Review – Elmer Gantry

Given the reputation of Sinclair Lewis’s famous tale – particularly how frequently it was cited during the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart sex scandals – I was expecting something far harsher than this. To be sure, Burt Lancaster plays the title character as what he is: a con man, a hypocrite and a scoundrel exploiting the simple religious faith of country folk to turn a quick buck. But there’s a basic goodness to the character as well – not to mention a moral redemption in the end – that has no match in the Gantries of the airwaves. Overall it’s a little over-long, but it’s still much more multi-dimensional – and thus much better – than I thought it was going to be. Mildly amusing