If this long and not very gripping tale of the very old west proves something, then certainly, that being a good actor is not necessarily the fundamental for being a good director or a good selector of scripts. This tale of father and son starts reasonably good, but never really takes off to what it could have been. Lancaster is a little wooden, as if he had to often looked for nowhere to get directorial guidance and the rest of the cast also does not really shine. Best things : Walter Matthau in his screen debut, alternating between Matinée hero with reasonably good vocal efforts (dubbed or not, i don't know) and Sado-Maso whipper with a gay sub tone and Lancaster in the climax going the distance over a river ford, while his enemies desperately try to be ready. At a vote of 5, there should be better things found to do than watching this.
Review of The Kentuckian
