The Rainmaker

"It's about the magic that makes a woman beautiful when she's wanted by a man!"

1956 2h 1m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🍅

80%

FRESH

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 52🍅80%Rotten Tomatoes★6.9IMDB · 4,368

RomanceWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Lizzie Curry is on the verge of becoming a hopeless old maid. Her wit and intelligence and skills as a homemaker can't make up for the fact that she's just plain plain! Even the town sheriff, File, for whom she harbors a secrect yen, won't take a chance --- until the town suffers a drought and into the lives of Lizzie and her brothers and father comes one Bill Starbuck ... profession: Rainmaker!

“It's about the magic that makes a woman beautiful when she's wanted by a man!”

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Cast

Burt Lancaster
Bill Starbuck
Katharine Hepburn
Lizzie Curry
Wendell Corey
Deputy Sheriff J.S. File
Lloyd Bridges
Noah Curry
Earl Holliman
Jim Curry
Cameron Prud'Homme
H.C. Curry
Wallace Ford
Sheriff Howard Thomas
Yvonne Lime
Snookie Maguire

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joseph Anthony
Writers: N. Richard Nash
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

70 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joseph Anthony, shot by Charles Lang. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alex North. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn and Wendell Corey carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It's about the magic that makes a woman beautiful when she's wanted by a man!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0049653 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 52 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joseph Anthony directs. Charles Lang behind the camera. Alex North scores. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

170 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Joseph Anthony, shot by Charles Lang. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Alex North. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn and Wendell Corey carry the top of the cast.
5Marketing tagline: "It's about the magic that makes a woman beautiful when she's wanted by a man!".
6IMDB entry: tt0049653 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 52 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles Lang
Original score: Alex North
Costume design: Edith Head
Makeup / hair: Nellie Manley
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Rainmaker (1956)
Rotten Tomatoes: 80% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 4,368 votes
MPAA: Approved
US box office: $2,100,000

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 2 wins & 7 nominations total

Also by

Joseph Anthony

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-08-07
★ 6/10
There once was an ugly duckling... 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. 6/10 Footnote: The material would also be turned into a musical titled 110 in the Shade.

Production companies