Closing Prayer Messages, Articles E

Although most entertaining when Gantry is actually preaching (mainly in the opening half of the film), the intelligent script moves on from it's basic premise (that Gantry is a charlatan) to explore wider questions of the nature of humanity and society. Mrs. Evans Riddle is the proprietor of the Victory Thought Power Headquarters in New York. Kayfabe, or, Why a Scholar of Religion Might Be Interested in Pro Wrestling. And yet Im not a liar! In 1926, Lewis refused the Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith, because he believed it would compromise his artistic independence. 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. But occasionally Lewis tries to endow him with a soul, as in the incident of his conversion at Terwillinger College. Did he come to bring peace or more war? Elmers start at religious leadership is rocky. 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. Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster) is a slick traveling salesman who is a boozer and a dog hound. One attendant of the revivals even describes himself as only being a good Christian when a revival is in town, and then going back to his old ways once it is gone. Other Protestant groups also get their share of abuse, as do the Jews and the Catholics. Life opened before him, clean, joyous, full of the superb chances of a Christian knighthood. She wore expensive clothes and jewelry and put on a spectacular show. WebOn publication, Elmer Gantry had a sensational reception. William's business plan has been for the show to set up in small towns, so it's against his wishes that Sister Sharon, falling for Elmer, agrees to Elmer's plan to set up in the larger city of Zenith, where William feels the that the scrutiny of the cynical urban populace will hurt their brand. The public has the power to end the careers of Falconer and Gantry; however, Gantry and Falconer sell the revivals, and eventually Falconers church, in a way that pleases the public. Dr. Otto Hickenlooper is a prominent Methodist minister in Zenith, and one of Elmers rivals. 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. On publication, Elmer Gantry had a sensational reception. We see Gantry the narcissistic conman, Gantry the philanthropist, Gantry the flamboyant showman. He dies in a gambling den. Jim is the college freethinker and the only person who has any influence on Elmer. 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. He befriends Frank Shallard. It is not so much that he does not believe in God. 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. The English novelist and playwright Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818), known as Monk Lewis, a popular wri, Lewis, Wyndham He joins the staff of a metaphysical cult but is fired when he is caught stealing from the collection plate. 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. Later judgments have also been mixed. Still, her character of a betrayed woman who continues to care for Elmer illuminates the paradox of his power: he doesnt mean to hurt anyone, but he does. He is tested by temptation and almost capitulates, but is then wrongly accused by the jilted temptress. Elmer at first returns her affection, and they get married. date the date you are citing the material. Amoral and relentlessly ambitious, Elmer builds a statewide and national reputation as a fiery preacher who never tires of denouncing vice, while at the same time feeling no need to curb his own vices, particularly adultery. Kraus used []. 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. Wests point is a telling one. 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. Gantrys mother is a strict fundamentalist, so Gantry spent much of his childhood in church, where he learned the dour lifestyle of a Christian. The subject was tastefully handled and written for adults. In fact, the film's theatricality can almost be seen as a strength, for it's constructed like a well-written play. Besides being an effective satire targeted against religious hypocrisy, Elmer Gantry provides insight into the clash of cultural forces in America in the 1920s. Go out slowly! The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. Reverend Dr. Willoughby Quarles is president of Terwillinger College. WebSpecialties: Welcome to Garrison Brothers, home of the first and oldest legal whiskey distillery in Texas. His portrait of a golden-tongued evangelist who rises to power within his church-a saver of souls who lives a life 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). Awards During the service one man begins speaking in tongues. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. His specialty is in denouncing vice, and in Zenith he even leads a police raid on the local dens of iniquity. His mind was shaped most of all by his souvenirs of his travel-adventures. Elmer starts his career as a Baptist and then joins up with a charismatic but equally unprincipled female revivalist preacher. Dont be afraid! Sharons real name is Katie Jonas; she picked out the name Sharon Falconer when she was working as a stenographer. 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. The relentless, unrelieved exposure of religious hypocrisy, while amusingly presented in parts, tends to become wearying. Elmer cheats, he boasts, he lies, he deceives. I am above sin! 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. Co-stars Jean Simmons and Shirley Jones. The ships captain who in the storm took counsel with the orphaned but righteous child of missionaries in Zomballa. 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. Elmer Gantry is a picaresque novel. The adverse publicity helped sales, and 175,000 copies were sold in less than six weeks. 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. Don Pickens is Frank Shallards roommate at Mizpah Theological Seminary. Ed. On publication in 1927, Elmer Gantry created a public furor. Indeed, why doesnt he? FAQ Now in college, Gantry and his roommate, Jim Lefferts, spend much of their time drinking and chasing women, but their primary amusement comes from ridiculing their classmates incessant religious proselytizing. Initially, he is an enemy of Elmer and tries to prevent him from becoming president of the student body for the second time. As the good Sister employs him as a Bible-spouting person to expand the God Will and along the way he gets considerable success . Reviews There are no A Century of Burt Lancaster series: http://take-up.org/series/94, The Trylon Microcinema is located at 3258 Minnehaha Ave. S.Minneapolis, MN 55406424-5468, Trylon Discount cards$25 for 5 tickets, cards can be redeemed for 1 or 2 seats at a time (on the day of show). Close Alert. The preacher tries to warn him off. He also thinks that Baptist leaders are word-splitting, text-twisting, applause-hungry, job-hunting, medieval-minded second-raters . Horace Carp hates the Baptists and wants to switch to the more upscale Episcopalians as soon as possible because this will give him a better social position in which he will be able to marry a nice rich girl. Brother Karkis only wants his divinity degree so he can get a better paying job. 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. There are glimmers of this in Sister Sharon Falconer, like when she admits that she knows Gantry is lying but allows him to continue preaching because she believes it is for the greater good. She is forced by her father to marry Lloyd Naylor. He is coerced into becoming a minister because his family, his town, and his college are so tightly structured around the church. 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." 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. He behaves cruelly to Lulu, and when Floyd comforts her with a kiss, Elmer, who has planned the whole incident, bursts in on them with Lulus father. Elmer Gantry is not, however, a movie about making good choices. After exposing the professors secret, But Sharon stands by Elmer and truth prevails, until both are seduced by fame and blind faith over common sense, and fate deals them a crushing blow. Drama. There are several other minor characters who are introduced with no apparent purpose other than to serve as victims of the authors anti-religious inclination. Sharon Falconer is an equally striking example of his satiric power. 3945; originally published in New York Herald Tribune Books, March 13, 1927. Elmer gets converted to Christianity only because he cannot resist the pressures put on him to do so. The publication day of Elmer Gantry found him wandering through Europe with Ramon Guthrie; from Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, he commented in the most innocent tones on the stir he had caused: The violent Kansas City blokes have been asinine. Movies Podcasts Reviews Podcasts Reviews 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. She brings a Native feminist lens to the contemporary dance world with her body of work, the latest of which is Weave, a collaborative dance project. It also underscores what Lewis saw as one of the greatest dangers in American societythe tendency toward excess not only in religion but also in production, consumption, patriotism, and the proliferation of institutions . What of Jesuss teachings? I have told you a mystery. She is the supreme fantasist. But soon the church tightens its grip on him; and for Elmer, there is no possibility of lighting out for the territory. Were in the temple of the Lord! Billy Sunday (18621935) was a professional baseball player who quit baseball a few years after he had a religious conversion. After two years as a traveling salesman, Gantry attends a revival meeting and is immediately bewitched by the evangelist Sharon Falconer. At times I wondered if he wasn't overacting, but his character called for a very animated salesman-type person. He first worked with William L. "Big Bill" Stidger, pastor of the Linwood Boulevard Methodist Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri. You could even argue that Gantry is performing a kind of public service, meeting a need with maximum opportunism but without malice. So, I'll give him the credit and assume he was just playing his role, not hamming it up too much as it often appears. She is volatile, self-dramatizing, self-deceiving, self-promoting, cunning, playful, cynical, ambitious, and ruthlessa Cleopatra of the revivalist circuit. Every one knew of some case in which each of the others had stolen, or was said to have tried to steal, some parishioner, to have corrupted his faith and appropriated his contributions. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. When he finally got the green light, it was United Artists that agreed to distribute the film. On the train he meets a traveling salesman who invites him for a drink, which results in Elmer failing to keep his appointment at the church. Gantry's noisy methods seem to work, even if they draw derision from the religious establishment and attacks from the cynical press. At his Lively Sunday Evenings, Elmer gets up to many publicity-generating stunts. He is treasurer of the Congregational church, but Elmer succeeds in getting him to support the Methodists instead. Mark Schorer, in his biography of Lewis, records a remark that Lewis made to his friend Richards Brooks in 1946. The character of Sharon Falconer was loosely based on events in the career of the Canadian-born American radio evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, who founded the Pentecostal Christian denomination known as the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in 1927. It tells the story of a hypocritical, corrupt, but very successful preacher named Elmer Gantry. 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. I had boycotted it for years, thinking it was too anti-Christian to support with my money, either renting or buying it. He marries Cleo but gets bored with her and resents her lack of sexual passion. Elmer Gantry was drunk, the novel opens, and Lancaster is terrific as the boozing, womanizing traveling salesman.Gantry is a believer, of a sort. The wife is full of complaints about the life she has had to lead, married to a preacher, criticized by the church women if they thought her clothes werent suitable, sick of having to pretend to be so good when we were just common folks all the time! Her tirade at her husband, who only wants to be allowed to go to sleep, includes the following passage: Oh, dear. After several years as a travelling salesman of farm equipment, he becomes manager for Sharon Falconer, an itinerant evangelist. 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.. 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. Excellent recounting based on the controversial Sinclair Lewis novel that got three Academy Awards . Binch is also a snob who has contempt for other preachers. Shallard is then attacked by religious fanatics and blinded. . WebElmer Gantry; Keith Phares, Sharon Falconer; Jennifer Rivera. The preacher meets someone in the town, too: a waitress ( Lolita Davidovich) with a crippled young son. It was both a popular and critical success, selling 295,000 copies in the first year. He long ago lost his faith in the literal truth of the Bible and has become an atheist. [2][3] He looked back and saw her, quite alone, holding up the white wooden cross which had stood by the pulpit, marching steadily forward, a tall figure pale against the screen of flames.. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Nelson Manfred Blake, "How to Learn History from Sinclair Lewis and Other Uncommon Sources". Then read chapter 30, section 5, where Jim reappears. Based on the evidence in the novel, there is some truth in this comment. Whatever I may choose to do, though it might be sin in one unsanctified, with me God will turn it to his glory. He just didn't do subtle very well, as his acting tends to magnify the focus on himself--which, once again can be either good or bad. WebBy John Helmer, Moscow @bears_with During the US Army invasion of Morocco and Algeria in 1943, enroute to the invasion of Italy, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), as the CIA was called then, came up with the donkey turd bomb for destroying the enemy.Since 2014, the CIA has come up with the modern equivalent its called the Ukrainian bomb. Richard Brooks spent years trying to bring ELMER GANTRY to the screen. Everything conspires to overwhelm him and break down his defenses; he does not really have a chance. "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. The movie is based on the 1927 novel of the same name by Minnesotas own Nobel Prizewinning author, Sinclair Lewis. Then his past comes back to haunt him in the form of Lulu Bains (Shirley Jones) who is now a prostitute. Elmer pulls the burning jacket off her, and beats out the flames. 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.. Ferguson, Charles W., Review of Elmer Gantry, in Critical Essays on Sinclair Lewis, edited by Martin Bucco, G. K. Hall, 1986, pp. Nothing reveals Lewiss isolation from an overview of life more clearly than the way he dismisses religion. As Granty flashes with his silver smile but he has a dark past . What are his leading characteristics? At their next revival, the tent catches fire and kills a hundred people, including Sharon, but Gantry climbs over trapped women and escapes. Web1. 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. Higher criticism was a method of Biblical criticism that originated in Germany. What has educated Elmer (a few books, oratory, sermons, tracts, hymns, and a smattering of a college education) must be ridiculed in order to purge it from the land. She even tells Elmer (who falls for her the instant he sees her) that she is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc, although she later admits that she does not really believe this. Elmer thinks he is fat and pompous, but respects him nonetheless. I am Sharon Falconer now! It is the call! He follows her to her bedroom where he sees a couch high on carven ivory posts, covered with a mandarin coat; unlighted brass lamps in the likeness of mosques and pagodas; gilt papier-mch armor on the walls; a wide dressing-table with a score of cosmetics in odd Parisian bottles; tall candlesticks, the twisted and flowered candles lighted; and over everything a hint of incense. She gives him a robe for the service of the altar. The novel is absorbing, and I should like to say a few words about it. President Putin and I agree, Macron said. As the music dies, Gantry picks up where they left off and continues the hymn. Edward J. Piacentino, "Babbittry Southern Style: T. S. Stribling's Unfinished Cathedral". Liking the idea of having power over an audience, Elmer convinces himself he has been called to the ministry. 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. WebHow does the novel Elmer Gantry end? External Reviews The fundamentalists also have to deal with outright skeptics, like Jim Lefferts, and covert atheists like Dr. Zechlin. 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." 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. He is no Harry Zenz or Bruno Zechlin, who have both thought deeply about theology and have emerged as atheists. How long would a drunkard listen to the counsel of one who had never been inside a saloon? 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. During this period, traditional religious believers were deeply disturbed by the encroachments made on faith by science and secularism. Thats Elmer Gantry. Sharon is supposed to be a firebrand, based on evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, part Houdini, part Teddy Roosevelt, who preached a dramatic God. publication online or last modification online. Lancaster's performance is so rich, so real, that the viewer knows this man, knows what Gantry smells like (sweat and eau de cologne) and what he eats (big slabs of beef). Amplifying and connecting marginalized voices, Dance as deep listening: Weave by Rosy Simas Danse comes to the Ordway, Ritual and revelation: Black Ensemble Players reimagine Shakespeare, North Minneapolis takes back food systems, land through urban agriculture, Ha Tien Market still finds home along the Green Line, despite problems, St. Pauls school resource officer policies still leave district room for improvement, Hiawatha Collegiate High School goes beyond beating the odds for students of color, [COMMUNITY VOICES] Non-criminal technical violations are increasing Minnesotas prison population, Community Voices: [PHOTOS] Minneapolis comes out strong for Families Belong Together nationwide march, IGGERS DIGEST | Katar River: flavors and aromas of Ethiopia. (Courtesy of Degebo, Berlin, Germany.) Write a brief character sketch of Frank Shallard and describe his role in the novel. Matthew Gregory Lewis Definitely a film to see on the big screen. Mrs. Gantry is Elmers mother. She is also an insane perversion of the sanctity of the elect, for she declares to Elmer, I cant sin! https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/elmer-gantry, "Elmer Gantry The movie was not just a group of scenes depicting sex and violence. Why does Lewis include him in the book? Here, they are the sinister forces of righteousness. The couple abandons their campaign against Elmer and leave Will his charade collapse when an ex-lover shows up to settle a score? Elmer despises him. because Joness Lulu is a silly, air-spun girl. Floyd Naylor is a large and rather stupid farmer in Schoenheim who is in love with Lulu Bains, whom he eventually marries. Elmer reads Browning, Tennyson, Dickens. | Nashville Opera production directed by John Hoomes, conducted by William Boggs. For two years, he helps her lead revival meetings in large cities, mastering the art of press advertising and fundraising. She is a monstrous creation who seems to grow in size with each revelation of her craziness. Elmer Gantry, like Arrowsmith, is an account of career development. Elmer Gantry was raised by his mother, a staunch Baptist, in the small town of Paris, Kansas. 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. Shirley Jones small part made the movie. 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. . Eddie spreads the word that Elmer, who has never shown any zeal for religion, has been converted. Elmer denounces his old classmate Shallard, who now preaches at a Congregational church in Zenith, calling him practically an atheist. A satire can be aimed at an individual or a group. WebElmer Gantry was a labor of love for Brooks, who had dreamed of filming Lewis's novel for more than a decade and spent two years writing the script, which won the Oscar for Best Though the bulldog of the football team in college, Elmer shows his cowardice during the fire in Sharon Falconers tabernacle (which is built out over the water): In howling panic, Elmer sprang among them, knocked them aside, struck down a girl who stood in his way, yanked open the door, and got through it the last, the only one, to get through it. He then ran out a little into the surf and dragged in a woman who had already safely touched bottom, and then at least thirty more who had already rescued themselves. After college, he attends a Baptist seminary and is ordained as a Baptist minister. When a Salvation Army worker enters, Gantry shocks and moves the crowd with an impromptu, impassioned sermon equating God with love. She is of the occult; she is a witch. The bill had always been defeated, but it was gaining more votes in every session [407408]. Within the sphere of a traveling troupe of bible beating, evangelicals on a religious crusade, the author's hero, one Elmer Gantry (supurbly played by Oscar wining Burt Lancaster) is as energetic as his tales. Elmer Gantry the novel came out in 1925 and it took 35 years to get it to the screen. He wont harm you! She ignores the warning and they become a great success in the big city. Complex, Fascinating, Relevant; A Must See, A Much Better Than Average Literary Adaption, A thought-provoking look at revivalist religion in which includes the magnetic presence of Burt Lancaster. Lewis made the point that Protestantism has nurtured America in the same way it has nurtured Elmer. This is tantamount to an admission that the church is happy to receive money that is tainted by the very practices it denounces so vehemently. 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. Modern, yet extreme examples of this include ISIS, a violent terrorist organization that is somehow able to recruit privileged teens from Western countries, and the Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, which used liberal ideology to attract minorities and young people. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/elmer-gantry. The church provided all the music he ever heard, his only oratory except for campaign speeches by politicians, all his painting and sculpture, and all his philosophic ideas. As Mark Schorer has pointed out, Elmer is rarely aware of himself as a hypocrite and achieves neither insight nor growth. Paperback June 3, 2014. He marries well and eventually obtains a large congregation in Lewis's fictional Midwestern city of Zenith. There have been five adaptations of the novel. In A Letter on Religion published in 1932, Lewis declared: It is, I think, an error to believe that there is any need of religion to make life seem worth living. He said that he had known several young people who had been reared entirely without thought of churches or of formal theology, and they seemed happy.