Hombre hasta el fin

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.

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

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.

I think one of the worst problems with American films from the 1930s-1950s is that way too many Westerns were made. Part of the problem that plot-wise, most are very, very derivative--with the same basic plot being rehashed yet again (if I see one more Western about rich guy who runs the town and is trying to force all the farmers/ranchers/sheep herders to sell out to him, I'm gonna puke). Because of this, I love films that talk about American history that are unusual--not Westerns or war films--just something different. This film is about life 'out west' (in the Tennessee area) circa 1820--a period WAAAY underrepresented in American films...heck, it's hardly ever even mentioned! So, from the onset, I was pretty happy about the setting of this film.

Burt Lancaster plays an outdoorsman--sort of a Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone sort of fellow. The main difference is that he also has a young son AND doesn't want to abandon him (Crockett and Boone should have taken note NOT to do this). The problem, however, is money. He and his son love the carefree outdoor life--but it takes money to get to this promised land. In the meantime, the two are forced to hang around civilization (at least what approximated it out on the frontier). Here in town, Lancaster's brother (played by John McIntyre--a guy who looked nothing like Burt and seemed too old for the part) pushed for him to go into business with him--and get rid of his buckskin clothes and settle down. In addition, two women wanted him--the school teacher (who represented domesticity) and the indentured servant (who believed in his dream). What will happen? Will Burt and son become domesticated and civilized or will they eventually make it to the wide open lands of Texas? Overall, this is not one of Burt Lancaster's best acting performances. He's good--but also pretty unremarkable. But, the film is different and reasonably well made--and it's hard to dismiss it. A nice film, at least from a history teacher's perspective, and well worth seeing.

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.