Elmer Gantry Review

Elmer Gantry

by Kim Newman |
Published on
Release Date:

19 Jun 1960

Running Time:

141 minutes

Certificate:

PG

Original Title:

Elmer Gantry

Compared to this searing version of Sinclair Lewis' novel, movies like Leap Of Faith have been soft on hypocritical evangelists.

Lancaster won an Oscar as the eponymous fire-breathing bible-basher, a heaven huckster who preaches a blue streak and then indulges in as many sins of the flesh as could be shown in a 1960 film. Elmer latches onto sincerely saintly Jean Simmons and corrupts her crusade (and, of course, her) by invoking the Almighty as he chases the almighty dollar and preaching that the lion shall lay down with the lamb as he sets about laying down with anything in a skirt.

Bitingly satirical at first, with Lancaster prefiguring Steve Martin by making the awful Elmer almost bearable because he's so entertaining, this gets progressively nastier and winds up with an impressive hellfire finish.

Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website, we never allow this to influence product selections - read why you should trust us