Elmer Gantry
Short description
Elmer Gantry is a fast-talking traveling salesman whose gift for persuasion has never brought him much beyond trouble. After wandering into a religious revival meeting, he sees how easily faith can be turned into profit and reinvents himself as an evangelist. He joins forces with Sister Sharon Falconer, a preacher who leads a traveling revival troupe, and together they fill churches and tents with fervent crowds. His eloquence brings him fame and money, but a journalist is watching him closely, and a woman from his past reappears with information that threatens everything he has built.
The film was released in 1960, directed by Richard Brooks, who also wrote the screenplay. It was adapted from Sinclair Lewis's novel of the same name and produced by Bernard Smith. Brooks made it between Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth, the fourth of the eleven films listed in his directing career. Burt Lancaster plays the title role, with Jean Simmons as Sharon Falconer and Shirley Jones as Lulu Bains. Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger and Patti Page appear in supporting parts, among a credited cast of 52. Made for about three million dollars, it earned roughly ten million worldwide.
Reception was strong on several fronts. On IMDb it holds 7.7 from about 14,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.3 from just over 200 votes, while a critics' rating of 8 from 34 reviews places professional assessment above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Pat Hingle (1924-2009) was cast as the main character in the film, but one day, even before filming began, the actor got stuck in his own home elevator. Trying to get out of the cabin, he pried open the doors to climb to the nearest floor using a rope, but lost his balance, fell, and plummeted to the bottom of the shaft, falling over 16 meters. The actor sustained severe injuries, including damage to his skull, hands, hip bones, and legs, not to mention broken ribs. In addition, his little finger on his left hand had to be amputated. Hingle spent almost the next year relearning how to walk. He, of course, had to give up the role.
- Only the six actors in the lead roles had access to the detailed script. This was done to prevent information about how Sinclair Lewis's (1885-1951) 1926 source novel was adapted for the screenplay from leaking to the press in advance.
- Jean Simmons (1929-2010) was so frightened by the fire during the filming of a fire scene that she ran off the set. Director Richard Brooks (1912-1992) didn't know what to do, and actor Arthur Kennedy (1914-1990) suggested "plumping up" Simmons with gin and milk. Kennedy had observed the same method being used on Dorothy McGuire (1916-2001) during the filming of Delmer Daves' (1904-1977) 1959 drama, "Summer Place." Simmons drank five portions in her dressing room, after which the flames no longer bothered her.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
