Louisiana Story (1948)

The idyllic life of a young Cajun boy and his pet raccoon is disrupted when the tranquility of the bayou is broken by an oil well drilling near his home.

Director:

Robert J. Flaherty (as Robert Flaherty)

Writers:

Frances H. Flaherty (original screenplay) (as Frances Flaherty), Robert J. Flaherty (original screenplay) (as Robert Flaherty)

Stars:

Joseph Boudreaux, Lionel Le Blanc, E. Bienvenu

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Joseph Boudreaux	...	The Boy
Lionel Le Blanc	...	His Father
E. Bienvenu	...	His Mother (as Mrs. E. Bienvenu)
Frank Hardy	...	The Driller
C.P. Guedry	...	The Boilerman
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oscar J. Yarborough	...	Oil Company Lessor

Storyline

A young Cajun boy named Alexander Napolean Ulysses Latour spends his time on a Louisiana bayou. There he plays, fishes and hunts, worrying only about the alligators which infest its waters. The boy's innocent routine changes forever when his father signs a lease agreement with an oil company which brings a derrick into their corner of the bayou.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | bayou | raccoon | louisiana | cajun | 

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Taglines:

Being the Adventures of a "Cajun Huckleberry Finn" in the Bayous of Louiaiana...

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

28 October 1948 (France)

Also Known As:

Cajun

Filming Locations:

Petit Anse Bayou, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$258,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert Flaherty Productions Inc.,Standard Oil

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Louisiana Story (1948) has been restored by The Library of Congress Motion Picture - Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division; The Museum of Modern Art - Department of Film and Video; and UCLA Film and Television Archive. Robert Gitt and Eric Aijala are credited with the 1998 restoration.

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Goofs

In the opening sequence, when The Boy first spots the raccoon, his hair is neat. Then it's mussed. Then it's neat again.

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Connections

Referenced in Les échos du cinéma: Episode #1.23 (1961)

User Reviews

A Magical Masterpiece

This is a classic film that blurs the line between documentary and fiction. Here, you won't find a very good plot, but some very interesting sequences and some of the most visually pleasing imagery ever put to screen.

From watching both this and "Man of Aran" you can tell that Flaherty is a very unconventional filmmaker. His films have staged scenes that, as I mentioned earlier, blur the line between fiction and nonfiction creating a nontraditional signature style.

In this film, we follow a young boy (and his friend, a raccoon) living an average life in his hometown. We see him paddle down rivers, walk through the woods, and have tons of entertaining adventures. Then, a bunch of oil drillers move to town. We watch these oil drillers do their work with very minimal dialogue. It's almost all expressed in visuals.

While the film may sound boring and seems to start off kind of boring, in the end, it's a truly adventurous masterpiece! One of my favorites!