The Kentuckian

The Kentuckian
File:The Kentuckian poster.jpg
Directed by	Burt Lancaster
Produced by	Harold Hecht
Written by	A.B. Guthrie Jr.
Based on	The Gabriel Horn by Felix Holt
Starring	Burt Lancaster Dianne Foster Diana Lynn Walter Matthau
Music by	Bernard Herrmann Roy Webb
Cinematography	Ernest Laszlo
Edited by	George E. Luckenbacher
Production company	Hecht-Lancaster Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	August 1, 1955 (1955-08-01)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2.6 million (US)

The Kentuckian is a 1955 Technicolor and CinemaScope adventure film directed by Burt Lancaster, who also starred. This was one of only two films Lancaster directed (the other was The Midnight Man), and the only one for which he has sole credit. It also marked the feature film debut of Walter Matthau. The picture is an adaptation of the novel The Gabriel Horn by Felix Holt. The picture was shot on location in Kentucky in the Cumberland Falls area, the Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park near London, Owensboro and Green River, and at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Village near Rockport, Indiana.

Plot

Frontiersman Elias "Big Eli" Wakefield (Burt Lancaster) decides to leave 1820s Kentucky and move to Texas with his son "Little Eli" (Donald MacDonald). Along the way, they run into two women who take a liking to the pair, indentured servant Hannah (Dianne Foster), who wants to go with them, and schoolteacher Susie (Diana Lynn), who would rather have Big Eli marry her and settle down. Big Eli also has to deal with villainous Stan Bodine (Walter Matthau), who cracks a mean bullwhip.

Cast

• Burt Lancaster as Elias Wakefield
• Dianne Foster as Hannah
• Diana Lynn as Susie
• John McIntire as Zack Wakefield
• Una Merkel as Sophie Wakefield
• John Carradine as Fletcher
• John Litel as Pleasant Tuesday Babson
• Rhys Williams as Constable
• Edward Norris as Roulette Dealer
• Walter Matthau as Stan Bodine
• Donald MacDonald as Little Eli Wakefield

External links

• The Kentuckian at IMDb
• The Kentuckian at the TCM Movie Database
• The Kentuckian at AllMovie