Review of Elmer Gantry

Introduction

Multiple O*car nominated and winning melodrama tearing into small-town US evangelism in the 1920s. It is one of Burt Lancaster`s finest performances, if not his best (winning the 1961 Best Actor category) and proving that the mark of a real star is their watchability in a movie whatever the genre or content.

The movie is preceded by a warning that impressionable youngsters should not see the film. Certainly the subject matter is strong stuff for the time, and the ending is about as un-Hollywood as you can get. Gantry, a salesman expert in the art of ducking and diving, becomes involved in the life of evangelist Sister Sharon. Together they make a terrific money-making team, but Gantry has always had a roving eye which is to prove his downfall. The movie is also a damning indictment of America`s inclination to elevate those believed to be good (especially Presidents) to a plane of purity and ultimately be shocked and vilify those same people when they turn out to be ordinary flawed human beings.

Supporting Lancaster is a dazzling cast including Jean Simmons, Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger and (cast completely out of type as a prostitute and winning the 1961 Best Supporting Actress) Shirley Jones.

*When the movie was first aired on US Network television, the whole subplot of Shirley Jones` character was cut out so as not to clash with her wholesome role as the mother in "The Partridge Family" which was running at the time.

Video

The movie is presented in its original 1.66:1 (non anamorphic) format. While there is some (occasionally quite bad) print damage, the image is sharp and colourful, although the photography stylistically harks back to earlier than the film`s production date of 1960.

Audio

This is the really weak part of the release. The sound is reproduced in DD2.0 Mono, and must be a faithful rendition of the original soundtrack - complete with some really alarming wow and flutter-type effects that are made even more evident by Andre Previn`s O*car nominated score.

Features

There are full subtitles, and a theatrical trailer in 1.33:1. The latter of these has seen better days, but for a standard no-frills MGM release, the movie hasn`t done too badly.

Conclusion

A powerful movie based on a powerful novel. The screenplay won the director the movie`s third O*car, and the movie can be considered one of the cornerstones of Burt Lancaster`s formidable movie career. It`s compulsive viewing, like his later "Birdman of Alcatraz", but the passage of time has watered down the more shocking elements of the story.