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Elmer Gantry (1960)

Elmer Gantry (1960)
April 23, 2011 - 7:30 pm
In-person: 
Douglass K. Daniel.

Directed by Richard Brooks

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, this portrait of religious hucksterism also brought Oscars to Burt Lancaster (Best Actor) and Shirley Jones (Best Supporting Actress). The story of two self-styled evangelists (Lancaster and Simmons) barnstorming through rural America is a study in cynicism, culminating in hellfire. Tonight’s program will be introduced by author Douglass K. Daniel, who will sign copies of his new book Tough as Nails: The Life and Films of Richard Brooks before the screening.

United Artists. Producer: Bernard Smith. Screenwriter: Richard Brooks. Cinematographer: John Alton. Editor: Marjorie Fowler. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, Shirley Jones, Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger. 35mm, Color, 146 min.