Elmer Gantry

A charismatic con man, Burt Lancaster as Elmer Gantry, begins a business and eventually romantic relationship with a roadside evangelist, Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons), to sell religion to 1920s America. She preaches with a piousness that he finds compelling, and he joins her troupe as a preacher, bringing in large crowds and donations. As the group gains attention, a woman from his past, Shirley Jones as Lulu Bains, threatens to shake things up, and a reporter, Arthur Kennedy as Jim Lefferts, becomes torn between his disgust for religious hucksterism and his admiration for Gantry's charm. In the end, Gantry's love for Falconer proves stronger than his love for Lulu, and he ultimately leaves the revival movement.