The Kentuckian (1955 film)

The Kentuckian
Directed by	Burt Lancaster
Produced by	Harold Hecht
Written by	A.B. Guthrie Jr.
Based on	The Gabriel Horn; by Felix Holt
Starring	Burt Lancaster; Dianne Foster; Diana Lynn; Walter Matthau
Music by	Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography	Ernest Laszlo
Edited by	George E. Luckenbacher
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Hecht-Lancaster Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	August 10, 1955;
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2.6 million (US)[1]

The Kentuckian is a 1955 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Burt Lancaster, who also starred. This was one of only two films Lancaster directed (the other was The Midnight Man), and the only one for which he has sole credit. It also marked the feature-film debut of Walter Matthau. The picture is an adaptation of the novel The Gabriel Horn by Felix Holt. The picture was shot on location in Kentucky in the Cumberland Falls area, the Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park near London, Owensboro, and Green River, and at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Village near Rockport, Indiana.[2] A feature landmark is the natural arch Sky Bridge .

Plot

Frontiersman Elias "Big Eli" Wakefield (Lancaster) decides to leave 1820s Kentucky and move to Texas with his son "Little Eli" (Donald MacDonald). Along the way, they run into two women who take a liking to the pair, indentured servant Hannah (Dianne Foster), who wants to go with them, and schoolteacher Susie (Diana Lynn), who would rather have Big Eli marry her and settle down. Big Eli also has to deal with villainous Stan Bodine (Matthau), who cracks a bullwhip.

The movie also features an appearance by the famed sternwheel riverboat Gordon C. Greene, the same steamboat used in Gone with the Wind and Steamboat Round the Bend.

Cast

Burt Lancaster as Elias Wakefield
Dianne Foster as Hannah Bolen
Diana Lynn as Susie Spann
John McIntire as Zack Wakefield
Una Merkel as Sophie Wakefield
John Carradine as Ziby Fletcher
John Litel as Pleasant Tuesday Babson
Rhys Williams as Constable
Edward Norris as Roulette Dealer
Walter Matthau as Stan Bodine
Donald MacDonald as Little Eli Wakefield
Lisa Ferraday as Gambler
Clem Bevans as the pilot of the River Queen (uncredited)

Production

Near the end of the film, a ferocious fight occurs between Lancaster's character and Matthau's whip-wielding villain. Matthau was doubled by whip expert Whip Wilson, who cut Lancaster across the shoulder after the star asked him to "hit me and make it look real".[3]

Release

As part of the marketing, the studio commissioned Thomas Hart Benton to create the painting The Kentuckian, which depicts a scene from the film. The painting has belonged to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art since 1978.[4]

References

'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
"Notes". Turner Classic Movies.
Andreychuk, Ed (2000). Burt Lancaster: a filmography and Biography. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 82. ISBN 0-7864-0436-1.
"The Kentuckian". Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Retrieved 2017-02-13.

External links

The Kentuckian at IMDb
The Kentuckian at Rotten Tomatoes
The Kentuckian at the TCM Movie Database
The Kentuckian at AllMovie

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[1] 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956

[2] "Notes". Turner Classic Movies.

[3] Andreychuk, Ed (2000). Burt Lancaster: a filmography and Biography. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 82. ISBN 0-7864-0436-1.

[4] "The Kentuckian". Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Retrieved 2017-02-13.