "Elmer Gantry", Jean Simmons & Lancaster: Italian movie poster for "Elmer Gantry", Shirely Jones (2nd from left) & Lancaster (far right), with Oscars, 1961, Lancaster as Elmer Gantry: "When I was a child, I understood as a child", Rosy Simas of Rosy Simas Danse is Haudenosaunee, Seneca, Heron Clan. Elmer Gantry is a picaresque novel. A novel set from 1920 to 1922 in Zenith, an imaginary midwestern American city; published in 1922. 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. We are all bored by tired old men explaining the Bible through their noses! WebBethel Merriday, by Sinclair Lewis, free ebook. Later on , newspapers publicize Preacher preys and he becomes into a discredited preacher . Jones is too frothy, but when she appears halfway through, she adds bubbles to a long movie that was starting to go flat. gantry Elmer will end up using all of these strategies himself, to great success. 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. After exposing the professors secret, Gantry receives an anonymous gift of thirty dimes, which he uses to buy photographs of strippers. The boy sees the preacher as a man who can possibly heal his crippled leg. For Sheldon Norman Grebstein, writing in 1962, the novel has snap, flavor, a strong narrative line, a good deal of authenticity But it is distorted, even too much for satire; it lacks conflict and contrast. In a generally favorable assessment, James Lundquist, in Sinclair Lewis, brings attention to Lewiss mastery of irony, but he also comments on a weakness in the plot, arguing that the final crisis Elmer faces is unconvincing in its details. It is Elmers Napoleonic ambition to combine all such organizations to the greater glory of himself: He would combine in one association all the moral organizations in Americaperhaps, later, in the entire world. "You're all sinners! Before Falconer and Gantry set up their revival in Zenith, a large city which is described as a place where Falconer and Gantry can become famous, Falconers revivals were held in the country and in small towns. Light examines what he sees as quixotic elements in the novel, especially in the characters Sharon Falconer and Frank Shallard. WebMake Your Picks. She engages in worthy activities at the church in Banjo Crossing, and falls in love with Elmer. One should imagine instead, I think, that she might have the same great-grandaddy as President Lyndon Baines Johnson: Baptist preacher George Baines. Later, in the middle of a church service, Gantry realizes that he misses Hettie but quickly spots a new choir member whom he hopes to get to know better. Pursuing a career as a freelance writer, Lewis began to produce fiction with ease and ingenuity, and he published five novels from 1912 to 1919. His specialty is in denouncing vice, and in Zenith he even leads a police raid on the local dens of iniquity. He is immediately (540) 7.7 2 h 26 min 1960 13+. When he at last finds the courage, now that he is out of the church, to speak his mind, he is viciously attacked and blinded by fundamentalist fanatics. To his understanding of Lewiss art, Jones seems to add firsthand knowledge about wartime religious revivals. ), Elmers friend Jim Lefferts, a freethinker, has a somewhat wider list than Elmer: an encyclopedia, Pickwick, Swinburne, Ingersoll, and Paine. I believe! How would you describe his demeanor? I just spend two days at my best friends' home for his father's funerals, and during the obligatory moments of life contemplation, we were wondering what was awaiting us all. I am really and truly sanctified! Gaining and keeping followers is the key to the success of any religion, and religious leaders must recognize this and figuratively, though sometimes literally, sell the religion. Throughout the novel, clergymen and the church are presented in an extremely unflattering light. But the only good ministers of the Gospel seem to be those who, like Dr. Bruno Zechlin, the Old Testament scholar at Mizpah, have given up their religious beliefs. He sees her as a conquest. After college, he attends a Baptist seminary and is ordained as a Baptist minister. Webdc.title: Elmer Gantry. , Sinclair Lewis: An American Life, McGraw Hill, 1961, pp. Yet at the fire, it is Sharon who is heroic. But soon the church tightens its grip on him; and for Elmer, there is no possibility of lighting out for the territory. Tough pla takes the ease of use of regular pla and steps it up. Despite their reservations about the dignity of revival-style preaching, many of the pastors agree that it would be best for their congregations to get excited about Christianity again in hopes that this would subsequently bolster attendance. 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. Fascinating - 1960's "Elmer Gantry," based on the Sinclair Lewis novel, could be made today with nothing changed and be as powerful - maybe more powerful - than it was in 1960. This short scene is written from Elmers point of view. Salesman Elmer Gantry, salesman teams up with evangelist Sister Sharon Falconer to sell religion to 1920s America. In Elmer Gantry, the object of Lewiss satire is not only Elmer himselfwho after the tabernacle fire rescued at least thirty people who had already rescued themselves .but the entire clerical profession and the fundamentalist Protestant dogmas they represent. "Elmer Gantry - Summary" Literary Essentials: Christian Fiction and Nonfiction The pious but stupid Eddie complains that [E]verything we Baptists stand for is threatened by those darn so-called liberals . He is referring to the practice of open communion, which is favored by liberals, as opposed to the closed communion of the fundamentalists, according to which only Baptists are allowed to participate in the rite. Some while later Shallard goes on a lecture tour to speak against fundamentalism. But was booted out of seminary for seducing the preachers daughter, Lulu Baines (Shirley Jones). Thats Elmer Gantry. But they could be healed constantly, and of the same disease.. While managing to cover up certain sexual indiscretions, he is thrown out of the seminary before completing his BD because he is too drunk to turn up at a church where he is supposed to preach. Elmer denounces his old classmate Shallard, who now preaches at a Congregational church in Zenith, calling him practically an atheist. Overhead traveling cranes are used in industrial buildings to lift and transport heavy jobs, machines, and so on, from one place to another. Edward Shillito, "Elmer Gantry and the Church in America", This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 16:54. During the opening service, with a crowd of more than four thousand, fire breaks out. It tells the story of a hypocritical, corrupt, but very successful preacher named Elmer Gantry. Concerning about some preachers exact wealth and power from their congregration . External Reviews Elmer cheats, he boasts, he lies, he deceives. No! He is no Harry Zenz or Bruno Zechlin, who have both thought deeply about theology and have emerged as atheists. Since he is ordinarily only a caricature, we cannot consider him a believeable human being; and when Lewis tells us that he has a conscience, we refuse to believe it. On publication in 1927, Elmer Gantry created a public furor. Elmer despises him. Shirley Jones won Best Supporting Actress for her role as the preachers daughter turned prostitute. Elmer Gantry | Encyclopedia.com After Sharon dismisses him in favor of Elmer, Cecil tries to conduct a rescue mission in Buffalo. GENRE: Fiction, nonfiction The new Wellspring Church has been built, and Elmer is awarded an honorary doctorate from Abernathy College. Schorer, Mark, Afterword, in Elmer Gantry, Signet Classics edition, New American Library, 1967, pp. Write a brief character sketch of Frank Shallard and describe his role in the novel. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Hettie Dowler becomes Elmers secretary at Zenith when Elmer is already famous. 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. On a rainy, cool day Ha Tien is a warm and welcoming site. "Religion and Sports: Three Muscular Christians in American Literature". He is a born salesman well versed with the bible. After Elmer dumps her for Hettie, Lulu loses interest in life. Elmer is, obviously enough, an example of the latter. They hypnotize themselves, says Jim Lefferts to Elmer, trying to persuade him not to go along with it. He possesses none of the cardinal virtues and many of the cardinal sins. Required fields are marked *. As Lewis so devastatingly wrote, Elmer got everything from the church and Sunday School, except, perhaps, any longing whatever for decency and kindness and reason. The implication is that those three qualities were not present in the Baptist church of Paris, Kansas. As Elmer turns an attractive and charming preacher with a large audience . Cecil Aylston is Sharon Falconers assistant. Quarles has no time for vain arguments that lead nowhere! Quarles is hostile to the kind of free intellectual inquiry that the liberals advocate, and he relies instead on prayer and faith. A modernist movement, led by such preachers as Harry Emerson Fosdick and reinforced by the essays that appeared in The Christian Century, was concerned with making the church more of a live option for the intellectual and the sophisticated city dweller. 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. Elmer Gantry (DVD, 2001, Vintage Classics Frank Shallard is a student at Mizpah Theological Seminary, but he doubts the literal truth of the Bible. The journey of Judge Joan Lefkow Hartford Courant Wests point is a telling one. At the end of the novel, Elmer is on bended knee, praying, We shall yet make these United States moral nation! The irony in Elmers last statement underscores the immorality of the kind of enforced morality Elmer has in mind. NATIONALITY: British He is influenced by the atheistic Dr. Zechlin who lends him theological works by liberals and skeptics. C The Imitation Game told the story of this Englishman who document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2022 The University of Alabama A charming conman pretends to be a preacher and romances a roadside revivalist. Pretending to be outraged, Elmer resigns his position. Harry Zenz vehemently disagrees with Eddie. Elmer Gantry (1960) mistakes - Moviemistakes.com Indeed, why doesnt he? He takes care to point out that people return again and again to get converted, which would seem to negate the idea that they are saved in a once in a lifetime experience. The film is basically how Hollywood, in the late 1950s, viewed tent religion in the early part of the twentieth century. Elmer Gantry was first published in the United States by Harcourt Trade Publishers in March 1927, dedicated by Lewis to the American journalist and satirist H. L. Mencken. More mundane examples include the star power of Scientology and Christian rock concerts. "Elmer Gantry" is an amazing film that does not seem dated at all, having lost none of its bite or appeal with the passing of time. Then read chapter 30, section 5, where Jim reappears. 99107. Shirley Jones small part made the movie. The angriest of Lewiss novels, Elmer Gantry seems to arise from impulses that invert the quixotic. But it's Elmer's past, which catches up with him in Zenith, that may be his, and by association Sister Sharon's, downfall. The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Okla.), Vol. 57, No. 175, Liking the idea of having power over an audience, Elmer convinces himself he has been called to the ministry.