Elmer Gantry

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Elmer Gantry, a 1960 film, winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, was controversial for its time in examining Christian revivalism.  It starts with opening notes that, although granting the importance of freedom of religion, state that right “is not license to abuse the faith of people.” The story argues that unscrupulous persons can exploit this basic freedom. The movie, which has multi-faceted characters, explores how American Christian evangelism sometimes uses the techniques of salesmanship and entertainment to further its aims. 

 The opening credits use the Christian symbol of the cross, but it, as well as the names of those making the movie, are askew, suggesting a warping of Christianity’s message. The story, based on the Sinclair Lewis novel, takes place in the 1920’s. Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster in an Oscar winning performance for Best Actor) is drinking in a bar close to Christmas while loudly telling a joke to other inebriated men about infidelity. His hair looks like an exaggerated version of the style worn by famed Evangelist Billy Graham. He eyes a beautiful blonde (wearing the passionate color of red) at the bar, so we already see a man who likes to pursue his less than religious inclinations. The men later refer to his “little black book” of names of his female companions. A man and a woman enter and as they appeal to the Christianity of the patrons for charitable donations they receive a negative response. However, Gantry, a charismatic salesman, gives a rousing speech, as he collects money from the tables for contributions, that extols how Jesus was a warrior who took on the Roman Empire with the power of love. The blonde seems impressed, and that may partly be Gantry's reason for the moving remarks. He flashes that oversized Lancaster smile that reveals many teeth, a combination of warmth and intimidation. He says, “Love is the morning and evening star,” words he repeats during the movie, which shows it is a rehearsed line used to appeal to the sentimental person. He says to her he was talking about “divine” love, not the carnal kind, but his words are just a disguise for his true intentions at this point. She thinks he is a “parson,” but learns from the other men as they leave that Gantry is not a cleric. We know he is not financially successful since he can’t even pay the bill (probably squandering his earnings) and tells the owner he’ll have to extend him some credit. For Gantry, charity begins at someone else’s home. 

 Disillusioned, the woman says that the world is devoid of love. He buys her a drink (so to speak), and the next scene shows the hungover Gantry waking up in his hotel sprawled out in the bed with the woman's shoes on the floor. The two may still be clothed, next to each other on the bed, but it is implied that, using his good looks and charm, he has provided sexual passion as a substitute for love to another in a long line of females. The bellhop, whose “Merry Christmas” generates no tip from the fake Christian advocate, says that Gantry’s mother called him. He talks to her on the phone and lies as he says he just returned from church and prayed for her. The man even cons his own mother. He pretends that he sent her a gift that must have been lost in the mail. He tells her not to cry, as he will not be returning home for Christmas, so we know he has broken promises to her many times. He leaves the sleeping blond and writes, appropriately with red lipstick, “Merry Xmas,” on the mirror, which reflects his superficial caring about others.

 

Gantry hops on a railroad car with other hobos, who, down on their luck, try to take his shoes while he sleeps. He wakes up, and thrashes the desperate men, followed by him throwing his suitcases and himself out of the car. The scene mirrors the hard times of the Great Depression, and Gantry’s first thoughts are for himself. As he walks with his belongings there is a sign in the background promoting a “revival meeting” with the picture of Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons) and the words that promise “she can save you.” As the film progresses, there is a question as to whether she needs to be saved. Her last name suggests someone who can tame birds of prey, which may refer to sinners. Gantry hears a hymn being sung and enters an African American prayer meeting. They are suspicious of the white man who has entered, but he knows the words to the song and sings them loudly. They join him in the spirit of Christianity, and their innocence contrasts with the dubious devotee among them. He acquires food for shoveling coal at the church. The reverend sees that Gantry has a picture of a scantily clad showgirl, and Gantry covers up his lust by denouncing the lascivious material, tossing the picture into the furnace. He knows the teachings of the Bible and equates the fire with that of God’s wrath. At this point he is that wolf in sheep’s clothing, the threat of danger beneath a pleasing exterior.

 

Gantry uses his high-powered sales pitch in an attempt to get a storekeeper to buy his small appliances. The man is not convinced, having bought some items before that didn’t sell. Gantry sees another poster of Sharon and asks if she is a good preacher. The store owner says he only goes to prayer meetings when times have been hard, which shows how some are only interested in religion for selfish reasons and not out of true devotion. 

The film continues to display Gantry’s character flaws. There is an almost empty bottle of whiskey that sits in front of him as he tries, without success, to revisit a romantic encounter with a married woman, and loses at gambling on a horse race. His disreputable behavior contrasts with the revivalist music played outside his hotel window. Gantry goes to the tent revival meeting that evening. William L. Morgan (Dean Jagger) hosts the event, which is filled with people singing hymns along with a choir. Sharon enters and Gantry is taken by her beauty and the crowd's adoration of her. She is a salesperson in her own right, except she is promoting religion. She is dressed in a milkmaid’s outfit and enters with a pale of the liquid she supposedly obtained from milking a cow. She relates to the rural people by saying she didn’t want to stay in a church, but instead wanted to see what these people saw every day which is God’s handiwork reflected in nature. She does not want to deliver a solemn sermon, but instead wants them to be joyous in their faith, which works as a selling point. She uses humor to tap into the congregation’s generosity as she passes out several buckets to collect donations, saying people can’t make milk and God doesn’t make money. As she speaks, the skeptical journalist, Jim Lefferts (Arthur Kennedy) casts a cynical eye at her. 

 

Sharon’s smiling surface drops for a moment when Gantry tries to get a private audience, and Morgan places the bucket in front of Gantry, who has no money, which implies one has to pay a toll to interact with the supposedly approachable preacher lady. The next scene adds to that distance as she says she doesn’t have time for one of the worshippers and delegates others to carry out ministerial duties. Another attendee demonstrates Sharon’s strong influence when she says after Sharon’s prayer gathering her son saw the Virgin Mary on the roof. Gantry pretends to be a preacher, but Sharon is able to see through his guise when he can’t say which church he belongs to, She quickly deduces that his problem is either booze or women, and he lies by saying he indulges in neither. She leaves him standing there and the sarcastic Lefferts, who also recognizes the ploy, tells him it was a nice try.

 

So, Gantry looks for someone more accessible, and he zeroes in on the woman who sang at the beginning of the prayer meeting, Sister Rachel (Patti Page). He flatters her about her singing and spouts talk about God’s love and its association with music, appealing to her interest. He acts like he only wants apple pie when they go to a restaurant, as he presents a wholesome façade. He lies about being offered an elevated position in the appliance company to impress her. 

 Sharon looks exhausted after literally putting on a happy face, and waves to the crowd at the train station. Gantry hops aboard the train, joins Rachel, who is smitten with him since she says she was concerned he wasn’t going to show. He then continues his devious behavior by pretending to be Lefferts, leaving a message with the conductor that he wants to see Morgan. Gantry continues to get at Sharon through those around her as he talks with Lefferts on the train’s observation platform. Lefferts is modeled after journalist H. L. Mencken (Gene Kelly played another version of the evolutionist devotee in Inherit the Wind, also analyzed in this blog). Gantry asks if he can be frank with Lefferts, who is witty and insightful when he responds, “Try,” knowing full well that Gantry is working an angle. He does admit to Gantry that he will have to get past Morgan to reach Sharon. 

 

By getting Morgan to leave Sharon to see Lefferts, Gantry is able to sit in Morgan’s seat (Lefferts interviews Morgan, who is a believer in Sharon’s inspirational abilities, as he says she is touched by God). Gantry, using what he learned from Rachel about a riot between the evangelists and some “roughnecks” in Missouri, falsely says he was there at the altercation and he is able to quote her fighting words, which were “Bust ‘em one for the Lord, brother,” back to her. The memory makes her laugh and Gantry has broken through her defenses. He says he tried to be a cleric but there was a girl that he became associated with, LuLu Bains (Shirley Jones, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for this role). He says he went to pray and found LuLu half-naked with a lover behind the altar and he gave up on becoming a preacher. But, he says his faith was revived when he saw her at the prayer ceremony (another lie), and he wants to see her socially. She admits she likes his outrageous nature after being around “sanctimonious” people so much, and that he is “amusing” and “smells like a real man.” So, he arouses her physical nature, as opposed to the spiritual one.  

 

At the next tent revival, the police tell Sharon that the number of people in attendance will violate fire safety laws. She counters by arguing that the illegal alcohol interests don’t want her preaching intolerance and support of the current law of Prohibition. Gantry tries to convince Sharon to let him share how religious beliefs are practical for the businessman. He begins by fraudulently saying how he loves his job, was offered a junior partnership, and how many customers know him by his first name. It is the same spiel he used before. But, he can see that Sharon is too smart to buy his sales pitch. He is now truthful when he says the work is terrible, “chasing trains, “staying in “filthy” hotels, telling dirty jokes just to keep customers “laughing,” and bringing booze to ingratiate himself with others. He comments on his phony appearance by calling himself “a tramp in a silk shirt.” He then gets the idea to tell the congregation about his miserable, lonely life and then being saved when he found in a hotel drawer a copy of a Gideon Bible. This story of personal redemption, although insincere, fits in well with Sharon’s religious message.

 The next scene nicely follows up on their conversation as Gantry tells the crowd what he pitched to Sharon. He says that after reading from a psalm in the Bible that God was his “fortress,” he was able to be honest with his clients and sell goods with God backing him for finding faith. (All of this is a fiction, but it sells). He is a natural at evangelical preaching as he tells those assembled that businessmen shouldn’t go to church on Sunday and then “cheat on Monday.” He duplicates his “religion is love” lines, which he told Rachel. There is a look on Rachel’s face which reveals that she probably realizes Gantry repeats stock phrases to win others over. He then courts the anti-elitist sentiment felt in the country’s heartland by saying how he is not a well-educated man but knows enough to see that Jesus saved him from the Devil. Morgan rolls his eyes at Gantry’s over-the-top theatrics, most likely feeling that they cheapen the richness of the sacred mission he is part of. Gantry appears surprisingly overwhelmed as a man admits he is a sinner and runs up to him for guidance. Others follow the man to thank Sharon for bringing Gantry to them, as they buy the desire to be blessed that he has sold them.

 

After the meeting, Gantry talks to a man cleaning up. The janitor says he repeatedly gets “terrible drunk, and then I get good and saved,” by various preachers, including Sharon. He suggests selfish indulgence and finding salvation are both powerful forces. His words can possibly imply that the pull between being unholy and being righteous wrenches people back and forth. His character may also suggest that some people do not have a strong moral center and are easily swayed. (I remember a Cheech and Chong show I attended when one of the duo said he was once stoned on drugs and then he was stoned on Jesus, revealing an addictive personality).

 

Lefferts is on the sidelines, recording what is happening, almost like the writer of this story gathering material for his work. Sharon sees Gantry on the stage and wonders to him if he plans to take over. She is only half-joking, as she most likely is concerned about being upstaged. She is impressed with how many people they added to their total of converts. She informs him that Morgan thinks he is “vulgar,” and she agrees but confesses to liking it. He kisses her in the moment. She seems to enjoy it and quickly becomes alarmed by the intimacy. He apologizes and says she “hypnotized” him. She says God chose her to have that power, and when he says he was also called by God, she puts him in his place by saying that she, not God, chose him. She is now all business, offering Gantry a position in her organization.

 

Lefferts talks with Gantry after Sharon leaves and asks how he acquired his “style.” Gantry seems sincere when he says that when he is in front of the gathering he just lets it “rip,” and he feels a powerful connection between himself and the others. He says in the end he feels as if he loves everybody. The cynical Lefferts says Gantry especially likes the attention of the women. Gantry laughs heartily, since he knows that is a weakness of his. Lefferts likens the tent to a circus and Gantry, not putting up any false front with the journalist, laughs along with him when Lefferts likens him to possibly becoming the most successful and “funniest clown of them all.” So, this type of “old time religion” that Gantry praised can also be thought of as a type of exaggerated entertainment, and the comparison is not complimentary.

 Sharon derides her followers’ expenditure of cash by saying those who play cards and the stock market will not get into heaven, but pledging money to her crusade will. Gantry chews up the religious scenery, bringing a chimp onto the stage to decry the evils of evolution. At one fire and brimstone sermon he stirs up the crowd into a religious frenzy to the point where a man howls like a dog as if expelling Satan. 

 

Morgan tells Sharon all of these shenanigans are in very poor taste, and he says that Lefferts is just using the ridiculous show as material for his column which makes the religious movement appear negatively. He likens the two of them as doing the bad cop-good cop routine, with Gantry scaring them and then Sharon promising them salvation. Sharon thinks that combination makes them a good team since people are confessing their sins and are being saved. The film shows her as wanting to reach worthy ends but with somewhat unsavory means. Morgan did some background checking, and discovered that Gantry was dismissed from a theological seminary for seducing the deacon’s daughter in the church where the father gave a Christmas sermon. This rendition is not the tall tale Gantry told Sharon about his fiancée cheating on him. Before he can provide more information, Gantry enters the area like a performer coming through a theater curtain. He even shouts, “Ta Da!” which sounds like the music played to accompany a performance. Gantry announces that they have been invited to the city named Zenith, which Morgan does not think they should visit. He says that their movement is for common, rural folk, not big city audiences. He calls Gantry a “crude, vulgar showoff.” Gantry counters by saying Morgan is “too good for the people. I am the people.” He is “common” and that is what most of the people are, so he is saying he can connect with the average citizen. But, the movie explores what happens when that connection is exploited and people are manipulated by someone who only appears to be doing good. Sharon says that Christianity started with common people, and wonders what God wants, as opposed to the desires of individual people. Morgan decides to go along with the plan to go to Zenith, a name that means reaching the highest position. Here, the name will carry with it a sense of irony.

 

There is a meeting in Zenith that includes George Babbitt (Edward Andrews), his last name being the title of another Lewis novel. He is a loud businessman, and the topic of discussion here involves church finances. As Rev. Philip Garrison (Hugh Marlowe) and Rev. John Pengilly (John McIntire) grudgingly bemoan the cash shortages, Gantry, now looking slick in a new suit, brings his salesmanship skills to the business aspect of religion. He says they need to get more people to attend church, and Sharon’s (and his) actions have brought pledged converts in increasing numbers, which means more monetary contributions. Sharon is quiet, at first, suggesting quarreling over money matters cheapens the crusade to save people’s souls. She then complains about how monetary concerns drag down the spiritual mission she is on. She basically says that her independent work goes to pay expenses and contribute funds to their churches. She is looking for them to help her by embracing her efforts. Before walking out, she tells the men that they are not really interested in a religious “revival,” and that means she is not the person they want. 

 

There is a debate afterwards as to how to spread their religion. Babbitt likens religion to entertainment, saying bingo and baseball games raise money, so why not use Sharon’s enterprise to bring in the crowds? He warns the men of the cloth there that they will lose their positions if their church boards don’t see increased church attendance. Pengilly says that there were only Christ’s disciples that started Christianity, so numbers don’t measure a religion’s success. Garrison argues that having people howl like dogs and transforming what’s supposed to be devout gatherings into circus events is not what they should be encouraging. He tells Babbitt that religion is not a business. But, he further distances himself from Sharon’s, and thus Gantry’s, tactics, by saying “revivalism is not religion,” implying that theatrical performance should not be a part of Christianity. After he leaves, Babbitt implies they have an opportunity to get people excited about religion with revivalism, since the country is grounded in Christianity. He points out that all the presidents have been religious men and Congress opens sessions with quotes from the Bible. The film here suggests there is a lack of separation between church and state.

 

Babbitt wins the remaining members over, and they will not hold church services on Sundays when Sharon’s traveling tent operation is in Zenith. The implied goal here is to maximize attendance at revival meetings, and thus add donating converts to the evangelical branch of Christianity. Sharon looks relieved and revived herself since probably she hopes raising money to continue her mission will not be so burdensome. 

 

Zenith conducts a welcoming parade with cheering citizens for Sharon and her organization. The depiction is satirical as the event looks like a circus event as there are acrobats and clowns. The spectacle is a mashup of the patriotic and the religious to arouse enthusiasm. There are marching Boy Scouts, and Gantry walks with Babbitt who is dressed in a military uniform. After the pageant, Gantry briefs the staff like a general giving orders to his soldiers, making sure they get written pledge forms in the hands of attendees. Later there is a large staff answering phones which looks like a corporate operation. Sharon appears overwhelmed by her star status, with many reporters firing questions at her as flashing cameras take her picture and asking about what she is going to wear as opposed to spiritual matters. Lefferts arrives and alerts her that again she is having an issue with the fire department about the size of the crowd that will be attending her meeting. It’s as if this problem is an omen about how people create uncontrollable situations which will punish them for their overzealous ambitions. 

 

The night of the meeting attracts all sorts of people, including those that warn of the end of the world, while others hold signs for and against revivalism (“Even Jesus drank wine” is one that urges repeal of Prohibition). College students try to drown out the hymn being sung by chanting the words of the Star-Spangled Banner, which stresses the church/state separation issue. The scene lends itself to confrontation. Babbitt wants to arrest the disrupters, but Gantry quiets him down, not wanting to incite adversity. Morgan tells Gantry that Gantry has succeeded in drawing an angry mob, and he doesn’t want Sharon to confront the rowdy audience. But, Gantry sees it as an opportunity, and gives Sharon a pep talk, basically saying city people are just as emotionally accessible underneath since all people fear “death.” So, the thrust here is that one can reach people through their fears. Gantry keeps repeating that Sharon “can” save them, and his voiced support of her abilities seems to cast a spell that allows him to escort her to the meeting.

 Sharon is quiet as she joins the congregation. She says that many have come to judge her motives, but she says that if she has sinned, then God will judge her. By extension, she also says that she has no right to judge her detractors. She quotes from the Bible that says that Jesus showed generosity toward enemies, winning them over with love. By saying these words, she deflects attacks by people against her and diffuses hostilities. She tells the choir not to sing, and her tranquil urging for prayer transforms what would be a loud revivalist commotion into a quiet contemplative meeting. Her sincerity even gets the atheist Lefferts to bend a knee, although he may be succumbing to peer pressure. After the event, her winning over the crowd just escalates her celebrity as throngs surround her car on the way out and at the hotel where she is staying. Gantry is actually protective of her, telling the reporters and others that Sharon needs quiet and rest. Even Morgan can appreciate his efforts here. Sharon collapses into sleep and Gantry sweetly places a rose next to her and tucks her in for the night. 

 

Lefferts dictates his next newspaper column, saying that Sister Sharon tamed the crowd with “simple prayer,” but he questions how that change in approach in the long run will win over more people than established churches can accomplish. His didactic approach has him asking what defines revivalism: “Is it a church, is it a religion, or is it a circus sideshow complete with freaks, magic and rabble-rousing?” He goes on to explore why a revival attracts so many. He wonders if the appeal is “to see a miracle, to be saved from a lifetime of sin in five minutes,” or to be embraced in “salvation” during a time that seeks physical gratification. The implication is that it contains all of the elements he raises, and offers the possibility of a spiritual uplifting when people seem mired in transient, everyday pursuits. His questioning article points out that there are no qualifications to be a revivalist, and no laws to “protect the public” from those who would exploit religion for personal gain. He argues that those involved in the revivalist movement get the legal benefits of running a tax-free enterprise and collect money “without accounting for how it is used.” 

 The scene shifts to a brothel, where prostitutes read Lefferts’s column, which cynically asks if there will be a decrease in “lust” and “adultery” if one contributes money to the revivalist cause. One of the women humorously says, “I hope not.” LuLu is there hearing about Gantry’s manipulative abilities which Lefferts says can make the innocent feel like sinners, and vice versa. LuLu’s repetition of the same words Gantry uses repeatedly to win over women about God’s love is ironic given this setting. She recounts how he seduced her physically while contradictorily sounding religious. When she says that he “rammed the fear of God” into her, in a church no less, the irony is compounded by the sexual innuendo mixed with holy references. She laughs about how her “bare soul” (another combining of contrasting words) was thrown out into the cold by her father, the reverend. Did these hypocritical actions by Lancaster and her cruel father alienate her from religion and lead her to her present state?

 

There is a popular backlash against Sister Sharon’s movement because of Lefferts’s article. Babbitt confronts Gantry and says that Lefferts revealed that he bankrolled the revivalist group to enhance his real estate business. He withdraws his financial support. The local Zenith churches also receive complaints based on Lefferts’s writings. The power of the press is demonstrated here, as well as how quickly the public can be swayed. Gantry visits Babbitt’s real estate office and has evidence that some of his properties contain an illegal liquor club and a house of prostitution, and there is an illegal card game going on right at that moment in the back of the building. So much for Babbitt’s proclaimed religious adherence. Gantry is there to blackmail the hypocrite to regain his support, so corruption is lurking beneath the righteous exterior of these men. 

 

Sharon goes to the Zenith newspaper publisher Eddington (Dayton Lummis), who carried Lefferts’s syndicated column, to complain about what she considers Lefferts’s unfair writing. Gantry and Babbitt show up there, too. She tells Lefferts, who is in attendance, that he implied that she misused funds, and she has only preached the word of God. Since neither she nor Gantry have any qualifying ordainment credentials, Lefferts asks her how they have the right to preach to anyone. She feels that she must have been chosen by God to do His work. He asks her if she had a “burning bush” moment where God spoke to her, and he is knowledgeable to point out that in the New Testament, God only spoke to Jesus. He then quotes a misogynist passage which instructs that women should be silent in religious matters to show how her own religion can be used to silence her. He is using religious texts to undermine Sharon’s self-justification to spread her manner of Christianity. But, Gantry gets Lefferts to admit that he only sees the Bible as great poetry and wisdom, but not that Jesus, through his divinity, can offer “life everlasting.” By getting Lefferts to admit his atheism, which refutes the basic tenets of Christianity, Gantry can persuade Eddington that Lefferts is not a fair and objective reporter, whose beliefs run counter to most Americans. He says he will refute Lefferts on the radio, with Babbitt extorted into paying for the airtime. 

 

On the ride away from the meeting, Sharon is demonstrably excited by Gantry’s performance in Eddington’s office. She then sends mixed signals, hugging and kissing Gantry. When he stops the car and responds, she pushes him away and says God sent him to her to be an “instrument” not a “lover.” He admits to being baffled by her and says he only wants her, not other women. She says she knows he had sex with Rachel, who he coldly constantly ignores after their physical encounter. She calls him out as a liar when he denies being with Rachel. He says he wants to “tear those holy wings off” and “make a real woman” of her. He says that he can provide her with a heaven of physical “ecstasy.” His words are a contrasting mixture of religious and carnal language, even to the point of suggesting a rape. He says that she wants to consummate their passion, and that all men and women are driven by this drive, and she should admit it to herself.

 

She drives him to a construction site for a tabernacle, and says that is what she really wants, a place where she can do her good work without running around, like a “circus” (even she compares what they have been doing to a sort of carnival act, which is what Lefferts called it). She says she wants a place for worship for all religions with a soup kitchen to help ailing bodies. She calls that “home” her “first love,” in contrast to what Gantry advocates. He admits that her dream is greater than what he can offer, and he is only a hick from nowhere. She confesses that she invented her current persona, and she is really from “shanty town.” But God brought the two of them together so that she can finish her constructing not only the place of worship, but presumably herself. He calmly agrees that it was God that joined them, and she then warms to him, now feeling that he is not trying to undermine her mission. She follows him under the building’s foundations, and the implication is that they have sex, again the lustful activity hidden ironically in a religious place. Gantry here plays the Eve role of tempting the more spiritual partner into indulging in earthly delights.

 As Sharon dreamily pours sand out of her shoes the next day, reminding her of the previous night’s physical pleasure, Gantry is on the radio ranting against Lefferts. He gives him the first name of “Lucifer,” attacking the man instead of his arguments. (Lefferts takes the attacks with smiles and laughs because he seems to know that Gantry is just using him to magnify Gantry’s brand). Gantry offers examples of a morally decaying society in need of a religious revival by holding up sexy French postcards, and stating he was propositioned by diseased prostitutes on Zenith’s main street. He offers no objective evidence of what he holds up as factual, and we know from his behavior that he is a fraud who projects his own failings onto others. He also attacks “foreigners” for bringing sinful ways to Americans, using those who are different as people to be targeted, a stance in opposition to Sharon’s speech echoing Jesus’s advocating the use of love as a way of dealing with enemies. In fact, Gantry gives his speech in a boxing ring, conveying his pugilistic stance. He again taps into that dislike of Ivy League elitism by saying they are his opponents, and thus, by extension, the foes of the rural citizens. As he speaks we also have LuLu listening and laughing, because she knows from personal experience Gantry’s hypocrisy. 

 

At an outdoor rally, which is a place he can use his loud voice to incite and turn a crowd into a frenzied mob, Gantry slams bottles of whiskey onto the ground to denounce booze (showing more of his hypocrisy). He implies the police are not cracking down on those that he declares are committing immoral acts. Gantry, accompanied by law enforcement officials, raid “speakeasies” (for dramatic purposes, Gantry knocks down doors) where alcohol is served, and houses of prostitution. At one of these he discovers Lulu, who laughs at his fakery, and Gantry is momentarily taken aback. He recovers enough to tell the cops to arrest her, probably so he can shut her up. He then thinks better of his action, and persuades Captain Holt (Barry Kelley) to release the hookers, probably deciding not to increase the likelihood that LuLu might expose him. To protect himself further, he secretly tells Holt to make sure the prostitutes will leave town quickly so he can cover his lying tracks.

 

Gantry’s public crusade gains much attention. Flowers, communications from political figures, and people from the city arrive at the revival’s headquarters. Sharon just wants to have a quiet picnic for her and Gantry. She appears to hope for a romantic relationship, but he is wrapped up in expanding her organization’s influence. He charms her and says their personal celebration can wait until after the day’s promotional agenda is over. His position is in jeopardy when Lulu calls, who has not left town, and thanks him for getting her released, implying she knows that he did it as a favor to keep her quiet. After hanging up she says she wants to contact Benny (Peter Brocco), a photographer, which can only mean she is planning some sort of exploitation. 

 She has Benny positioned on the fire escape so he can take pictures of Gantry being seduced. When Gantry shows up she is wearing a sexy negligee. He looks around, and he smartly suspects that the scene is planned for a “shakedown.” She admits that she was angry when he came in the previous evening with the cops to arrest her after he had dumped her long ago. She says she thought of blackmailing him, but when she saw him now, she remembered how much she cared for him. He admits to running out of her. She says her father contacted her and compared her to Jezebel in the Bible. She wonders why people see “hate” in holy scripture. What she says suggests the danger in how some can twist the meaning of words that carry with them divine justification. She refuses some traveling money and asks that he kiss her goodbye. Benny gets a picture of the kiss. But then Lulu shuts out the light and seems to want to abandon the blackmail plan as her desire for him revives. As she sits on the bed, she asks for him to stay a while, and says for him to tell her “lies” that she can “believe.” That comment points to how people believe what they want to believe, regardless of the truth, which they find they can’t accept. But he turns the light back on, showing how he isn’t going to give into his dark, lustful inclinations. She realizes that he will not be intimate with her, and is angry about Sharon winning him over. She then decides to get her revenge by accepting the money he offered, and she sexily stashes it into her garter-securing stockings, revealing a great deal of leg. A definite photo opportunity.

 

Looking like a rich man with a yacht, not a man of God who has forsaken worldly temptations, Gantry enters Sharon’s room wearing a naval outfit. He tells her he will take her on a picnic cruise. Even though his entrance is full of his usual bluster, when she embraces him, he reveals genuine feelings for her. As Sharon goes to get dressed, that joy is short-lived as Morgan arrives with photos of his encounter with Lulu. She wants $25,000 in cash brought to her by Sharon to where she worked as a prostitute before it was raided. Lulu most likely wants to stress Gantry’s duplicity and the damage he can cause to women he seduces. 

 

Despite her humiliation, Sharon agrees to the meeting, probably because she doesn’t want to publicize Gantry’s scandalous activity and have her movement associated with it. She arrives per Lulu’s instructions, and a screeching cat greets her and then pokes around some liquor bottles to stress the unseemly location. (Is the feline there to make a reference to the place having been a “cat” house?). There is a contrast between Sharon’s conservative clothing and Lulu’s sexually enticing outfit, but they have both been seduced by the same man. Sharon drops the money on the table and asks for the negatives of the pictures. Lulu just laughs and kicks the money. She apparently just wanted to delight in a form of revenge by embarrassing the supposedly upright Sharon for being complicit in a cover-up and becoming involved with a fake religious zealot.

 

The compromising pictures show up in the newspaper. Eddington confronts Lefferts about his turning down Lulu’s offer of supplying the pictures to him. Lefferts argues that a free press can refuse to aid a blackmailer by publishing unscrupulous stories. He concluded that the photos were taken secretly to attack an individual, and he says they only revealed that Gantry is “human,” subject to temptations as others. He apparently does not go along with a counterargument that, despite the motivations of the informant, the press must expose hypocrisy to alert the public not to be taken in by con artists. 

 

There is now a dwindled crowd attending one of the tent meetings, and there are hostile members among them. Lulu also shows up, apparently to gloat. One man pulls out a whip and starts to crack it and others yell derogatory remarks as they throw eggs and other food at Sharon, Gantry, Morgan, Rachel and others. Lefferts is there, but he is disgusted by the ugly response of those in attendance, apparently advocating that two wrongs don’t make a right. As the man with the whip tears down Sharon’s revivalist sign, Gantry is plastered with garbage and one woman spits on him. Lulu did not expect the intensity of the negative response and runs out of the tent, presumably feeling guilty. The mob trashes the congregation meeting area. When Sharon and Morgan reach their offices there is the clamor of ringing phones from people shouting hateful messages. Sharon wonders why God has “forsaken” her. She apparently is not sensing any divine mercy for her human indulgences and mistakes. 

 

Lulu returns to her place only to be met by her pimp who beats her up for not getting money for the story and the photos. He asks if she did it because she hates Gantry or loves him that much. The answer is that both are probably true, since Gantry hurt her by abandoning her and then she wanted retaliation by exposing him and stopping him from being with Sharon. Gantry arrives and beats Lulu’s attacker and then knocks him out. Despite her ruining his success with the religious movement and with Sharon, Gantry acts like a true Christian here as he tends to Lulu and says he is sorry for everything, which includes how he wrecked her life. 

 Back at the tent space which is in shambles, and which mirrors the condition of the movement, Lefferts and Gantry share a drink of whiskey, exhibiting no hard feelings toward each other. Gantry probably sees it as one of his many enterprises that just didn't work out. He is even funny how he pretends to demonize drinking booze by saying there ought to be a law against it, since Prohibition just says one can’t sell the intoxicant. Gantry wonders why people became so angry. Lefferts says that people don’t like their Gods to be so human. His observation comments on how “fan” is short for “fanatic,” so hero-worship is a sort of madness to which people capitulate their reason. Gantry admits to truly believing in God and religion, which universally comforts people from all walks of life who are “scared or sick, because they got no money, or have too much money, or before a war, or after a war.” He adds that “praying is the cheapest first-rate medicine I know.” After Gantry praises Sharon, Lefferts says Gantry ought to marry the woman. Gantry feels that it’s too late for that. But, Lefferts shows him a copy of the next edition of the newspaper which has Lulu saying that she framed Gantry, and he is cleared of any moral’s charges. Gantry’s good deed toward Lulu engendered one in return.

 The crowd is back, thirsting to worship their hero and heroine again. But, Gantry has been missing for three days (a Cristian number associated with resurrection), and Sharon is convinced he will return for the night’s proceedings at the finished tabernacle. He does show up behind the venue and suggests they leave the movement, go off and get married, have children and lead a private life. She feels her destiny is a public one to help her followers along the spiritual path. But fate works in mysterious ways. One of the men behind the stage tosses a still lit cigarette into a pile of rags and cans, accidentally starting a fire. Sharon says the Holy Ghost is in the building, but so apparently is the destructive nature of existence. A man, who lost his hearing, begs for Sharon to help him. She prays, places her hands over his ears, and he regains his sense of hearing. The crowd shouts praise, and others with various afflictions head up the center aisle seeking a spiritual cure for physical ailments.

At that moment, the place bursts into flames. Sharon shouts that the tabernacle is a place of the Lord and those who believe in him will be saved. It is ironic that the place she built because of her love for God and which was to be a home for the faithful is destroyed. Gantry and others try to save some of those there, but the gathering is a mob now as the people panic. A man smacks Sharon’s Bible out of her hands most likely because he feels cheated by her words, and she is knocked to the ground. Gantry, pulling a woman out of the water near the pier, sees the tabernacle explode into an inferno, killing Sharon.

 

The next morning, in the rubble again, Lefferts hands Sharon’s bible to Gantry, which can be seen as a token of remembrance of their connection. Outside, people ask if Sister Sharon’s departed soul will forgive them for running out of the burning building. He says there is nothing to forgive since they did the right thing to escape. He starts to sing a hymn and Rachel picks up the tune. Morgan probably sees Sharon’s bible as the baton that Gantry should take to continue the evangelical marathon. But Gantry quotes St. Paul, saying that as an adult he must put off childish ways. He leaves, foregoing the selfish ways of a child clamoring for attention, and maybe his latest actions of charity have changed him from being a selfish man to becoming a true Christian.

 

Did Sharon actually cure the deaf man, or was it a temporary condition that psychosomatically was alleviated through his own healing abilities? Was the fire the result of demonic forces undermining the righteous? If so, why would God allow it to happen? Or was it just an ironic coincidence that the blaze occurred? The film raises all of these questions, and presents a complex world with many possible answers.

The next film is The Last Seduction.

Hollywood trip and the movie The Swimmer

I just wanted to make a few comments about my recent trip to Hollywood. I saw Grauman’s Chinese Theater with the foot and hand prints of many performers on a previous visit a while back. But I was thrilled to see the comments and signatures of many current movie actors and actresses, including Meryl Streep. However, there is also the equally exotic Grauman’s Chinese Theater close by and actors and directors sometimes appear there to discuss their films which are shown at that spot. Sid Grauman was a master showman, and he sort of invented the “Red Carpet” show and all of the hoopla surrounding the premiers of films. He really turned Hollywood into the home of the stars. Jimmy Kimmel’s show is broadcast right across from the Dolby Theater where the Oscars are held, so that is why it is easy for him to have the winners on his show right after the annual ceremony.

I also went on a tour of the Warner Brothers studio. On one lot parts of movies such as East of Eden and The Music Man were filmed. The gazebo and town center for the TV show The Gilmore Girls is in this area, as well as the “Central Perk” coffee shop where Friends was shot. The prop building houses an enormous inventory of items used in movies, including antique lamps and a wall filled with telephones from various time periods. It was quite exciting to see the jacket that James Dean wore in Rebel Without a Cause, and the black bird statuettes used in The Maltese Falcon. In the Harry Potter room, there are a number of items used in the films, including one of the flying broomsticks. And, in one building there are a number of Batmobiles, including the million dollar one introduced in Batman Begins.

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Okay, now onto this week’s discussion. Every so often I like to add a post that springs from a discussion in my film class at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. We recently viewed and commented on this not very well known 1968 movie. It is based on a John Cheever short story, and written for the screen and directed by the show business couple, who were married at the time, Eleanor and Frank Perry. They are the duo that gave us the psychological film, David and Lisa. The making of this movie encountered several problems. There was a dispute between Frank Perry and the producer, and Sydney Pollack came in (uncredited) to finish directing the film. Also, the studio pulled the plug on financing at the last moment, and star Burt Lancaster funded the last day of shooting himself.

Despite those setbacks, the result is a thoughtful take on the hope of being part of the “American Dream,” and how, like in The Great Gatsby, that dream can turn into a nightmare. (I always felt that Lancaster would have made a terrific Gatsby, with that board, brilliant smile and twinkle in his eyes. Of course his Elmer Gantry sort of fit the bill of a showy salesman whose false surface hides a darker side). The story here starts out with beautiful morning weather as Ned Merrill (Lancaster), a man in his fifties who is physically fit, shows up in his swim trunks at the backyard pool of upper class suburban neighbors. These middle-aged people had enjoyed an affluent, alcohol-infused party the night before and are languishing in indolent hangovers (they look like they would have fit right in with the people at the party at the beginning of The Graduate). The conversation is pretty white-person bland as they greet Ned who they have not seen for a while. When asked, Ned says that his girls are at home playing tennis and his wife is doing fine, a response that fits in with what would be expected to be said in this environment. Of the houses he visits, this one is the farthest away from his own. The neighbors ask where has Ned been, and he says, “Oh, here and there, here and there.” The vagueness of his response may seem appropriate given the superficial conversation, but it is the beginning of what becomes the central question of the film: What has happened to Ned? His out-of-the-blue early morning desire for a swim in a neighbor’s pool may seem a bit odd, and it gets even stranger as the story unfolds.

These well-to-do inhabitants don’t even swim in their pools for physical fitness. They indulge their bad habits while lounging next to their artificial waterways. They just have parties to show the pools off, as status symbols. One man brags, “I didn’t skimp on anything.” He installed a water filter that, “filters out ninety-nine point ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent of all solid matter in the water.” His description sounds like a plug for a Nazi version of water filters whose goal is purity. One family takes care of their pool to the point that, as someone observes, “they nurse it like a baby.” The implication is that the love of material things has replaced affection for one’s own children.

Ned gets the idea that he wants to swim home, using the pools of the surrounding suburban homes. He says, “Pool by pool, they form a river all the way to our house.” (Remember, Jay Gatsby met his end in a swimming pool). When he doesn’t remember who owns the last place along the route, the neighbors seem surprised. They slowly say that it belongs to Shirley Abbott (Janice Rule), and we suspect that there was a bit of scandal between her and Ned (her last name is ironic, since nothing religious existed between the two of them). Ned sees his swimming as an adventure. He says of himself, “I’m an explorer.” Ned is a sort of a suburban Odysseus, who traveled by water to get home and reclaim his family. Ned seems as if he has turned himself into some hero in a fantasy story, He says, “I’d like to see all those glistening domes and minarets,” and go “sailing around the Golden Horn.” But this story is a mock epic one, and Ned is living in a delusion. He practically advocates self-deception when he says along the way, “if you make believe hard enough that something is true, then it is true for you.”

Another early indication of the flaws in Ned’s character occurs when he visits the next house. He’s all smiles but when he meets Mrs. Hamman (Cornelia Otis Skinner), she tells him he’s not welcome there. He says that he’s a friend of her son, but she says to him coldly, “A friend. How dare you use that word. You never came to see him. You never even called him at the hospital.” Ned asks, “Well how is he. Is he better?” Mrs. Hammar’s scowl shows that her son probably died. Ned is in denial about himself as a friend and the actual events that have transpired around him. Ned’s assessment of himself as being, “a very special human being. Noble. And splendid,” is beginning to seem like false pride.

Ned is also in denial about his age. He is trying to be Peter Pan, staying forever young. In fact Shirley Abbott later says to him sarcastically, “Well how goes it in Never-Never Land?” The name of the place where Peter lives here sounds like a repeated denial of Ned’s facing his actual age and character. His desire to swim home, and his references to being on a quest seem like he’s playing a child’s game of make-believe. At another pool, there is a boy that has grown up, and Ned seems to not have seen him since the youth was much younger. So, we get the feeling of Ned being away from this world for a while. Where has he been? Has he been institutionalized? Or, has he just had some type of mental breakdown with amnesia concerning past times that were traumatic?

At the same pool, he encounters a young woman, Julie Hooper (Janet Landgard) who is twenty years old. She admits to having a crush on Ned when she was younger and doing babysitting. Her hero worshiping feeds Ned’s inflated idea of himself, and symbolizes his desire to recapture his youth. She finds his swimming quest romantic, and temporarily joins him on his journey. They jump over fences but at one point he lands hard and injures his leg, limping through the rest of the film as a symbolic indication that his delusion is failing. Julie’s virginal appearance is undercut for him when she talks about having met a boyfriend through a computer (must have been one of the earliest versions of internet dating), and admits to watching a naked man exposing himself. These revelations show the corruption of age and bang at the door of his self-imposed desire to keep out awareness of the loss of the innocence of a child. When he appears to try to kiss Julie (maybe to taste her vanishing youth?), she is repulsed, because in her eyes he changes from a platonic hero to a dirty old man, and she runs away.

At another home, the host tells Ned that he should leave his phone number because, “I’ve heard of an opening … smaller place than you’re used to … I think if you approach them right, take a cut just at first.” We now start to realize that Ned has fallen on hard economic times, and is unemployed. He, of course, doesn’t want to talk about this offer, since he would then have to face the negativity from which he is trying to escape. His poor economic standing is echoed when he visits the home of a couple of rich, elderly nudists, The Hallorans, (Nancy Cushman and House Jameson). Perhaps they represent a corrupted version of the initially innocent and naked Adam and Eve in The Garden of Eden, as they talk about how Ned still owes them money. The husband says maybe they could lend Ned some more funds, for old time sake, as a friend. But, his wife is all business. She says, “He’s not going to get a penny!” She continues by stating, “Friends are not deductible.” Their dismissal of Ned, who used to be one of them, is an indictment of the coldness of people who put their money first. They illustrate that failure in the world of capitalism draws scorn and dismissal.

Of course Ned was part of this monetarily successful world that marginalized others, and he still believes that he is part of it. When he approached one estate driveway he encounters a black chauffeur who he mistakes for the previous African American employee. The driver gives him an annoyed look, but Ned remains clueless as to his own prejudicial comment. It is a subtle reference to the racist claim that all blacks look alike. There are no African Americans living in this affluent area, except those who are servants or employed in menial jobs.

Ned visits the home of a youth, Kevin (Michael Kearney). The pool there is dry. Perhaps it symbolizes the emotional barrenness of the capitalist world. Kevin thinks he’s a failure because he is a bad swimmer and would never become captain of any sports team. Ned offers some advice when he tells the boy that once he realizes it’s not “the end of the world because you’re not on the team,” he can appreciate “that you’re free. You’re your own man. You don’t have to worry about being captain and all that status stuff,” and he can be “captain of your soul.” Perhaps Ned’s comments show some insight into the futility of the competitive rat race he was part of, or it can also be seen as a rationalization on his part to deal with his failure to remain a star player in the business world.

Ned’s delusional facade continues to crumble when he reaches the home of Henry Biswanger (Dolph Sweet), where another swank party is taking place. Ned earlier said of his daughters, “those kids of mine think I have all the answers. Those kids of mine think I’m just about it.” Here, we hear a different version of Ned’s life. A guest, Howie Hunsacker (Bill Fiore) - the name sounds like a barbarian who will rob you - says his boy had “straight A’s” and won a scholarship. Hunsacker’s wife, Lillian (Jan Miner) says, “we bring up our kids to behave themselves. We don’t let our kids run around drunk, wrecking cars.” Another guest says that Ned kept the names of his daughters out of the newspaper after the drunken driving incident. Lillian says of Ned’s daughters, “those girls never paid no attention to him.” Howie says to Ned, “Your girls laughed at you. I heard them. They thought you were a great big joke.” Ned then sees a hot dog cart that he says belongs to him. Biswanger now owns it. We realize that Ned’s financial collapse probably led to a garage sale, where Biswanger bought the novelty cart.

Ned visits the last house owned by Shirley Abbott who used to be his mistress. His delusion tries to substitute the negativity of how he hurt her with a romanticized version of their relationship, reminiscing about places they didn’t actually visit together. We can see her pain as he tries to seduce her again, and she almost submits, in the pool, but her anger sends him away. She destroys his version of their relationship when she says, “I lied! I lied all the time about loving it anywhere with you. You bored me to tears! With all your stories about your old deals and your old girls and your golf scores and your bloody war and bloody duty to your wife and kids. You bored me to tears! I was playing a scene with you. … I was acting.” It’s possible that the water in this story can be seen as an attempt by Ned to wash away ugly memories in order to return to what he considered a more pleasant past. However, it turns out to be a failed effort at being reborn into a hopeful time. Ned now moves down the ladder of success as he visits a crowded public pool. He is humiliated because he must beg for some money to pay for an opportunity to swim in the crowded facility where those with less money use a pool to actually cool off instead of having one as an indication of financial accomplishment.

By the time Ned reaches his home, the beautiful weather is left behind, as Ned loses his sunny version of his life. We now have a raging rainstorm with its fierce downpour contrasting with the calm waters in the pools. This water washes away Ned’s make-believe world. The grounds of his estate are in decay and the house is abandoned, his family long gone as they probably abandoned him.

One member of the film class offered that, in keeping with the mythological analogies in the movie, Ned’s reference to the pools acting like a “river,” could be interpreted as Ned traveling along the river Styx on his way to hell, washing his feet at the public pool in preparation for his crossing over. The gates to his decrepit, run down home may signify the entrance to the underworld. He becomes sicker and shivers, as he finally reaches the door to his house, possibly expiring there. Ned is severely punished for not remaining a success in a capitalist society. Burt Lancaster accurately described this movie as Death of a Salesman in swim trunks.

The next film is The Miracle Worker.