In Elmer Gantry, Burt Lancaster, as the titular character in an Oscar winning performance of a lifetime, shows us dramatically, and even comically, how unscrupulous people can usurp the name of religion and twist it into a justification for the narrowest of self-interests. Despite his vices, however, Gantry at all times retains the sympathy of the audience because we sense he is basically good (but also weak as even the most devout Christians admit they are). This is in no small part due to the charisma, and yes, pleasant features, of Lancaster. As for the love triangle, on the one hand I could understand Gantry's desperate desire to escape his less than glorious past and take up with the saintly Sister Sharon (Jean Smimmons) but on the other hand, troubled and imperfect Lulu (Shirley Jones) seems to be the one more in need, and in a certain sense more deserving, of getting her heart's desire. Besides Lulu and Gantry can sympathize more with each other's weaknesses while unblemished Sister Sharon would eventually tire, I'm sure, of forgiving Gantry's inevitable submissions to temptation. On a final, and undoubtedly, cynical note, one can see Elmer Gantry almost anytime one tunes into a televangelist broadcast.
Review of Elmer Gantry
