JohnHowardReid A Hal Wallis Production. (Available on an excellent Paramount DVD). Copyright 1956 by Hal Wallis Productions. Released through Paramount Pictures. New York opening at the Astor: 12 December 1956. U.S. release: February 1957. U.K. release: 18 March 1957. Australian release: 25 July 1957. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 26 July 1957 (despite an enormous publicity blitz, ran only 3 weeks). 10,921 feet. 122 minutes.SYNOPSIS: An engaging confidence man brings back life to a drought- stricken countryside and to a charming but self-deprecating spinster.COMMENT: Paramount's publicity department took enormous pains to conceal the fact that The Rainmaker began life as a television play. Broadcast on CBS "Philco Playhouse" on 16 August 1953, it starred Darren McGavin. Broadway producer Ethel Linder Reiner saw the TV play as a likely stage vehicle for Geraldine Page. Author Nash needed little persuasion to adapt his play for Broadway where it opened at the Cort on 28 October 1954, running a satisfactory 125 performances. McGavin repeated the title role and in addition to Page the cast included Prud'homme (who reprized his part for the film), Richard Coogan and Albert Salmi. The director was the mysterious Joseph Anthony who I believe is the same Joseph Anthony who had a few small parts in Hollywood in the early 1940s. Presumably he then enlisted and when discharged turned to television and stage directing. The Rainmaker is his first film. The Matchmaker, Career, All in a Night's Work, Conquered City followed. A young actress named Yvonne Lime also makes her debut in The Rainmaker, but aside from Untamed Youth in 1957, she was never heard from again."The Rainmaker" is a small play. So how to transfer it to a big screen? Dress it up with VistaVision and Technicolor for a starter. And then? Wisely I believe (though many critics disagreed with me), it was decided to keep most of the "exterior" scenes within the confines of obvious stage sets, so that the viewer often has the impression of watching an actual Broadway play. The interior sets are by contrast highly realistic, but the change doesn't work because there's too much talk and there's nothing else the viewer can look at but the actors. Mind you, a lot of people liked this over-concentration, for Katharine Hepburn was nominated for Hollywood's most prestigious award for Best Actress (losing to Ingrid Bergman's Anastasia). But I found a lot of the dialogue too verbose, too repetitive, too obvious, too pretentious, too over- emphasized.Oddly, neither the often picturesque sets nor the skilfully atmospheric color photography were nominated for awards, though Alex North deservedly received a nod for his music score (losing in the Drama or Comedy category to Around the World in 80 Days).For all its expertise, both in front of and behind the camera, I thought The Rainmaker's whimsical little plot too slight to sustain its appeal over more than two hours. And in my opinion Wendell Corey (although hampered by close-ups of such intensity his facial make-up was obvious) came out of it best.There's a postscript to prove you just can't keep a middling play down. In 1963 author Nash turned it into a Broadway musical called "110 in the Shade". Inga Swenson, Robert Horton, Stephen Douglas and Will Geer starred. So Nash has made a fortune from this one idea, including $350,000 just for the movie rights.OTHER VIEWS: Here is Katharine Hepburn as an introspective spinster who, while still hoping for a husband, has secretly written herself off as a lost cause. Again she finds romance during a heat-baked dusty summer. But there the resemblance to "Summer Madness" ends.The setting this time is not an opulent Venice, but a dreary Western town caught in the throes of a drought. In a ranch on the outskirts of town, two brothers and their father scheme away, trying to marry off the un-wedded housekeeper daughter (Katharine Hepburn)."The Rainmaker" is an excellent piece of theater. It concentrates on six characters, providing meaty opportunities for the two leads and all four support players, makes forceful use of its one set, and keeps a basically simple story fired up within a tight time frame. Another plus is that it's difficult to categorize (a fantasy? a bucolic comedy? a sentimental romance?) and thus can be all things to all theater- goers. On the other hand, the cinema, alas, has a more searching eye than either the stage or television. My personal opinion (certainly borne out by the film's box-office failure in almost every country where "Summer Madness" was a huge success) is that "The Rainmaker" is so down-to-earth, it simply has no bond with the average, entertainment-seeking movie-goer. — JHR writing as George Addison.

gkeith_1 Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.Great Kate. Katharine Hepburn is the greatest. Here she is, just a few years after portraying the passenger of that African Queen, opposite that gritty, grimy Humphrey Bogart.Kate is wearing dresses here. This goes against her real life stereotype-shattering slacks, pants, man-clothes or whatever you want to call her personal wardrobe.Kate is Lizzie. Lizzie is a worn out spinster, wishing to be a Cinderella who is swept off her feet by a handsome prince from la-la land. She has romantic yearnings for a local snooze-fest, but he looks pretty boring to me.Voila! Along comes Burt Lancaster, portraying Starbuck. I immediately think, nowadays, of Starbuck's, the coffee purveyor. Anyway, this film's Starbuck is a dashing, swashbuckling snake oil salesman who says things like the stars shine for old maid Lizzie. Who else but Lancaster can play Starbuck? Starbuck is a loudmouth, wonderful, screaming and yelling dream come true, or so he thinks in his own mind.Awesome Burt. Burt Lancaster ain't no (bad English on purpose here) hard-boiled Spencer Tracy or dashing Cary Grant, but he is hubba-hubba in a very exciting way. Baby, the rain must fall, and neither Tracy nor Grant could ever have pulled it off.Lizzie is swept off her feet. The boring local guy is left covered by all of the dust in Starbuck's road. Katharine Hepburn, you have done it again. You have played many types of characters, and of course opposite several well known male lead actors. Starbuck, however, is one I remember very well. He is that sexy, risk-taking dreamer whom a woman really wants, deep down. A woman doesn't want to spend the rest of her life with a wrung-out old dishrag.Yes, the rainmaker makes the rain fall, in buckets as a matter of fact. Buckets the size of a house. This rainfall is huuuuuuuge. Starbuck (Lancaster) has made his prediction come true. He proceeds to sing, scream and yell that the rainfall has finally occurred. This is such a memorable scene.

classicsoncall Wow, what a revelation this movie is! By it's title I was expecting it to be all about con-man and rapscallion Bill Starbuck (Burt Lancaster), but it takes a wonderful little detour into the home life of the Curry Family, and the attempts of Pop H.C. (Cameron Prud'Homme) and sons Noah (Lloyd Bridges) and Jim (Earl Holliman) to marry off sister Lizzie (Katharine Hepburn). Sensitive viewers may tackle a misty eye here for Lizzie's old maid outlook on life, as she tries to process the worldly advice of the would be Rainmaker. Lancaster's character bursts on the screen with all the manic energy of a fast talker and out-sized showman, but his insight into the human condition is decidedly accurate for Lizzie, who comes to see herself in a new light and believe in herself once again. 'All women are pretty in a different way, but they're all pretty' is the way he awakens Lizzie's self-confidence, and her transformation is a wonder to behold. The picture's valuable lesson for most everyone is that you can't get stuck inside your dreams or live outside of them, but find them somewhere in between. It's almost too simple a message, but it's one that works for the person who finds themselves here, there and nowhere.

kirbyskay2012 I absolutely love this production! Missed it in the movie theatre so long ago, and was delighted when it was released on DVD. This version of the Broadway play was perfectly cast with an ensemble of wonderful actors who delivered well of their individual roles.Nobody could do it better than Burt Lancaster, as he was always bigger than life itself--a true Hollywood star! Katharine Hepburn acquitted the role of Lizzie perfectly, as well. Young Earl Holliman made a great enthusiastic younger brother and Lloyd Bridges the stern and controlling older brother was fine, too.The only change I would desire would be to film it on location, as it was so obviously filmed on a sound stage or back lot; however, back when it was produced, only really big budget movies were filmed elsewhere.What I liked most was the recurrent theme that ran through the entire story--the importance of believing in oneself. That theme touched all of the cast except for Lizzie's father and the nearby aging town sheriff. All in all, this is a warm-hearted family movie with a little comedy sprinkled over it for good measure. Sit back and enjoy the stars of the past and the good side of Hollywood.