WikiMili
| The Rainmaker | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Joseph Anthony |
| Screenplay by | N. Richard Nash |
| Based on | The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis |
| Starring | Burt Lancaster Katharine Hepburn Wendell Corey |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang |
| Edited by | Warren Low |
| Music by | Alex North |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 121 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.1 million (US) [1] |
The Rainmaker is a 1956 American western romance film directed by Joseph Anthony and adapted by N. Richard Nash from his 1954 play The Rainmaker . The film tells the story of a middle-aged woman, suffering from unrequited love for the local town sheriff; however, she falls for a con man who comes to town with the promise that he can make it rain. It stars Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges and Earl Holliman. Holliman won a Golden Globe Award for his performance.
Contents
- Plot
- Cast
- Awards
- Academy Awards
- Golden Globe Awards
- See also
- References
- External links
The Rainmaker has been remade twice: the first time as a television film of the same name in 1982 directed by John Frankenheimer; the second time in Hindi as Thodasa Roomani Ho Jayen in 1990. [2]
Plot
During the Depression era in the Midwest, con man Bill Starbuck acts as a rainmaker, but is chased out of town after town. One day, he arrives in a drought-ridden rural town in Kansas and shows up at the door of spinsterish Lizzie Curry and the rest of the Curry clan. Lizzie keeps house for her father, H.C., and two brothers on the family cattle ranch. As their farm languishes under the devastating drought, Lizzie's family worries about her marriage prospects more than about their dying cattle. Prior to Starbuck's arrival, Lizzie was expecting Sheriff File, for whom she harbors a secret yen, though he declined the family's invitation to dinner. Starbuck promises to bring rain in exchange for money. [3] Against Lizzie's protests, H.C. goes for the deal out of desperation for rain even though he thinks Starbuck is a con. Starbuck is exposed, but the Curry clan stands up for him, leading to both Starbuck and File finally declaring for Lizzie. In the end, Lizzie gets her man, and of course, it rains.
Cast
- Burt Lancaster as Bill Starbuck
- Katharine Hepburn as Lizzie Curry
- Wendell Corey as Deputy Sheriff J. S. File
- Lloyd Bridges as Noah Curry
- Earl Holliman as Jim Curry
- Cameron Prud'Homme as H. C. Curry
- Wallace Ford as Sheriff Howard Thomas
- Yvonne Lime as Snookie Maguire
Awards
Academy Awards
- Nominations [4]
- Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn
- Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture): Alex North
Golden Globe Awards
Won:
- Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor: Earl Holliman
Nominations
- Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama
- Golden Globe for Best Actor: Burt Lancaster
- Golden Globe for Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn
See also
- List of American films of 1956
Related Research Articles
Burton Stephen Lancaster was an American actor and film producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in films and television series. He was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and he also won two BAFTA Awards and one Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as #19 of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a varied range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, which earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer.
Atlantic City is a 1980 romantic crime film directed by Louis Malle from a screenplay by John Guare. It stars Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon in the leading roles, with a supporting cast featuring Kate Reid, Michel Piccoli, Robert Joy, Hollis McLaren, and Al Waxman. A co-production between French and Canadian companies filmed in late 1979, it was released in France and Germany in September 1980 and in the United States later that year by Paramount Pictures.
110 in the Shade is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt.
Wendell Reid Corey was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a board member of the Screen Actors Guild, and also served on the Santa Monica City Council.
Henry Earl Holliman is an American actor, animal-rights activist, and singer known for his many character roles in films, mostly Westerns and dramas, in the 1950s and 1960s. He won a Golden Globe Award for the film The Rainmaker (1956) and portrayed Sergeant Bill Crowley on the television police drama Police Woman throughout its 1974–1978 run.
Harold Adolphe Hecht was an American film producer, dance director and talent agent. He was also, though less noted for, a literary agent, a theatrical producer, a theatre director and a Broadway actor. He was a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and the Screen Producers Guild.
The Rainmaker is a play written by N. Richard Nash in the early 1950s. The play opened on October 28, 1954, at the Cort Theatre in New York City, and ran for 125 performances. It was directed by Joseph Anthony and produced by Ethel Linder Reiner.
The 34th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1961, were held on April 9, 1962, hosted by Bob Hope at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California.
The 31st Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 6, 1959, to honor the best films of 1958. The night was dominated by Gigi, which won nine Oscars, breaking the previous record of eight set by Gone with the Wind and tied by From Here to Eternity and On the Waterfront.
The 30th Academy Awards ceremony was held on March 26, 1958, to honor the best films of 1957.
The 14th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film for 1956 films, were held on February 28, 1957, at the Cocoanut Grove, Ambassador Hotel.
The Laurel Awards were American cinema awards that honored films, actors, actresses, producers, directors, and composers. This award was created by the Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1948 to 1971.
"Lizzie and the Rainman" is a song written by Kenny O'Dell and Larry Henley. The song was first recorded in 1972, being that year a single release for its co-writer Kenny O'Dell and an album cut for Bobby Goldsboro and the Hollies.
The Philadelphia Story is a 1939 American comic play by Philip Barry. It tells the story of a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist. Written as a vehicle for Katharine Hepburn, its success marked a reversal of fortunes for the actress, who was one of the film stars deemed "box office poison" in 1938.
The Man Upstairs is a 1992 American crime comedy drama television film directed by George Schaefer and starring Katharine Hepburn and Ryan O'Neal. The film premiered on CBS on December 6, 1992.
Desert Fury is a 1947 American film noir crime film directed by Lewis Allen, and starring Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak and Burt Lancaster. Its plot follows the daughter of a casino owner in a small Nevada town who becomes involved with a racketeer who was once suspected of murdering his wife. The screenplay was written by Robert Rossen and A. I. Bezzerides (uncredited), adapted from the 1947 novel of the same name by Ramona Stewart. The picture was produced by Hal Wallis, with music by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography in Technicolor by Edward Cronjager and Charles Lang.
Earl Holliman is an American film and TV actor who appeared in 97 features between 1952 and 2000, including recurring roles on the television series Hotel de Paree, Wide Country, Police Woman, The Thorn Birds, P.S. I Luv U, Delta, Caroline in the City, and Night Man. He won a Golden Globe Award in 1957 for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his work in The Rainmaker (1956). This is his complete filmography, as well as his awards, nominations, and personal appearances.
Burton Stephen Lancaster was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in film and, later, television. He was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and he also won two BAFTA Awards and one Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as #19 of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
References
- ↑ "Top Grosses of 1957", Variety, 8 January 1958: 30
- ↑ Ghosh, Avijit (2013). 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed. Tranquebar Press. ISBN 978-9383260317.
- ↑ http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm BLS Inflation Calculator
- ↑ "The 29th Academy Awards (1956) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved 2014-03-12.
External links
- The Rainmaker at IMDb
- The Rainmaker at the TCM Movie Database
- The Rainmaker at AllMovie
- The Rainmaker at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
