Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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.

jotix100 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.

wes-connors Reading the DVD sleeve description of "The Rainmaker" certainly opens the door to different interpretations. It says here, "Under the spell of a wandering charlatan named 'Starbuck', a lonely ranch girl blossoms into full womanhood. Katharine Hepburn garnered an 'Oscar' nomination as the 'believably plain yet magnificently beautiful' tomboy rancher, with Burt Lancaster brilliantly cast in the role of the smooth-talking con man who sells his rainmaking 'powers' to unsuspecting, drought-ridden Western towns." Ms. Hepburn is clearly neither a "ranch girl" nor a "tomboy rancher" in the film. My impression was that she was a spinster, with some advanced (for the time) degree of education in her background.Hepburn's "Lizzie" correctly amends her "plain" character as, "plain… as plain as old shoes." In progression, Lancaster addresses her as "Lady," then "sister," then "girl." Hepburn's characterization has different timbre than original play; obviously, the actress was taking her age and background into consideration. Hepburn and Lancaster effectively use bits and pieces of their own personalities in the lead roles. It helps that director Joseph Anthony keeps the film theatrical-looking. The camera moves well, and deliberately with the performers. So, you feel like you are watching a stage play. Sets and setting are also permitted to be less realistic. In these ways, the film shows itself to be aware of casting shadows.Another stand-out in the "older" cast is Earl Holliman, who certainly must be playing a teenager, or is endearingly dim-witted? Interestingly, the two performers most arguably too old for their parts received the greatest award recognition - Mr. Holliman with a "Golden Globe" win as the year's "Best Supporting Actor", and Hepburn with her "Academy Award" nomination. Mr. Lancaster was also deservedly praised, and would extend his "Starbuck" to his award-winning "Elmer Gantry" (1960). Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, and Cameron Prud'homme also contribute intriguing performances. Much credit should go to N. Richard Nash, who wrote a story that strikes collective chords in the human consciousness.********* The Rainmaker (12/13/56) Joseph Anthony, N. Richard Nash ~ Katharine Hepburn, Burt Lancaster, Earl Holliman, Wendell Corey

MARIO GAUCI To prove that he was not merely an athletic actor in the Errol Flynn mould, Burt Lancaster would occasionally dabble in film adaptations of serious stage plays from the likes of William Inge and Tennessee Williams; this is his third such attempt – albeit taken from a lesser-known author (N. Richard Nash) and with a more optimistic outcome (in fact, it was later musicalized on Broadway as "110 In The Shade")! That 1964 revamp shared with this straight film version its director Joseph Anthony, here making his first of just six efforts in that capacity. For a self-proclaimed atheist, Lancaster did his fair share of hammy, arm-waving 'preaching' on the screen and this is his first instance as such – portraying travelling con man Bill Starbuck whose "rainmaking" capabilities are just what this film's drought-ridden Southern town needs; on the other side of the coin is "plain" old- maid-in-the-making Lizzie Curry played by an overage Katharine Hepburn. I have to admit to a curious antipathy towards this most decorated of screen actresses and, indeed, her (by turns) moving and embarrassing performance here garnered nominations at the Oscars (her seventh), BAFTAs (third) and Golden Globe (second); the film itself earned a handful of other awards (Earl Holliman was named Best Supporting Actor at the Globes) and nominations (a second Oscar nod for Alex North's typically fine score; Golden Globe nods to Lancaster and the film; and another one for Nash at the Writers Guild Awards). Unsurprisingly embracing (as opposed to eschewing) its theatrical origins given the "performance" subtext that permeates the entire plot, the film has its fair share of good scenes which (apart from the opening sequence) revolve around the eight characters that seemingly inhabit this town: Wendell Corey (as the 'widowed' deputy), Lloyd Bridges (as Hepburn's equally cynical brother), Cameron Prud'Homme (as her well-meaning father), the aforementioned Holliman (as her spunky younger brother), Wallace Ford (as the elderly Sheriff) and Yvonne Fedderson (as Holliman's red-cap wearing girlfriend); the whole makes for a pleasant if not especially outstanding romantic drama about the interior beauty of lonely people. For the record, the play was later also brought to the small screen in 1982 by a past master of the medium (John Frankenheimer) with Tommy Lee Jones and Tuesday Weld in the leading roles.