After Sharon dismisses him in favor of Elmer, Cecil tries to conduct a rescue mission in Buffalo. Institutionalized religion has attracted its fair share of satirical assaults in its time, but Elmer Gantry must surely rank as the most savage in American literature. He is coerced into becoming a minister because his family, his town, and his college are so tightly structured around the church. Think about how Jim would view Elmer, and how he might react to what Elmer says. ****. He raises money to build a new church. Contact UA. That night he has doubts, but he is persuaded to speak the following night at the Y.M.C.A. WebMemorable Moments. Consider the character of Jim Lefferts, as revealed in the first three chapters. Lancaster's vitality as a sinful preacher lights up the screen "Love is the morning and the evening star! They were intended to feed the American dream, but instead fashioned the nightmareout of books! WebToday universally recognized as a landmark in American literature, Elmer Gantry scandalized readers when it was first published, causing Sinclair Lewis to be "invited" to a jail cell in New Hampshire and to his own lynching in Virginia. As with any service, the revivals in Elmer Gantry would not be put on if the pastors and congregations of these areas did not have a demand for them. Despite his doubts, and following Zechlins advice, Shallard decides to remain in the church. Welcome to the blog of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. 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. Elmer Gantry fails because it is neither a realistic portrayal of the state of religion in America nor a caricature whose manifest unfairness can be forgiven because of the wit and humor which have gone into it. But both the show and their relationship are threatened when one of Gantry's ex-lovers decides that she must settle a score with the charismatic performer. As Mark Schorer has pointed out, Elmer is rarely aware of himself as a hypocrite and achieves neither insight nor growth. He becomes so successful that he becomes indispensable to Sister Sharon's roadshow. His decision to enter the ministry is dishonest and contrary to his own nature, and it costs him the respect and friendship of his agnostic college roommate, Jim Lefferts. 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. He rammed the fear of God into me so fast, Lulu says of her willing seduction behind the altar, I never heard my old mans footsteps.. I guess it's hard to imagine that your beloved one has faded into nothingness, so religion brings you a certain psychological comfort in knowing that there's such a thing as a soul and that, depending on a man's life, it gets the treatment it deserves. Sharon soon fires her assistant, Cecil Alyston, and appoints Elmer as his replacement. Initially, he is an enemy of Elmer and tries to prevent him from becoming president of the student body for the second time. Pengilly sees through him with the spiritual eye of an eagle, and asks, Mr. When a charismatic preacher comes to town for a revival meeting, he seeks out Gantry and tricks him into attending. McGarry accidentally reveals Shallards doubts to Gantry, so Gantry uses them to defame Shallard as part of a campaign to raise money for a new church building. Gantry is an over-the-top opportunistic traveling salesman who teams up with evangelist Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons) to promote religion in 1920's America. And yet Lewiss attitude to his character is a little more complex than this long list of his faults might suggest. The attendants give her their money, she leaves after a short period of time, and then the attendants are no better off and short on money. Where she is quiet and gentle with her manner of preaching, he is all fire and brimstone, literally throwing himself about the audience and inflaming them into repentance. Jim doubts the literal truth of the Bible and has contempt for the church. 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. But he is caught stealing from the collection and is fired. Although it's difficult to know if Gantry's spiritual motivation is genuine or merely a ploy, throughout the film, one is kept guessing. Excellent recounting based on the controversial Sinclair Lewis novel that got three Academy Awards . Another famous name was Aimee Semple McPherson (18901944), a female evangelist who clearly resembled the fictional Sharon Falconer. Your email address will not be published. Miss West points to Frank Shallards accusation against Jesus: Did He ever suggest sanitation, which would have saved millions from plagues? She comments, As for the suggestion that Christ should have halted on the way to the Cross to recommend the American bathroom, it ought to go into the Americana section of the American Mercury. She concludes her essay as follows: If [Lewis] would sit still so that life could make any deep impression on him, if he would attach himself to the human tradition by occasionally reading a book which would set him a standard of profundity, he could give his genius a chance. Miss West expresses a prevailing attitude toward Lewis, but she does not, I think, understand what his best books accomplished. "Elmer Gantry" United Artists Simon received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her performance as a runaway housewife in "The Happy Ending" (1969), In it he established ties with Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith. Gantry introduces savvy business practices to Sharons ministry and manipulative psychology to the services themselves, and Sharon becomes wealthy as a result. 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. I have long felt that Burt Lancaster often made movies great because his acting was much bigger-than-life, and he also helped degrade a few movies for this very same reason. We see Gantry the narcissistic conman, Gantry the philanthropist, Gantry the flamboyant showman. Burt Lancaster is bold and provocative as the title character who is preaching to you one moment and drunk and surly the other. Elmer Gantry, like the big Lewis novels that preceded it, is centrally concerned with the struggle between the old and the new. He hates piety and prefers drunkenness, profanity, and seducing women. How long would a drunkard listen to the counsel of one who had never been inside a saloon? Like ordinary mortals, she is often weary. 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. This film is not only good; it misses being great by a narrow margin. It was on the steamer home that he met and became intimate with J. E. North, the renowned vice-slayer, executive secretary of the National Association for the Purification of Art and the Pressaffectionately known through all the evangelical world as the Napap. Mr. North was not a clergyman (though he was a warm Presbyterian layman), but no clergyman in the country had more furiously pursued wickedness, more craftily forced congressmen, through threats in their home districts, to see legislation in the same reasonable manner as himself. Besides being an effective satire targeted against religious hypocrisy, Elmer Gantry provides insight into the clash of cultural forces in America in the 1920s. Finally, the Elmer Gantry script is here for all you quotes spouting fans of the Burt Lancaster movie. This abridged version of Sinclair Lewiss novel of the same name focuses on Elmer Gantry, a con man expelled from seminary school, and Sister Sharon Falconer, a character loosely based on evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Throughout the novel, clergymen and the church are presented in an extremely unflattering light. But though this satire is perhaps the best part of the book, revivalism is not the only target. I once dated (briefly) a guy who sold steel. Lewis attacked it as no more than mass hysteria. Dont be afraid! Matthew Gregory Lewis Russia is a European country. The fundamentalists also have to deal with outright skeptics, like Jim Lefferts, and covert atheists like Dr. Zechlin. A typical picaresque narrative chronicles the exploits of a rogue, an immoral but not criminal character who lives by his wits. After dinner, the drunken Elmer picks a fight with a man who is heckling Eddie Fislinger, a fellow Terwillinger College student, as he preaches to an outdoor crowd. Required fields are marked *. How would you describe his demeanor? The Trylon features 50 deluxe rocker seats, a 20-foot screen, and a pair of Century Model SA 35mm projectors. Laws, the number of times youve explained! Elmer is beset on all sides; his mother, the YMCA, the president of the college, even a visiting evangelistall single him out in their prayers and exhortations. Schorer also says that, while researching the book, Lewis attended two or three church services every Sunday while in Kansas City, and that: "He took advantage of every possible tangential experience in the religious community." For the most part they are hypocrites, not even believing the doctrines they preach to their congregations every week. His flamboyant preaching style makes a big impression on the small town. For such a high-spirited boy as Elmer, this was such a limited, stifling environment to grow up in that it effectively steered him away from the kind of occupation that would have suited him much better: It was lamentable to see this broad young man, who would have been so happy in the prize-ring, the fish-market, or the stock exchange, poking through the cobwebbed corridors of Terwillinger.. WebElmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster) is a slick traveling salesman who is a boozer and a dog hound. After she admits to Elmer that she loves to dance, she says, Oh, of course I roast dancing in my sermons, but I meanwhen its with people like us, that understand, its not like with worldly people, where it would lead to evil. It is not hard to see how she and Elmer are a perfect match. Opposition to the movement was vicious; Fosdick was ousted from his New York pulpit, and in the Bible Belt and the deep south, fundamentalism cranked itself up into a powerful machine that found expression through anti-evolution measures volumes of blue laws, and the Ku Klux Klan. Despite this though the film is still quite engaging and enjoyable as it delves into this world with a certain amount of glee; the fact that it peels off this world to look at Gantry specifically is a bit of a shame because it cuts under that focus a little. McPherson was involved in a scandal in 1926. If there was a soul to be saved - Gantry would save it. Elmer Gantry is a fast talking, hard drinking traveling salesman who always has a risqu story and a hip flask to entertain cronies and customers alike. Gary H. Mayer, "Love is More Than the Evening Star: A Semantic Analysis of Elmer Gantry and The Man Who Knew Coolidge". In 1926, Lewis refused the Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith, because he believed it would compromise his artistic independence. 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. Charles W. Ferguson, in the Bookman, described Elmer Gantry as a glorious lampoon, although he also commented that the novel was a social commentary and not a work of fictional art. He was supposed to bring peace to mankind. After he had become a celebrity, Lewis usually managed to avoid controversy over his books by being out of the United States when they appeared. She tells Elmer that she has visions; God talks to her. He also forms a Committee on Public Morals, persuades the police to make him a temporary lieutenant, and personally leads raids on the red-light districts. She engages in worthy activities at the church in Banjo Crossing, and falls in love with Elmer. manhattan cruise terminal schedule; did mayim bialik work as a neuroscientist; holden one tonner for sale sa; romans 12:2 passion translation; go bus galway to shannon airport; lili thomas buffett child; Nach Kategorien. He is a social climber and a publicity seeker. He denounces other churches for their laxity in condemning sin. Gantry's entire repertoire is performed with encyclopedic thoroughness and accuracy. After exposing the professors secret, Gantry receives an anonymous gift of thirty dimes, which he uses to buy photographs of strippers. The new Wellspring Church has been built, and Elmer is awarded an honorary doctorate from Abernathy College. At their next revival, the tent catches fire and kills a hundred people, including Sharon, but Gantry climbs over trapped women and escapes. He calls out to God for help. He wonders whether he might have become a great chemist, which would surely have been better (and more profitable) than year after year again of standing in the pulpit and knowing your congregation dont remember what youve said seven minutes after youve said it. From discontented dean, who never appears again, the narrative moves immediately to the aged parents of the deans wife. Simmons is too wispy, and her plummy accent slips through and jars this very American story. But we sure view it differently 80 years after the book and 55 years after the movie debuted. If "Elmer Gantry" worked better than most was largely due to Brooks ability to tell a rattling good yarn at a cracking pace and to the performances of a superb cast. Whatever I may choose to do, though it might be sin in one unsanctified, with me God will turn it to his glory. The growth of fundamentalist Christianity in contemporary America is a source of bafflement to those who just don't get it; including, by and large, the movie industry, which may like to end its films with sanctimonious moralising, but which usually reserves the right to serve us substantial portions of sex and violence beforehand. He is immediately attracted to her and also sees her revival meetings as a way to make money. He had been a solitary in college, generous but fastidious, jarred by his classmates belching and sudden laughter. Like Carol Kennicott, he suffers a betrayal by books, for his reasoning had been turned from an examination of men as mammals to the mystic theories of souls and their salvation. Schorer analyzes the novels lack of conflict and dramatic counterpoint; there are no obstacles to Elmers success, since the good characters are weak and play only peripheral roles and there are no competing orders of value, since everything is corrupt. The result would be the fascist state against which Babbitt, in anticipation of 1984, warns. As Granty flashes with his silver smile but he has a dark past . They also name Billy Sunday. He also raised large amounts of money at his meetings, and like Elmer Gantry, he was one of he first evangelists to spread his message through the new technology of radio. So scandalous was Lewiss portrayal of religion that the novel was banned in several cities and denounced from pulpits across the nation. Shallard is forced to resign. 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. A novel set from 1920 to 1922 in Zenith, an imaginary midwestern American city; published in 1922. Then from 1918 to 1920 he is in Sparta, where the population is 129,000. With the characterization and strong personalities of these two characters, it is easy to assume a one-sided relationship between Gantry and Falconer and their congregants, but this is not the case. Mark Schorer, then of the University of California, Berkeley, notes: "The forces of social good and enlightenment as presented in Elmer Gantry are not strong enough to offer any real resistance to the forces of social evil and banality." Richard Brooks spent years trying to bring ELMER GANTRY to the screen. Anywhere. 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. Gene Warren and Tim Baar, The Time Machine. At a revival meeting he does not like to include all the preachers in town. User Ratings Sharon Falconer is a charismatic evangelist who travels around the country holding spectacular revival meetings. Some found it repugnant and accused Lewis of grossly distorting his subject matter. In order to conquer her, he must use his extensive repertoire of biblical quips, quotes and bawdy antidotes. He goes to live with his niece and dies within two years. 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. Thus, Schorer concludes, there is no pressure upon Elmer to be forced into a position of new self-awareness. The book was banned in Boston and other cities and denounced from pulpits across the United States. The trouble is, he needed a good reason for his broad and over-the-top acting. Transforming the community and its residents is the main goal of Northside food system organizers, who are using food as a tool to aid in that transformation. We are back in the land of wizards and ogres once more. At the start of the novel Elmer is a college football player so little given to piety that he is known as Hell-cat. At the end of the book he is Dr. Gantry, minister of the large Wellspring Methodist Church in Zenith, with hopes of becoming the head of a national moral-rearmament organization, the National Association for the Purification of the Arts and the Press (Napap). Robert J. Higgs. Blessed Virgin, Mother Hera, Mother Frigga, Mother Ishtar, Mother Isis, dread Mother Astarte of the weaving arms, it is thy priestess . They read from the Song of Solomon. Elmer joins the Methodists and is sent to the small town of Banjo Crossing, where he falls in love with Cleo Benham, the daughter of a church trustee. Elmer himself had owned two volumes of Conan Doyle, one of E. P. Roe, and a priceless copy of Only a Boy. His literary inspirations were McGuffeys Readers, Nick Carter, Bible stories, and such stock characters as Little Lame Tom who shamed the wicked rich man that owned the handsome team of grays and the pot hat and led him to Jesus. The target of his earthly desires is Beautiful Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons) a sincere, but fallible woman out to build a ministry. A lady runs by Elmer in a blue jacket, and her jacket is on fire. Lloyd Naylor, who is in love with Lulu, complains to Lulus father about Elmers amorous conduct towards her. Jim Lefferts is Elmers roommate and his only friend at Terwillinger College. Movie Forums . He could hear her wailing, Dont be afraid! Grebstein, Sheldon Norman, Sinclair Lewis, Twayne United States Authors Series, No. It comes when Elmer regales Pengilly with a self-congratulatory story about the success of Elmers ministry in Zenith. Then his past comes back to haunt him in the form of Lulu Bains (Shirley Jones) who is now a prostitute. Literally, in one case, when the tabernacle catches fire at the end of the movie. Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on twentieth century literature. In Zenith, Elmer meets Bishop Toomis, a prominent figure in the Methodist Church. At his Lively Sunday Evenings, Elmer gets up to many publicity-generating stunts. Webdc.title: Elmer Gantry. plus-circle Add Review. 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. When Deacon Bains discovers Gantrys affair with Lulu and forces him to propose, Gantry tricks another man into an entanglement with Lulu and is released from the engagement. Once Gantry accuses the city government of protecting the brothels and drug dealers, he becomes one of the most powerful men in Zenith. 99107. After the fire and Sharons death, Elmer is conscience-stricken. Traveling in the Southwest, he is beaten and blinded. One such character is the dean of Terwillinger College, who makes a brief appearance in chapter 4, section 3, in which he wonders, in conversation with his wife, whether he has sacrificed too much by going into the ministry. Shallard is then attacked by religious fanatics and blinded. Traveling with the show is Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jim Lefferts, who looks at the show and Elmer with a critical eye, although Sister Sharon, William, and Elmer welcome him. 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. Paperback June 3, 2014. date the date you are citing the material. 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. WebC The Imitation Game told the story of this Englishman who designed an early from ENGL 1101 at Georgia State University Nevertheless, it is soon apparent that he has gone too far; to him, Christianity is not only untrue, but inconceivable. She had bought the plantation just two years before. But Page plays the small role of choir leader Sister Rachel. When he finally got the green light, it was United Artists that agreed to distribute the film. The legal profession does not suit the unethical Gantry. It is success that proves faith in this religion, not the other way round. 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. In another service a couple comes forward to ask that Falconer cure the husbands deafness. 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. Then read chapter 30, section 5, where Jim reappears. After several failed efforts to hear God calling him to the ministry, Gantry shares a bottle of whiskey with Jim and emerges with the feeling of having received the call. He does not really hate sin, because it is useful to him: the more vice he can discover and denounce, the more his reputation as a man of God grows. Elmer at first returns her affection, and they get married. Stidger introduced Lewis to many other clergymen, among them the Reverend Leon Milton Birkhead, a Unitarian and an agnostic. Elizabeth S. Prioleau, "The Minister and the Seductress in American Fiction: The Adamic Myth Reduz". 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. When hedonistic but charming con man Elmer Gantry meets the beautiful Sister Sharon Falconer, a roadside revivalist, he feigns piousness to join her act as a passionate preacher. In fact, the question of whether Elmer is a human being or an ogre in the novel is a relevant one. During his final year he is restless and bored, but he is given a Sunday appointment at a country church in Schoenheim, eleven miles away, with Frank Shallard as his assistant. "Elmer Gantry Elmer Gantry was raised by his mother, a staunch Baptist, in the small town of Paris, Kansas. 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. In his ever lustful sights is a voluptuous female preacher. 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. He advises Elmer not to denounce vice directly, by naming names and giving addresses of illegal drinking places, because the owners of such buildingswho of course have no knowledge of any illegal activitiesare often leading church contributors and attacking them would jeopardize their support for the church. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. SYNOPSIS He spends a year there, and three years in Vulcan, where Cleo gives birth to two children. Lewis seems determined to avoid religious discrimination: all sects appear in equally bad light. I'm not talking about what happens just before the end, but Elmer tries but fails to continue as an independent evangelist. His dissatisfaction with his life, as well as his drinking, lying, and philandering give the audience a portrait of an unsavory man. He befriends Frank Shallard. It must have been for acting against type, coming off wholesome musical Oklahoma! 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. 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. Gantry maintains friendships with most pastors in Zenith but loathes Philip McGarry, a pastor in a poor neighborhood who has been a friend and mentor to Shallard. This site built with Project Largo from INN and proudly powered by WordPress. WebElmer turns to Rigg for help, who hires a detective to dig up incriminating evidence against Hettie and her husband. The film is beautifully visual and as Elmer Gantry's past comes haunting again to tarnish the tent revival and watch Gantry and Sister Sharon fall again. Elmer Gantry, like Arrowsmith, is an account of career development. It tells the story of a hypocritical, corrupt, but very successful preacher named Elmer Gantry. Thus Rebecca West could write incisively about the religious and historical perspectives of Elmer Gantry: The passages in the book which present to one what Mr. Lewis regards as the proper attitude to religion are disconcertingly jejune. Miss West goes on to say that like Mark Twain, who in Connecticut Yankee looked at medieval Europe and said, My, werent they dumb? Lewis has no sense of the struggle of the human mind to evolve from chaos to the achievements of his age.
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