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IMDbPro

The Kentuckian

  • 19551955
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
14,877
942
Burt Lancaster, Dianne Foster, and Donald MacDonald in The Kentuckian (1955)
A Kentucky widower bound for 1820's Texas with his young son is thwarted in his efforts by a corrupt constable, a long-standing family feud, and a beautiful indentured servant.
Play trailer2:18
1 Video
36 Photos
DramaWestern
A Kentucky widower bound for 1820's Texas with his young son is thwarted in his efforts by a corrupt constable, a long-standing family feud, and a beautiful indentured servant.A Kentucky widower bound for 1820's Texas with his young son is thwarted in his efforts by a corrupt constable, a long-standing family feud, and a beautiful indentured servant.A Kentucky widower bound for 1820's Texas with his young son is thwarted in his efforts by a corrupt constable, a long-standing family feud, and a beautiful indentured servant.
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
14,877
942
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Burt Lancaster
    • Writers
      • A.B. Guthrie Jr.(screenplay)
      • Felix Holt(novel "The Gabriel Horn")
    • Stars
      • Burt Lancaster
      • Diana Lynn
      • Dianne Foster
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Burt Lancaster
    • Writers
      • A.B. Guthrie Jr.(screenplay)
      • Felix Holt(novel "The Gabriel Horn")
    • Stars
      • Burt Lancaster
      • Diana Lynn
      • Dianne Foster
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 38User reviews
    • 28Critic reviews
    • 41Metascore
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:18
    Trailer

    Photos36

    Burt Lancaster in The Kentuckian (1955)
    Burt Lancaster in The Kentuckian (1955)
    Burt Lancaster in The Kentuckian (1955)
    Burt Lancaster and Donald MacDonald in The Kentuckian (1955)
    The Kentuckian (1955)
    Burt Lancaster in The Kentuckian (1955)
    Burt Lancaster in The Kentuckian (1955)
    Burt Lancaster in The Kentuckian (1955)
    Walter Matthau in The Kentuckian (1955)
    Burt Lancaster in The Kentuckian (1955)
    The Kentuckian (1955)
    Burt Lancaster in The Kentuckian (1955)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Burt Lancaster
    Burt Lancaster
    • Elias Wakefield (Big Eli)
    Diana Lynn
    Diana Lynn
    • Susie Spann
    Dianne Foster
    Dianne Foster
    • Hannah Bolen
    Walter Matthau
    Walter Matthau
    • Stan Bodine
    Donald MacDonald
    Donald MacDonald
    • Little Eli Wakefield
    John McIntire
    John McIntire
    • Zack Wakefield
    Una Merkel
    Una Merkel
    • Sophie Wakefield
    John Carradine
    John Carradine
    • Ziby Fletcher
    John Litel
    John Litel
    • Pleasant Tuesday Babson
    Rhys Williams
    Rhys Williams
    • Constable
    Edward Norris
    Edward Norris
    • Roulette Dealer
    Clem Bevans
    Clem Bevans
    • Pilot of the 'River Queen'
    • (uncredited)
    Blackie
    • Dog
    • (uncredited)
    Lee Erickson
    • Luke Lester
    • (uncredited)
    Faro
    • Faro
    • (uncredited)
    Lisa Ferraday
    Lisa Ferraday
    • Gambler
    • (uncredited)
    James Griffith
    James Griffith
    • Riverboat Gambler
    • (uncredited)
    Gil Herman
    • Frontiersman
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Burt Lancaster
    • Writers
      • A.B. Guthrie Jr.(screenplay)
      • Felix Holt(novel "The Gabriel Horn")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • 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).
    • Goofs
      At the beginning, Eli is sitting near a campfire. We can clearly see its flames, showing it is burning. When Eli stands up, the flames have disappeared, and we haven't see him extinguishing the fire.
    • Quotes

      Elias Wakefield: The way to start off new is to shuck off what's old.

    • Connections
      Featured in Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Rough (1997)

    User reviews38

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    When A Wakefield Meets A Fromes
    In the first of two films Burt Lancaster directs as well as stars, he plays the title role of Eli Wakefield who is The Kentuckian. The part of the frontiersman in the James Monroe presidency fits Lancaster's robust personality perfectly. He's very much a combination of both the William Holden and Robert Mitchum characters in Rachel and the Stranger, taking the best aspects of both for his portrayal. Like Mitchum he's got 'woodsy' ways and like Holden he aims to see his son grows out of those ways.

    Just where and how little David McDonald does grow up does concern Lancaster and he does during the course of The Kentuckian reexamine just what it is he wants for himself and his son. He's also got a real problem in the shape of a pair of inbred mountain people called Fromes whose family has feuded with the Wakefields for a couple of generations.

    Burt's moving west with his boy to get away from the mountain feud so his kid has a chance to grow up and their destination is Texas which the Mexicans had opened up for Yankee settlers eventually to their regret. But he helps a lady in distress in the person of bond servant Dianne Foster and spends his 'Texas' money buying out her contract from Will Wright.

    So a planned visit with brother John McIntire and sister-in-law Una Merkel is going to be longer than he thought especially with McIntire wanting to remake Lancaster into a merchant like himself. McIntire also has a wife picked out for him in the person of school teacher Diana Lynn.

    The film was shot in Owensboro, Kentucky and presumably in 1955 there was still enough 'woodsy' territory that it still looked like 1820 frontier America. Director Lancaster got good performances out of his cast which included Walter Matthau making his motion picture debut. Matthau plays a tavern owner and town bully, a mean man with a bull-whip who goes after an unarmed Lancaster with one. That scene is really the climax of the film.

    However the two to watch for here are the Fromes brothers, Paul Wexler and Douglas Spencer. They are a pair of evil looking dudes, no doubt ancestors of those guys from Deliverance.

    In a recent biography of Burt Lancaster, because of some disparaging comments Lancaster made about directors, the Director's Guild first refused to let him direct his own film. Eventually the production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster got a waiver from the Guild. I think they wanted to Burt to sweat a little. For him though directing turned out not to be something he wanted to do, he got through the film with some difficulty and it was no accident that while he was on the production end, Lancaster only directed one other film in his career, Midnight Man.

    The Kentuckian is a good film, perfectly suited to Burt Lancaster's athleticism and charisma, a must for his fans.
    helpful•21
    5
    • bkoganbing
    • Aug 5, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 11, 1955 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Gabriel Horn
    • Filming locations
      • Cumberland Falls State Park, Corbin, Kentucky, USA
    • Production companies
      • Hecht-Lancaster Productions
      • James Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,600,000
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 44 minutes
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.55 : 1

    Related news

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