Burt Lancaster's one and only feature as star and director, The Kentuckian, has a bedrock American folk tale at its core, but scarcely a clue how to tell it. For all his balletic control as an actor-athlete, Lancaster shows no sense of how a film should move and breathe over an hour and a half, or how to make the characters' growth or changes of mind credible. It's the early 18th century--Monroe is president--and buckskin-clad Lancaster and his son (Donald MacDonald) are lighting out for Texas. "It ain't we don't like people--we like room more." They plan briefly to... visit Lancaster's tobacco-dealer brother (John McIntire) in the river town of Humility, and then move on. But there are complications from a long-running feud, and some nasty baiting from a whip-cracking storekeeper (Walter Matthau in his film debut); the need to replace their "Texas money" after buying freedom for a bondservant (Dianne Foster); also the matter of deciding who's prettier, her or the local schoolmarm (Diana Lynn). Lancaster aims for some quaint Americana--a sing-along to the tinkling of a pianoforte, a jaw-dropping riverside production number--and there's one nifty bit of action based on how long it took to reload a flintlock rifle. But mostly this film just lies there in overlit CinemaScope. --Richard T Jameson [show more]
We will publish your review of The Kentuckian [1955] on DVD within a few days as long as it meets our guidelines.
None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play Big Eli Wakefield (Burt Lancaster) and his young son Little Eli (Donald MacDonald) are rugged Kentucky adventurers who long for an exciting life on the Texas frontier They soon learn however that the greatest challenge to their progress lies not in the unchartered wilderness but in the people they meet along the way Thrust into the midst of a bitter family feud Eli confronts both the deadly reage of a madman (Walter Matthau) and the love of a beautiful woman (Diana Lynn)
Kentuckian Eli Wakefield (Burt Lancaster) longs for the excitement of the Texas frontier, but when he sets out on the long journey to realise his dreams he soon finds his progress impeded by the people he meets along the way. The mad whip-wielding Bodine (Walter Matthau) wants to kill him, the beautiful schoolmistress Susie (Diana Lynn) wants to tame him, whilst all Eli wants to do is reach Texas in one piece.
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy
