IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Robert J. Maxwell It's 1820 in Kentucky. James Monroe is president, and Burt Lancaster is a freedom-loving woodsman who takes his son, MacDonald, and heads for the river town where they will say hello to Lancaster's big brother, McIntire and his wife, Una Merkel. Along the way they pick up a young lady, Foster, and meet a friendly school teacher, Lynn.Well, while they's a-waiting' for the river steamer, ol' Burt soon has two wimmen a-moonin' after him -- one a indentured servant gal and the other a purty school ma'rm a-looking for a husband to go with her house. I shore hope I spelled "indentured" wright. Don't know what it means though. Maybe it means she got all her teeth. Sounds good for ol' Burt but it ain't so hot. I oncet had FIVE gals a-moonin' after ME and they was all purty too. Well, we done heard the chimes at midnight more'n oncet, and one night when we was pie-eyed there was all SIX of us, a-baying at the moon like Burt's huntin' dog, Pharaoh. The voices tell me to do things like this.The problem is that Burt has spent all their "Texas money" to free Foster from bondage. Now he has to go to work for his brother McIntire, and his boy has to go to school and learn something. "I'll turn him into a businessman," says well-meaning McIntire, "and I'll wear that buckskin right off him and OUT of him." This is not Burt's idea of a good time. He likes to lie out in the woods with his boy on a "prime night" and chase a fox or two with Pharaoh. ("The unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible.") The two of them yearn for the open skies of Texas where the air "tastes like it's never been breathed before." Aside from not having any money, there's another problem or two that need facing. Kentucky is a country of feuding clans and one scabrous clan is on Burt's tail. Another is the local mean guy who runs a saloon and wields a great big whip -- Walter Matthau, if you can believe it. On top of that, McIntire's wife begins to scold them for their backwood ways. She kicks the dog off the couch and nags Burt and his boy, which is beginning to sound painfully like my marriage.Two outstanding scenes for a warm and ordinary family movie: Burt and son playing rich hicks for riverboat gamblers and then turning the roulette wheel on them; a really NASTY fight between the sadistic and dirty-fighting Matthau and the proud and indefatigable Burt. Burt is whipped to tatters but guess who is knocked out.Very nice photography by Ernest Lazslo and a subtle score without a whistleable tune in it from Bernard Herrmann. Burt's direction is functional without being distinctive. It's not a bad movie. It's a warm, family drama with a little romance and violence to spice it up.

agaczyk-219-676241 It was not Matthau's line, but Glen Strange's: "Who dast?" That's all I have to say and am only writing on because I have to have a minimum of ten lines. Well, then, I'll say I enjoyed the film, found the choice of Matthau odd until I found that some of his earlier roles were in Westerns(is this a Western, really?), thought the young boy as Little Eli was very good and always enjoy John Carradine. Once I realized that Lancaster directed this film, I started watching it differently, looking for evidence of a novice. Actually, as I watched, I didn't care; I just enjoyed it. If anyone is interested, I would recommend reading some of the Old Southwest humorists like George Washington Harris and Augustus Baldwin Longstreet for insight into the period and types. Enjoy.

bob_burger I had to see this movie which I thoroughly enjoyed but more so for the scene that would be in there. A very brief scene of what is known locally as sky bridge. It is a natural rock formation of short span (a bridge) not too far from Natural Bridge State Park. At this site you walk beyond the bridge to a trail, take a right to trail two; another right and twenty five yards or so you are under sky bridge. From the first short trail to the second there is a drop of about 4-5 feet. At that point the second trail isn't all that wide and you have to be somewhat careful. Beyond the edge of the trail you see tops of trees. Tall trees. While helping my girlfriend down, I saw this guy approaching wearing sweat pants and sweater, dark sunglasses, and a smile. He had a mop of unruly hair. We continued on toward the bridge and I looked back. He didn't pause at the trail junction, he just jumped. Like a cat. As he approached after that athletic move and with a big grin and square jaw I knew; I just knew. I told my girlfriend who that was following us and as he passed she asked him..."are you Burt Lancaster?" He said "yes I am", and ambled on by. She swooned. He and two other Hollywood types did some thumbs together, form a square, "panning", looking at the sky at times. An interesting day out.

Michael This picture shows Burt Lancaster was a much better actor than a director. After "The Kentuckian" he never tried directing again - a decision good for him and much better for the audience. The direction is lazy and slow-going, the script disappointing (I wonder that A.B. Guthrie, the writer of brilliant old-west-novels, didn't make a better job). The photography is good, the landscapes are great and few actors are fine, for example Walter Matthau as slimy bad guy. There are two special moments in the picture you surely will not forget: The bull-whip-fight between Matthau and Lancaster is exciting and the showdown, when Burt is running fast across the river while his enemy tries to load his rifle, is very different to other western-shootouts. This scenes will compensate viewers for foregoing boredom. I give five out of ten stars.