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This website addresses Sinclair Lewis' view of revivalism in the midwest as portrayed in the film "Elmer Gantry."

The first criticism of this type of revivalism in the film is its ability to profit those involved in spreading the word. The revival movement is a profitable business to the religious figures involved.

Sharon Falconer

The first glimpse the viewer sees of Sharon Falconer occurs when she is surrounded by her adorning fans, receiving their gifts and money. Each time she preaches at her revivals, a collection plate is passed around the audience and many make a generous contribution: "[t]here is money" and "what God really wants is for you to prosper"[1]. Falconer sees the opportunity to make money and she jumps on it, fully believing that God has chosen this path for her. Later in the film, the viewer discovers that Falconer has been saving money all along to build her tabernacle, which is eventually constructed. The tabernacle alone shows a genuine need for Falconer to reach more people, but exemplifies the amount of money she has made off her followers.

Elmer Gantry

Elmer Gantry himself is the model business man. Making a living as a traveling salesman before joining the revival, the viewer sees Gantry's skill and ability to sell just about anything to just about anyone. He reads people, discovers their weakness, and appeal to it in order to sell them his product. Once he joins the revival his product is revivalism religion and he sells it very well. He even talks about the "'good, hard, practical, dollars-and-cents value of Christ in Commerce'"[2]. The fact that he can talk about placing a dollar value on Christ or religion shows his corruption and greed. He inspires people to contribute money when he preaches. The better he is, the better the audience feels, the more they contribute. The film itself is a "biting attack on how he and others had abused that calling"[3]. Most are involved in the movement for their own personal gain more so than the gain of others.

Local Zenith Pastors

Once Gantry joins the revival effort, he opens up opportunities to Falconer with his marketing skills that she never had before. One of those opportunities is going to Zenith with the revival. Zenith is a larger city, with larger pocketbooks, than she has been in before. Once they go to Zenith, some of the local pastors there are in support of revival and some are not. Those that are realize the potential of revival to bring them new church members. New members for the churches mean more monetary offerings on Sundays. These pastors will profit from the work that the revival does and are in support of making a chunk of money off it in their own churches.

The second criticism of this revival is the way it appeals to peoples senses and not their genuine quest for religion. The revival becomes a form of entertainment for the crowd.

Tent Revivalism

The revivals are held in a tent, assembled on a big open field and taken down when the revival leaves town. This parallels the way a circus comes into a town. A tent is set up for the event and taken down after. Just the fact that the revival is held in a tent alone makes it comparable to a circus or some entertainment. The revival even enters Zenith in a parade complete with loud music and floats. It becomes a current attraction in town that people must see.

Sharon Falconer

In order for the crowd to be drawn into the show put on by the revival, all the preachers must become actors and actresses. Falconer has fans who admire her more than her religion. They buy her presents as if she were a celebrity not a messenger of God. While Falconer appears genuine at some points, later in the film she reveals her quest to make a name for herself and enough money to establish a tabernacle. She changed her name to her stage name, Sharon Falconer, just as an actress would. She also seems to know that Gantry is a fraud and not truly a pastor, but she deliberately overlooks that fact. She supports him in front of her manager because she sees how beneficial he is to advancing her revival in a way she could not do without him.

Elmer Gantry

Gantry himself is the ideal actor on the set. He lies about his entire past and takes on a new character role in order to get closer to Falconer and the revival. Few of his actions are out of genuine religious fervor and most only serve to get him what he wants, Falconer. As he preaches, he jumps around the stage shouting accusations and blessings at the audience, constantly instilling "deep fear over the prospect of eternal damnation"[4]. He has a man howling like a dog during the sermon and he brings a monkey on the stage. He knows that if the people are entertained, they will contribute more money and he knows exactly how to do it. He reads people and gives them what they want, exactly the same way he previously sold merchandise. In the film, Lewis exposes and mocks the scandals of revivalism and those involved[5].