The Kentuckian

This was a decently put together film. Not too heavy but not too lightweight either, (the bullwhip fight with Matthau is almost worth the price of admission). It is a basic decent family film that doesn't get saccharine or soggy. The white indentured servant angle is one that I haven't seen a lot of and it plays well here. Burt is robust as usual and kickin' a lot of frontier butt. Its kinda unusual(for me) to see him play a rube.

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.

BURT LANCASTER stars as THE KENTUCKIAN who has a yearning to go where the grass is greener and wants to leave Kentucky for a new life in Texas with his young son in tow. DIANA LYNN is a pretty schoolteacher at the schoolhouse cabin and DIANNE FOSTER is the other female lead, an indentured servant, with a yen for Lancaster.

Good supporting roles for WALTER MATTHAU (making his screen debut) and JOHN CARRADINE. JOHN LITEL makes a welcome appearance as a riverboat man, but the story lacks a strong enough plot to maintain interest in the rather pedestrian proceedings. Filmed in widescreen color and CinemaScope, it looks as though a lavish budget has been expended on a tiresome script.

Fortunately, the film picks up interest toward the last fifteen minutes when Lancaster and his son have to defend themselves against badman Matthau and his cohorts. There's also a confrontational bullwhip scene with Matthau and Lancaster that is well staged and effective.

But the story is rather trite and there's nothing special about Lancaster's performance or his direction. I would have preferred a more appealing youngster for Young Eli than DONALD MacDONALD who walks through his role without ever inhabiting it.

That was the boastful phrase uttered by Walter Matthau to everyone else at the gathering; he stood before them snapping his bullwhip in air, its wicked cracking part of an old cultural ritual where a man stands before the tribe boasting of his might.

This movie is totally underrated--not only does Matthau give one of his best performances in a smaller role, but there is tons of folklore and history in this gem.

Burt Lancaster remains one of my all-time favorite American actors, but I do not think his decision to direct THE KENTUCKIAN was his wisest.

Clearly, Burt was concerned with his image from the start, his hair always neatly coiffured despite tackling dense forest in the Kentuckyan wilds, and he wastes no time highlighting his own athleticism, good looks, healthy teeth, and blue eyes.

As Elias Wakefield, he also plays the part of a caring father to a poor Little Eli who suffers abuse at school, but is such a pure, natural child that you overlook how different Little Eli's facial features are from his progenitor's. Elias Sr. also allows himself to beaten up to a pulp before he subdues nasty Bodine (played by Matthau), and at the end he runs out the evil Fromes in great style.

John McIntire plays a solid supporting role as Elias Sr.'s older brother, who seems to care for him as much as he wants him to stay in place and do all the hard work, thereby making poor Elias Sr. the target of brotherly exploitation.

The cherry on this self-enhancing effort is Burt's capacity to have two women swooning over him. First, he is interested in Diane Foster (who is even willing to work to pay his move to Texas) but stops short of giving her the unequivocal nod, which obviously frustrates her; then, without much ado, he kisses and plans to marry Diana Lynn, and to stay in Kentucky; but, at movie's end, he listens to Little Eli and his desire to move to Texas and his preference for Diane Foster (I suppose Elias Sr. was well ahead of his time, listening to his son and acting like a late 20th Century father).

There are some brief and eye-catching sideshows like the river boat, and a band of black musicians who play a delightful tune, and - again - seem to belong more in the 1950s than in the 19th Century.

At the river boat, Elias Sr. achieves another feather for his cap, as a card greenhorn who actually cleans out the house. Attaboy, Burt!

In the end, THE KENTUCKIAN is a kind-hearted movie but I felt that I was never to lose sight of the fact that Burt was pulling all the strings... which, from my standpoint, lowers the film's quality, and gives the wrong impression about the thoughtful, humane, and intelligent human being that Burt Lancaster actually was. 6/10