The Rainmaker

Much has been made of the fact that nearly all of the actors were too old to comfortably inhabit their roles, which I think is crap. I don't think Hepburn's character felt anything other than genuine nor did it seem as if she were playing a character younger than her years. For one, she was a pretty well-preserved 49 - but that's almost beside the point. The point, I think being, is that no matter what your age or station, dreams will infuse you with beauty and purpose, so never abandon them. Sure, there were show-boaty moments (the final scene of the Rainmaker riding off springs to mind) - but this was made in 1956, after all, and gestures tended to be a little more expansive. Context, people, context.

Although the screen adaptation of "The Rainmaker" remains firmly stage bound, once the film's fine cast involves viewers with the characters' complex emotions, the obviously fake sets are rarely noticed again. The painted skies, over-lit interiors, and western back-lots would under cut the film's veracity with a lesser cast. However, the leads are sterling, and, only a short time into the film, the small dreams of a lonely woman, who is just beyond her marrying years, engage the audience to such an extent that distractions from pedestrian direction, an often overly dramatic music score, and sound-stage exteriors will fade away.

Katharine Hepburn gives arguably one of her finest performances as Lizzie, the plain spinster who harbors a repressed yearning for marriage and a family. Despite the ploys of her brothers, well played by Lloyd Bridges and occasionally over played by Earl Holliman, Lizzie returns from a visit to a family of eligible bachelors without a beau. Although her sights had originally been set on Wendell Corey, a divorced sheriff who is disguised as a widower, he is an independent man and prefers to remain in the single state. Enter Starbuck, a flamboyant con man, played to the hilt by Burt Lancaster, who was born to inhabit such roles. Starbuck is cousin to Elmer Gantry, the Crimson Pirate, and other athletic extroverts that created Lancaster's larger-than-life screen persona, and Lancaster plays to this image in "The Rainmaker." Meanwhile, Hepburn is at the peak of her aging spinster parts, which also include such indelible women as those in "The African Queen" and "Summertime." Together, the two stars captivate viewers and lend credence to a some-times predictable story line. Actually, during a few of playwright N. Richard Nash's over-wrought scenes, the cast seems about to burst into song, which makes the play's subsequent musical adaptation, "110 in the Shade," almost inevitable.

Despite the film's flaws, patient viewers who persist beyond the first half hour will be rewarded. Although Hepburn became mannered as her later career progressed, the portrayal of Lizzie Curry does not rely on ticks and quivering chins, and the sensitive dreamer beneath the weathered woman shines through with the help of Lancaster's charismatic Starbuck. Hepburn's glowing demeanor, when faced with a cross-roads decision that she has dreamed of for years, will bring a tear to all but the toughest in the audience.

What's best, to live only in our dreams, only on the outside of them, or somewhere in between? N. Richard Nash has written a deceptively simple story about faith, reality, trust, and transformation in the script from his play, "The Rainmaker." Ably directed by Joseph Anthony, richly scored by Alex North, and lovingly played by Katherine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster, this is a poignant and surprisingly moving drama. While the secondary love interest between Earl Holliman and Yvonne Lime become a bit cloying and hokey at times, the main theme is beautifully enacted by two enormously gifted stars. "The Rainmaker" is an entertainment winner, while offering much substantive food-for-thought.

I'll say it like it is. This is a classic. Nash's play comes to live on the silver screen with veteran actors Cameron Prud'homme, Wallace Ford, Katie Hepburn and Earl Holliman. Wendell Corey, who few of us remember beyond his breaking a Ming Vase in Mildred Pierce, is great as the stiff deputy. Sweet little Yvonne Lime is on but for a few moments but the cast is great and the story comes together just wonderfully. The commenter who was bothered by Katie's New England English and the implausibility of the storyline needed to let go of such a rigid standard. Nothing is ever perfect. Lancaster is great as the fast-talking Starbuck and one can see flashes of his former role as the Italian buffoon in The Rose Tattoo and what will come in the later Elmer Gantry. This is a wonderful story and sensitively done by a fine cast. Check it out. It is a classic.

When I was younger & first saw this movie, what caught my eye was the stage-y production, the over-ripe acting- I was wrong. It's funny, but being a late 30-something divorcee with my own self-esteem issues, I now watch this movie & marvel at its depth.

This is a movie about so much more than a con man, an old maid and people stuck and unable to change. It's really about loving yourself. We've all heard the saying that you have to love yourself before someone else can love you. And that is what this movie is about. Believing in yourself even when that's the hardest thing. It's really the crux of the movie.

The casting is actually perfect. I cannot imagine anyone else as Starbuck. Burt Lancaster's magnetism and on-screen "je ne ce qua" and Hepburn's radiant simplicity are a match made in heaven. They compliment each other very well. The supporting cast is also well done. Holliman's exuberance is contagious and the sweetly supporting father and no nonsense brother Noah are well done but not over done.

I highly recommend this movie. Give it a chance & suspend your disbelief- that's part of what going to the movies is about.

P.S. Several people mentioned the last scene with Lancaster riding into the rain as being over done, cheesy or whatever. Yet it's just that kind of imagery that does indeed stick with you after the movie. It may seem overblown the first time, yet upon subsequent viewings, I love the effusive and memorable affect it has on the viewer. :)