The Kentuckian (1955)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
A frontiersman in 1820s Kentucky finds the area too civilized for his tastes,
so he makes plans for he and his son to leave for the wild Texas country.
However, he buys an indentured servant along the way,
and her presence throws a monkey wrench into his plans.
Written by frankfob

Cast
Burt Lancaster ... Elias Wakefield (Big Eli)
Dianne Foster ... Hannah Bolen
Diana Lynn ... Susie Spann
Walter Matthau ... Stan Bodine
Donald MacDonald ... Little Eli Wakefield
John McIntire ... Zack Wakefield
Una Merkel ... Sophie Wakefield
John Carradine ... Ziby Fletcher
John Litel ... Pleasant Tuesday Babson
Rhys Williams ... Constable
Edward Norris ... Roulette Dealer
and many more...

Directed
Burt Lancaster

Writing Credits
A.B. Guthrie Jr. ... (screenplay)
Felix Holt ... (novel)

Produced
Harold Hecht ... producer
James Hill ... producer (uncredited)

Music
Bernard Herrmann
Roy Webb ... (uncredited)

Cinematography
Ernest Laszlo ... (photography)

Trivia
The first movie directed by Burt Lancaster.
Due to the unfavorable critical response he did not direct again for almost 20 years,
until The Midnight Man (1974).

Burt Lancaster applied for membership in the Screen Directors Guild in August 1954
but was rejected "because he allegedly had expressed opinions about directors
regarded as uncomplimentary by the organization."
The guild granted Lancaster a waiver to allow him to direct the film
and invited him to reapply after it was completed.

In April 1954 Burt Lancaster was considering casting Brandon De Wilde
as Little Eli Wakefield and Jane Wyman as Susie Spann.

Film debut of Walter Matthau.

The average shot length of this film is about 7.75 seconds,
which makes it one of the faster cut early CinemaScope films.

The riverboat used in the movie was the Delta Queen.
The company spent almost $10,000 to add the fake smokestacks.

Burt Lancaster and producer Harold Hecht considered casting Kim Novak as Hannah Bolen.

Ian Keith had been cast in the picture, but left the production because of an ulcer.

In order to publicize the film, noted American artist Thomas Hart Benton painted a seven-foot portrait of Burt Lancaster, Donald MacDonald and Faro, which Lancaster donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1978.

The Los Angeles premiere was a benefit for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The picture was entered in the 1955 Venice Film Festival.

Final film of Whip Wilson.

Constance Smith was tested for a co-starring role.

Una Merkel was the only member of the cast who was actually from Kentucky.

Goofs
Continuity
At the beginning, Eli is sitting near a campfire.
We can clearly see its flames, showing it is still burning.
When Eli stands up, the flames has disappeared,
even we haven't see him extinguishing the fire.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
Levi Jackson State Park, London, Kentucky, USA
Cumberland Falls State Park, Corbin, Kentucky, USA
Owensboro, Kentucky, USA
Rockport, Indiana, USA

Watch the Movie

[extendedmedia]

The Kentuckian is a 1955 Technicolor and CinemaScope adventure 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

User Review

the showdown: one with a whip, the other unarmed.
8 June 2006 | by alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) (S. Paulo, Brazil)

Quote from alex

This film is unusual and interesting, it shows the life in a small town before the time of the westerns we are used to see, when you still had to sock powder into the rifle before shooting. When Lancaster and his son which are used to live in the woods come to town, people make fun of them, it is surprising how cruel they are. During the film both are going to change, the son will grow up and Lancaster will become a wiser man. There are two women, Diane Foster and Diana Lynn, both are charming and it is going to be a hard choice for Lancaster. Walther Matthau is an expert with the whip and his fight with Lancaster is the high point of the film. "The Kentuckian" did not age and Lancaster came out very well as a director. To see the people, their habits,

their way of talking, their music, combined with a good story makes this film worth seeing.