Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Spikeopath The Rainmaker is directed by Joseph Anthony and written by N. Richard Nash. It stars Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Cameron Prud'Homme and Earl Holliman. Music is by Alex North and VistaVision/Technicolor cinematography is by Charles Lang.Starbuck (Lancaster) is a conman who arrives in the little town of Threepoint and promises to deliver the rain to end the town's crippling drought problem. More telling, perhaps, will be his impact on the Curry family...N. Richard Nash wrote it as a television play and would then see it hit the Broadway stage, so he was the logical choice for screenplay duties here. The film very much feels like a play, with very pronounced acting and sharp dialogue, it's also - at just over two hours in length - far too long for a talky based production. Thirty minutes could quite easily have been shaved off here. There's also the contentious casting of the Oscar Nominated Hepburn, who in many people's eyes - myself included - is miscast and just doesn't sit right in the role, leaving it to Lancaster to bring the flight and breeze to light up the piece.However, to enjoy the art of acting brings some rewards, it's also a pic of crafty humour and features a story of considerable humane substance. That one man, a scallywag, can have such a positive impact on a sterile backwater family, builds nicely to an ending that is a complete joy, a real smile raiser. It's also handsomely photographed by Lang, the colour lensing so smooth, and the production design, backed up by North's most appealing musical score, ensures you know that the makers cared about what they were doing. Relationships on set were initially rocky, but the principal stars would come to be friends and speak fondly of their time on the film. 6/10Footnote: The material would also be turned into a musical titled 110 in the Shade.

vincentlynch-moonoi There are two main faults with this movie. The lesser fault: (although it may contribute to the larger fault) is that the director (Joseph Anthony) had more of a history in stage work than films, and it shows. In fact, I didn't know of Anthony until watching this film, but even before I looked him up, this film felt very "stagey" to me.The bigger problem here is overacting by a number of the actors...and my guess is that that related directly to the film's director. Burt Lancaster sometimes tended to overact, such as can be seen in "Elmer Gantry" and here; he is better when he exhibits self-control such as in "Airport" and "Judgement At Nuremberg".Katherine Hepburn was always less likely to overact, and rarely does here. So her performance seems a little more realistic. Wendell Corey does alright here; less known, his performance is probably the most realistic in the film. Lloyd Bridges always more suited to television, but he was sometimes pretty decent in films; here, however, he also overacts. Although not as badly as Earl Holliman does here -- truly excessive. Cameron Prud'Homme as the father is okay...with a little overacting.Despite the preponderance of overacting, there are some good scenes here. Particularly notable are some of the scenes between Katherine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster when both drop the overacting and control themselves.The story is a decent one, although there are times that the musical scores almost makes you believe that the actors are about ready to burst into song.On balance, due to the deficiencies noted, I'll have to give this film a 6, which I consider to be below average. I'm glad I watched it...once, but I won't want to ever watch it again.

The_Film_Cricket This was Katharine Hepburn best performance.She plays Lizzy Curry, a forty-something spinster living on a ranch with her father and two brothers during the drought in Kansas. When we meet her she has just come back from visiting relatives to a home she shares with the three men in her life, father H.C. (Cameron Prud'Homme), and her brothers, the overbearing Noah (Lloyd Bridges) and soft-headed Jim (Earl Holliman). Lizzy is a smart woman with a big heart and a lot of love to give but believes that her plain looks will make her an old maid.She would like to be courted by the town sheriff, File (Wendall Corey), but is so lacking in confidence, that her father and brothers go into town and ask him over for dinner. He reluctantly agrees but when Lizzy tries to downplay her own intelligence so not to make him feel intimidated, she makes a mess of the whole dinner. When he leaves, we get a sense of where some of her self-loathing comes from as her brother Noah heartlessly reminds her that she is plain and no man will ever love her.Onto the ranch comes Starbuck (Burt Lancaster), a fast-talking traveling huckster who makes a living selling a lightening-rod device that is supposed to prevent tornadoes. He has a gift for spinning pretty words just as a concert pianist makes beautiful music. He works his magic on H.C., convincing him that he can end the drought by making it rain – for a meager charge of $100. Lizzy is on to him and berates him for fooling her father with such a scheme, but then he turns his magic on her, convincing her of her own worth and in the process, falling in love with her. She is charmed by this man and a tender, but brief, romance ensues. Starbuck is able to convince Lizzy of the power of her own worth, that she is beautiful and that any man would be glad to have a woman with a heart as big as hers.The beauty of their scenes together come from the fact that, while we know Starbuck is a trickster, his approach to Lizzy is quite genuine. He is able to bring sunshine into her life and in her heart that she has kept bottled up for years. When, in the end, it does start to rain, it is as if the dammed up emotion in Lizzy's heart has come spilling over. Her drought has ended, just as it has for the land.I am glad that Hepburn was nominated for this performance; it is one of her best. As I have mentioned before, I did not like any of the four performances that brought her Oscars because they seem (three at least) to be just dutiful housewives who stand beside their men. I, too, have chosen Hepburn four times for her performances as Alice Adams in Alice Adams, Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, Jane Hudson in Summertime and now as Lizzy in The Rainmaker. What these four women have in common is that they all have big hearts but desire the physical beauty or the confidence to be loved on their own merits. They stand for women born without great physical beauty, who have to work a little harder to find someone special.Through Hepburn's expressive face, we understand the pain within and the need to express love and to be loved, to feel needed. Of the four performances I have chosen from Hepburn's career, Lizzy may be the most complete, because she comes full circle and we sense, in the end, that her happiness won't be temporary.

SnoopyStyle Lizzie Curry (Katharine Hepburn) is a spinster taking care of her father HC and her two brothers (Lloyd Bridges, Earl Holliman). Deputy Sheriff File is a widower and holds a secret crush for Lizzie. The town is suffering from a drought, and everybody is desperate for water including the Currys. Then comes Bill Starbuck (Burt Lancaster) who claims to be a Rainmaker. Is he a huckster or is he real? More importantly, he could bring Lizzie out of her rut.Katharine is acting too big, but I guess it's the style of the era. Burt is masterful as the big showman. He has the big personality to pull it off. However his motivations are too unclear for the audience to root for fully. When you add Lloyd Bridges, there are truly big star power at work. And they can paper over any minor imperfections.