Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 198: Practise What You Preach

Next up a look at how religion became big business and how preaching the Lord's name for profit can sometimes be a bad idea. The film in question is Elmer Gantry, with the titular hard-drinking salesman being played with verve and vigour by a game Burt Lancaster. In the early part of the film, Gantry is portrayed as a man who likes women, whisky and gambling but his world soon changes when he encounters public evangelist Sister Sharon Falconer. After several attempts to attract her attention, Elmer finally weasels his way into her roadshow team and gradually becomes part of the service himself. Elmer and Sharon quickly develop a good cop/bad cop routine where he tells everyone they're going to hell before she promises to save their souls. Meanwhile, the pair's exploits attract the attention of sceptical journalist Jim Lefferts who gains notoriety himself after trying to expose Gantry for the fraud he is. Despite Jim's criticisms, Sharon and Elmer continue to build-up a following and start taking their show to larger cities, drawing bigger crowds as they go. Elmer is also able to talk himself into presenting a radio show and tells the locals to shut down known speakeasys and brothels. However, when Elmer breaks into one of these brothels, he encounters an old flame of his - Lulu who has fallen on hard times since Elmer left her. Lulu attempts to get revenge by staging a scene in which Elmer is seen giving her money and planting a kiss on her lips. When Sharon, who has since become Elmer's lover, sees the pictures she resolves to pay Lulu the money she wants but the pictures make it to the paper nonetheless. As Elmer's reputation is muddied, the roadshows are almost empty with most of the congregation made up of people who want to heckle and throw things at Sharon and Elmer. But, after Elmer comes to Lulu's aid, she recants her tale and admits that the whole thing was a set-up just to avenge the way Elmer treated her. As the crowds return to Sharon's show, it seems that her life is back on track but one more tragedy hits that changes everything.

I have to say it did take me a while to warm to Elmer Gantry, mainly because the first twenty minutes were simply spent building up to Elmer's first meeting with Sharon. I felt director Richard Brooks' script, which was partly based on Sinclair Lewis' novel, really presented an interesting character in Elmer. Throughout the film you didn't know how much of what he said was genuine and whether he really believed in what he was saying or that he was simply trying to make a fast buck. Similarly, Sharon's motives are initially questioned, as it seems as if her preaching the name of God is simply to get famous, however we later learn the truth about where the money is going. While the film presented a number of interesting characters, including Jim and Lulu, I never felt it was visually stunning until the final ten minutes. The final disaster of the film, which I won't ruin in this post, is presented in a way in which you really fear for the lives of all of the characters. Elmer Gantry's other strength is the Oscar-Winning central performance from Burt Lancaster who really steals the show as the fast-talking conman. From the very first scene, Lancaster is truly captivating as he wanders around with a big smile on his face and preaches the word of the Lord with such conviction. Jean Simmons was also brilliant as Sister Sharon, a character whose motives change several times during the film. I'm surprised that Simmons wasn't even nominated for an Oscar seeing as her performance is just as engaging as Lancaster's. The film's other acting award went to Shirley Jones, who is captivating in the film's second act as the damaged and vengeful Lulu. While some of the scenes in the film could've been slightly shorter, I felt that Elmer Gantry had a lot to offer with its themes of whether religion can ever be used as entertainment. It's odd that this film isn't as well-remembered as some of the other films from this decade; however I'm now going to go out and preach the word of one Elmer Gantry.

Next time we step on board two very different ships.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 172: More Musical Melodies

I know I've been laying low for a while in terms of the Oscar hunt but that's because I've had other things on soon these posts will have their own exclusive blog dedicated to them but for the moment I present a quadruple bill of 1960s musicals. However the characters in the musicals aren't the most savoury of characters - child thieves, gang members, murderers and conmen who can all hold a tune, isn't it just lovely. And we'll kick off with the first two films from that quadruple bill.

Starting off with the film that triumphed at the 1962 ceremony - an update of Romeo and Juliet starring too warring, gun-toting, all-singing, all-dancing gangs. I'm talking of course of West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein and Steven Sondheim's classic musical, which was transplanted to the screen in 1961 to rave reviews. As always with films that I know quite well it's hard for me to know how much plot detail to put in but I will say that the film deals with the rival gangs the Latino-only gang The Sharks and The Jets which are made up of mainly Polish immigrants. Russ Tamblyn plays Jet leader Riff whose lieutenant Tony has essentially quit the gang preferring to work at the local drugstore however he is convinced to come to the dance where both gangs will arrange a rumble. That's where Tony meets Natalie Wood's Maria the sister of Bernardo the leader of the Sharks, played by George Charkiris, with Tony and Maria obviously being the equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. As we all know the story the two warring factions end up getting in the way of the love story with both Biff and Bernardo biting the dust before the final scenes. The only change-up is that Tony is killed but Maria survives telling the gangs to stop what they are doing before there is even more bloodshed. For me the opening fifteen minutes of West Side Story builds it up perfectly with the opening conflict between the two gangs played out to minimal beats building up to a large climax which provides the impetus for the rest of the film. Though I do have a bit of a problem finding gangs that are that in time when dancing together particularly threatening everything else about this film is great. While I found Wood and Richard Beymer a little flat as Maria and Tony there was support elsewhere in two Oscar winning turns from Chakiris and Rita Moreno the latter playing Bernardo's girl and Maria's confident. Actually out of all the performances I feel that Moreno's is the best especially towards the end when The Jets are circling around her following Bernardo's death. The songs are spectacular from America to Maria to Someday and the staging is perfect especially the playground with wire around it a perfect place to start and end the film. So all in all a perfect Oscar Best Picture winner then.

Moving on to the next year a less racy and more traditional musical with The Music Man although it does still feature an unsavoury lead character in conman Professor Harold Hill who comes to the sleepy Iowa town of River City to flog band uniforms and instruments to the unsuspecting townsfolk. Hill is played by Robert Preston, who played the role on stage, however both Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant were offered the role with the latter turning it down saying nobody could play it as well as the man who did on Broadway. Hill is aided in his con by associate Marcellus who is the only one who knows him by his real name Gregory. As he is a showman he convinces the majority of the town to steer away the young folk from the pool tables and instead get them to take part in a band. His pomp and circumstance is infectious as the older women of the town form a dance group while the four men on the school board form a Barbershop Quartet, in actuality they are played by real life quartet The Buffalo Bills. Hill's main opposition comes from the town's mayor who wants his credentials and the local librarian Marian who teaches piano. I was a big fan of The Music Man before revisiting agan and what I like about it so much is in the little details from the opening number set on a train that has all the men in suits and hats complaining about Hill to the final reprise of '76 Trombones' with the whole town now kitted out in their band uniforms. The other songs are just as brilliant with the most famous being 'Till There Was You' however my favourite has to be the famous 'Trouble in River City' in which Hill convinces the people that the pool table is bad news. Both Preston and Shirley Jones are a great couple with support coming from the brilliant Buddy Hackett and a young Ron Howard. While this isn't going to win any points for originality it is still a fine old-fashioned musical and one of the last of its kind.