New collections from David Bowie, Wilco, Joni Mitchell, Joe Strummer and more Lewiss first real success came with Main Street (1920), the book that made him famous. McGarry is accused by the fundamentalists of heresy, and he does not seem to accept the traditional dogmas of the Methodist Church: [T]he only dogma he was known to give out positively was the leadership of Jesusas to whose divinity he was indefinite.. The Reverend McGarry tells Frank simply to accept the church with all its imperfectionswith its Gantrysand turn to giving hope and comfort to the piteous human beings who come to the church for help. Gantry threatens to avenge him but takes no action. Except in some of its sexuality (there are a couple cringe-making lines), however, the film doesnt feel outdated today. 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. The incident is not strictly necessary for the plot, and Leffertss father never appears in the novel again. George Babbitt, the namesake of one of Lewis' best-known novels, appears in Elmer Gantry very briefly during an encounter at the Zenith Athletic Club. WebElmer turns to Rigg for help, who hires a detective to dig up incriminating evidence against Hettie and her husband. I have told you a mystery. She is the supreme fantasist. After two years as a salesman, Elmer meets Eddie Fislinger at his church in Kansas, and he decides he wants to be a preacher again. 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. Wallace Umstead is a student Mizpah Theological Seminary who becomes the secretary of the Zenith Y.M.C.A. What sort of a man is Jim? 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. 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. Some characters from Lewis even read Sinclair Lewis himself; the Reverend Philip McGarry asks his friend Frank Shallard to forget that you have to make a new world, bettern the Creators, right away tonightyou and Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells and H. L. Mencken and Sinclair Lewis (Lord, how that book of Lewis, Main Street, did bore me ).. But what perhaps made Elmer Gantry seem like such an act of outrage to so many readers is that Lewis did not simply treat religion in relation to other aspects of American life; he saw it instead as the molder of basic attitudes, most of which were, in his opinion, bad. Finally, the Elmer Gantry script is here for all you quotes spouting fans of the Burt Lancaster movie. 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. Im not! When he finally got the green light, it was United Artists that agreed to distribute the film. 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. In Bible stories, in the words of the great hymns, in the anecdotes which the various preachers, quoted, he had his only knowledge of literature. Lewis exercises his bitterness against the failures of the church by making the church itself accountable for Elmers being no better educated. This site -- maintained by the faculty but also involving our students, our alumni, and the graduate teaching assistants who help us in our classes -- discusses the relevance of the study of religion, in particular, and the liberal arts, in general, for understanding both the past and present, by seeing religion as but one element of wider cultural practices. Continuity mistake: At the end, there is a scene in a burning church. Think about how Jim would view Elmer, and how he might react to what Elmer says. Burt Lancaster, Shirley Jones each won an Oscar for 1960's Elmer But Frank rages on at the inconsistencies in doctrine, the contradictions in the Bible, the evil men who are ministers, and the fools and dullards who work about him in Zenith: Gantry, Bishop Toomis, Chester Brown, Hickenlooper, and PottsPotts especially, who gets his idea of human motives out of George Eliot and Margaret Deland, and his ideas of economics out of editorials in the Advocate, and his idea as to what he really is accomplishing out of the flattery of his Ladies Aid! Frank adds that he doesnt find Jesus an especially admirable characterJesus was more vain and furious than a leader should be. Bishop Wesley R. Toomis is a bishop in the Methodist Church who has a great reputation as an orator and thinker. Elmer would probably not be able to answer this question. Excerpt from Babbitt That night she seduces him. Jones is too frothy, but when she appears halfway through, she adds bubbles to a long movie that was starting to go flat. At the beginning of the novel, Elmer is drunk, but he is drunk only in the fashion of a hell-raising college boy who talks a little like Huck Finn (his companion, perhaps significantly, is named Jim). Elmer Gantry There they meet their host, Deacon Bains, and his daughter Lulu, an ingenue whom Gantry continually tries to seduce. Equity is one part of a broader vision for the Hiawatha network of schools. 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." And yet Lewiss attitude to his character is a little more complex than this long list of his faults might suggest. In "Elmer Gantry," Burt Lancaster gives one of the all-time great screen performances. 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 is not a deep thinker and does not really care whether the Baptist doctrines he preaches are true or false. Will his charade collapse when an ex-lover shows up to settle a score? Lancaster's vitality as a sinful preacher lights up the screen "Love is the morning and the evening star! Then read chapter 30, section 5, where Jim reappears. The famous evangelist Billy Sunday called Lewis Satans cohort.. 3360. Frank finds some shame in being a preacher and longs to prove that he is nevertheless a real man. Not only had he been swathed in theology, but all his experience had been in books instead of the speech of toiling men. He is one haunted by his checkered past and his immorality. It is a fairly narrow assault, since Lewiss targets are confined to Protestant churches and revival campaigns, but within that range, Lewiss fire is deadly and continuous. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. A typical picaresque narrative chronicles the exploits of a rogue, an immoral but not criminal character who lives by his wits. Of course, turmoil closes in on them as their inherent instincts of love overpower their adherence to the Christian principles they attempt to profess. During the 1930s and 1940s, Lewis published a further nine novels, as well as plays and short stories. The clash between fundamentalists and liberals comes to a dramatic and violent climax in the final incident involving Shallard. Elmer is soon preaching to crowds larger than almost all the churches in Zenith. He joins up with Mrs. Evans Riddle, who teaches New Thought, a Westernized version of Indian religion. Frank Shallard is a student at Mizpah Theological Seminary, but he doubts the literal truth of the Bible. Lit by fire, Lancaster (Elmer Gantry) preaches to a crowd. As he gains experience, Elmer attempts to broaden his mind. Dont be afraid! Lewis died of heart disease in Rome, Italy, in 1951. Elmer, like other Lewis protagonists, fears marriage. Leap Of Faith Elmer starts his career as a Baptist and then joins up with a charismatic but equally unprincipled female revivalist preacher. He is no Harry Zenz or Bruno Zechlin, who have both thought deeply about theology and have emerged as atheists. Elmer Gantry may have a rather unsavoury past but the one thing he can do better than anyone is sell himself, pots, pans, anything. As a boy, the Baptist church was all he knew. He dealt with the connection between small-town provinciality and the religious proclivities of the time, the relationship between the gospel of Christianity and the gospel of business; and, because the novel was written out of the atmosphere surrounding the Scopes Monkey Trial, he dealt with the conflict between science and religion. Nevertheless, it is possible to recognize the working of quixotic elements throughout the novel, especially in the fancifully conceived Sharon Falconer and in the character who is a foil for Elmer, Frank Shallard. When a charismatic preacher comes to town for a revival meeting, he seeks out Gantry and tricks him into attending. The second is the date of Remembering Jean Simmons Photos - CBS News Elmer Gantry NATIONALITY: British Or maybe as something more. This site built with Project Largo from INN and proudly powered by WordPress. Jean Simmons appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Drumhead (1991) as Rear Admiral Norah Satie. He thinks they might, for all he knows, be true, and that is enough for him. The tents are filled with people clamoring to see Sister Sharon Falconer. We see Gantry the narcissistic conman, Gantry the philanthropist, Gantry the flamboyant showman. Close Alert. Lynnell Mickelsen: Why all the conspiracy theories and pearl-clutching in this years school board race. The couple abandons their campaign against Elmer and leave Harry Zenz does not believe a word of what he is taught at the seminary. Frank Shallard has doubts while he is still at the Seminary. You're all doomed to perdition. Elmers start at religious leadership is rocky. Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on twentieth century literature. Earthy and real, she and Elmer both sing the hymn Im on My Way, a sort of religious counterpart to I Did It My Way. Elmer romances her only as a way to Sharon, but Rachel is the woman Elmer should have gone with. He is a social climber and a publicity seeker. Undoubtedly many of the excesses Lewis describes, especially those connected with revivalism, deserve the treatment they get. 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. Gaining and keeping followers is the key to the success of any religion, and religious leaders must recognize this and figuratively, though sometimes literally, sell the religion. For two years, he helps her lead revival meetings in large cities, mastering the art of press advertising and fundraising. He dies in a gambling den. In Zenith, when a group of local clergymen meet as the Committee on Public Morals, they reveal a distinct lack of brotherly love amongst themselves: They all detested one another. After exposing the professors secret, Shallard is then attacked by religious fanatics and blinded. He is coerced into becoming a minister because his family, his town, and his college are so tightly structured around the church. Fired from the ministry after going drinking rather than contacting his new church, he works for two years as a traveling salesman. Jim Lefferts is Elmers roommate and his only friend at Terwillinger College. Lewis preferred the liberal Birkhead to the conservative Stidger, and on his second visit to Kansas City, Lewis chose Birkhead as his guide. Other Kansas City ministers Lewis interviewed included Burris Jenkins, Earl Blackman, I. M. Hargett, Bert Fiske, and Robert Nelson Horatio Spencer, who was rector of a large Episcopal parish, Grace and Holy Trinity Church, which is now the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri. Schorer, Mark, Introduction, in Sinclair Lewis: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Mark Schorer, Prentice-Hall, 1962, p. 4. Anywhere. 11744. "Religion and Sports: Three Muscular Christians in American Literature". Religion is an aspect of culture that permeates all societies, and much of history is defined by religions in power at the time. He goes to Mizpah Seminary, where he entertains his classmates with tales of his sexual escapades. 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. ." 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 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." Sinclair Lewiss Elmer Gantry (New York, 1927) is a ferocious satire against Protestant fundamentalist religion in the American Midwest. Traditionalists, therefore, rejected the new approach of liberal theology. After the fire and Sharons death, Elmer is conscience-stricken. Tracing two years in th, Matthew Gregory Lewis The title character of Elmer Gantry starts comment. WebThere is a bit of a rough edit in the middle, because the scene is actually over 8 minutes long, and I needed to get it down to under 5 minutes. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were many evangelists, like Elmer and Sharon Falconer in the novel, who traveled around the country conducting revival campaigns for large audiences. Elmer Gantry Mark Schorer, in his biography of Lewis, records a remark that Lewis made to his friend Richards Brooks in 1946. In a southwestern city, he falls into the hands of violent fanatics who beat him so badly he is blinded. . DIED: 1963, Oxford, England The story of a womanizing con man and an evangelist selling religion all across America was an The summer of 1927 began with Charles Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic. WebDaily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state and national news along with advertising. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. There is a great deal of fantasy in the novel, but it is weird and crude and goes badly with the realism. Nothing reveals Lewiss isolation from an overview of life more clearly than the way he dismisses religion. Fire is mentioned throughout the film, and cinematographer John Alton sets the mood by casting dark red and brown shadows. If all of them are there, he says. His genius took its chance in mockery, parody, grotesquerie, and excessive performance. If I could only believe it! Gene Warren and Tim Baar, The Time Machine. Gantry turns out to be the perfect publicity compliment to Sister Sharon, who, unlike him, is a true believer. Laws, the number of times youve explained! He returns to it in the context of Sharons revival meetings. British actress Jean Simmons as Sister Sharon, the evangelist Elmer falls for is similarly too airy. Log in here. According to such people: A proper school should teach nothing but bookkeeping, agriculture, geometry, dead languages made deader by leaving out all the amusing literature, and the Hebrew Bible as interpreted by men superbly trained to ignore contradictions, men technically called Fundamentalists., Christian beliefs about the proper observance of Sundays also comes under heavy satirical fire in this passage: [T]he Maker of a universe with stars a hundred thousand light-years apart was interested, furious, and very personal about it if a small boy played baseball on Sunday afternoon..