The Kentuckian (1955)
Overview
A frontiersman and his son fight to build a new home in Texas.
Cast
Burt Lancaster
Elias Wakefield
Dianne Foster
Hannah Bolen
Walter Matthau
Stan Bodine
Diana Lynn
Susie Spann
John McIntire
Zack Wakefield
Una Merkel
Sophie Wakefield
John Carradine
Ziby Fletcher
John Litel
Pleasant Tuesday Babson
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CinemaSerf
Burt Lancaster starred in, and directed, this story of a well meaning traveller ("Big Eli") and his young son "Little Eli" (Donald MacDonald) heading to Texas hoping to make a decent living for him and his son. Along the way he encounters (and buys) an indentured slave "Susie" (Diana Lynn) who only complicates their already interesting journey as he fights his own demons with women, booze and a particularly nasty Walter Matthau ("Bodine"). It's a beautifully shot piece of cinema, this, and the mischievous charm of the star is writ large. It's too long, though - frequently sagging as the romantic elements go quickly from humorously hostile to schmaltzy just a bit too quickly. Matthau and his whip are the stuff of cinema legend though, and the young MacDomald plays his part well. Fans of Burt will love this, but I found I was bored by the half way mark as what pace it does have it doesn't really sustain.
