SHIRLEY JONES in ELMER GANTRY (1960)

  Shirley's Oscar winning performance in the 1960 film Elmer Gantry was a strong one. Even though she had limited screen time. It was nearly an hour and half into the movie before she made her first appearance as Lulu Bains, a prostitute who knew Elmer Gantry from a few years ago, and now tries to bring the evangelical con man down with a little blackmail. It was a nice departure seeing Shirley in such an unsavory role. As we had become accustomed to her nice girl, wholesome image in Oklahoma! and Carousel. She is definitely not one of those girls, and she proves she has some dramatic range as her performance never falls flat. My only complaint is that I wish she was in the film more. But this performance did qualify as supporting work, so on that note, she more than accomplished that feat. Check her out in Elmer Gantry for one of her best screen performances ever.


Film: B+
Shirley's Performance: B