SEINFELD BLOG

The Kentuckian

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780792849568
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0792849566
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 08, 2001
Running Time: 104 minutes
Sales Rank: 35925
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: August 01, 1955

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Editorial Review:

Description:
Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry) makes his directorial debut with this superb, action-packed western. Featuring a poignant, unconventional screenplay by A.B. Guthrie, Jr., and a powerful performance by legendary actor Walter Matthau in his first screen role, The Kentuckian is an unforgettable western adventure of the highest caliber. Big Eli Wakefield (Lancaster) and his youngson, Little Eli (Donald MacDonald), are rugged Kentucky adventurers who long for an exciting life on the Texas frontier. They soon learn, however, that the greatest challenge to their progress lies not in the uncharted wilderness but in the people they meet along the way. Thrust into the midst of abitter family feud, Eli confronts both the deadly rage of a madman (Matthau) and the love of a beautiful woman (Diana Lynn). But when he's lured into a brutal final showdown, Eli discovers that the only way to escape with his life is to stay true to his convictions, his honor and his dream.

Amazon.com:
As an independent producer-star, circus-tough with charisma to burn, Burt Lancaster could be hard on directors. So it wasn't surprising when he decided he could do the job himself. It was a mistake he made only once (apart from cohelming 1974's The Midnight Man). For all his balletic control as an actor-athlete, Lancaster showed no sense of how a film should move and breathe over an hour and a half, or how to make the characters' growth or changes of mind credible. The Kentuckian has a bedrock American folk tale at its core, but scarcely a clue how to tell it.

It's the early 18th century--Monroe is president--and buckskin-clad Lancaster and his son (Donald MacDonald) are lighting out for Texas: 'It ain't we don't like people--we like room more.' They plan to briefly visit Lancaster's tobacco-dealer brother (John McIntire) in the river town of Humility, then move on. But there are complications from a long-running feud, and some nasty baiting from a whip-cracking storekeeper (Walter Matthau in his film debut); the need to replace their 'Texas money' after buying freedom for a bondservant (Dianne Foster); also the matter of deciding who's prettier, her or the local schoolmarm (Diana Lynn). Lancaster aims for some quaint Americana--a sing-along to the tinkling of a pianoforte, a jaw-dropping riverside production number--and there's one nifty bit of action based on how long it took to reload a flintlock rifle. But mostly this film just lies there in overlit CinemaScope. --Richard T. Jameson




Rating: - A Western that takes place in Kentucky
Released in 1955, "The Kentuckian" is one of only a couple films directed by Burt Lancaster.
Read More

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Rating: - Good, But Not Great Lancaster Film
The Kentuckian is the only film that Burt Lancaster ever directed, and while it is not a bad film, ... Read More

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Rating: - Great Story-Great Viewing
This is one of my favorite films starring Burt Lancaster. Parts of it filmed in Levi Jackson State ... Read More

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Rating: - Outstanding Frontier Adventure
This is a great film about America's past. Man and boy set out to reach Texas and find all sorts of ... Read More

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Rating: - Great characters for Matthau and Carradine.
A fine family classic in the tradition of The Proud Rebel, Treasure of Lost Canyon, and Rachel and the ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.