The Rainmaker (1956)

Boring

A lot of fun.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

My big brother took me to see this film when it first came out. He told me that it was about a con-man. I was waiting and waiting for at least one of the characters to be sent to prison ... conman = convict, get it ? Hey, I was just a kid, gimme a break ! Anyway ... "The Rainmaker" has since become one of my very favorite movies. The play "110 in the Shade" as well. I noticed in some of the other reviews that people expected the characters to burst into song. Well, in 110, they DO ! Katharine Hepburn IS Lizzy and Burt Lancaster IS Starbuck !!! The supporting players all inhabit their roles excellently. I cannot think of any who seems miscast.The story moves along and for me just WORKS! Looking for a good old fashioned romance with a twist ??? Look for and try "The Rainmaker" it's a good 'un !. !

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.

Bill Starbuck is a cunning man that can enchant small town folks with the fake promises the products he peddles will do miracles. As we come to the story, he is trying to unload devices that will help folks with tornadoes, so prevalent in that part of the country. Unfortunately, he is found out and must flee before being arrested. The countryside in rural Texas is broiling under the strong summer sun. No rain has fallen in quite some time. The Currys, H.C., the father, Noah and Jim are at the train station to meet Lizzie, the daughter, and sibling that has gone on a trip and is coming home. The Currys are obsessed in finding her a husband. Lizzie, a woman of a 'certain age' seems resigned for her own old maid status.When Bill Starbuck arrives at the Curry ranch, he sees the three men in a field where a few dead animals lay on the ground because of the drought conditions in the area. Later, Starbuck arrives unannounced at the ranch. The Currys have invited the sheriff to come to dinner, something that was arranged to see if the lawman would click with Lizzie. The sheriff File never got over the way his wife left him for another man, so he is reluctant to begin any other relationship if he can help it.That night, Lizzie, realizing her prospects of ever getting any man interested in her, goes to the barn where Starbuck has been staying. Their meeting does not begin well, but Starbuck guesses what is causing this woman's troubles. Having a gift of gab, he convinces her she is her worst enemy and seduces her. Lizzie responds in kindness because for the first time in her life she has felt wanted for the first time in her life.Joseph Anthony directed the screen adaptation of Richard Nash Broadway play. The original cast included Geraldine Page and Darren McGavin as Lizzie and Starbuck. The film version was blessed with the unusual pairing of Katherine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster. In fact, Ms. Hepburn had starred in "Summertime", released the previous year. It was, in a way, a variation on the same theme, but in another setting and context. Lizzie was a variation of the character she had played successfully, although not in the least intentionally. The only thing the movie does not avoid is the feeling it is nothing but filmed stage play.Burt Lancaster as Starbuck deserves a lot of credit for giving his character a lot of the poetry that it required. Director Joseph Anthony got a great performance of this actor. Katherine Hepburn's contribution to the film is enormous. Her chemistry with her co-stars was one of the best things in the film. Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Earl Holliman, and Cameron Prud'Homme rounded up the cast.

"The Rainmaker" is all wet.Thanks to a badly miscast Katherine Hepburn (who is almost 50 here, and looks like she's trying to play 25-30, and a truly obnoxious performance by Earl Holliman, plus an awful directing job by Joseph Anthony turn what could have been an interesting story of how a woman discovers how to believe in herself, into a farce that is barely watchable.It seems as though Mr. Anthony did not trust the script (by N. Richard Nash, based on his play), and just told his actors that the bigger you play your roles, the better the film will be. I believe a director like Fred Zinnemann or George Stevens could have made this into a really glorious film.The story is a simple one. Bill Starbuck (played magnificently by Burt Lancaster, who looks as though he's warming up for "Elmer Gantry") is a huckster who convinces a family that for $100, he can make it rain, and thereby end a drought. What he actually does is end the drought in heart of Lizzie Curry, the daughter of the rancher who gave Starbuck the $100. He gets her to believe in herself, and in doing so he falls in love with her.The message of the film about believing in and loving yourself is very powerful. Hepburn does do a terrific job in these latter scenes. But her performance is so mannered and "over the top" in the first half of the picture, that you just don't buy the transformation.And Holliman seems as though he's about to go on auditions for "The Beverly Hillbillies" or "Hee-Haw".In the end, the film is worth seeing for Lancaster's performance only. But it is a magnificent performance.6 out of 10