25-425: The Kentuckian may refer to: The Kentuckian (1955 film) , a 1955 Technicolor and CinemaScope adventure film The Kentuckian (painting) , 1954 painting by Thomas Hart Benton based on the film The Kentuckian (1908 film) , a short silent black and white western film The Kentuckians 1921 American silent drama film by Charles Maigne. Topics referred to by
50-469: A 1953 Western The Silver Whip , then was hired to perform the whip scenes in the 1955 Burt Lancaster film The Kentuckian . It would be the last film he would work on. He later appeared as a guest on TV's You Asked for It , giving a bullwhip demonstration. He married three times, and lived his last years with his third wife managing an apartment complex in Hollywood. On October 22, 1964, Wilson died of
75-565: A cowboy star. Because of the fame being generated by Lash LaRue , who used a bullwhip in his films, Monogram decided to make Meyers a similar whip-wielding character, renaming him Whip Wilson . Wilson was a good-looking man. When he first moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, producers built him up with a lot of press, but it would not be enough to take him to the height of major stardom. He did star in 22 B-Westerns, more than Lash LaRue , Sunset Carson , Monte Hale , Rex Allen , or Eddie Dean . Monogram Pictures introduced Wilson to
100-543: A heart attack at the age of 53. Wilson made little impact on the Western film industry, although three issues of a Whip Wilson comic book series were published by Marvel Comics in 1950, curiously numbered #9, 10 and 11. Issue #11 was later reprinted in 1965 by I.W. Comics. Many of his co-stars, in later years, indicated they never really appreciated his films, but they did appreciate his kind demeanor and his character. Years after his death, his widow , Monica Wilson, stated; "He
125-433: A large pearl. In town, Big and Little Eli listen to Ziby Fletcher, a showman making a sales pitch. Big Eli meets Ziby in the bar and describes the pearl found by "a friend". Ziby advises him that President James Monroe loves freshwater pearls. Eli meets Susie, the local schoolteacher, and they enjoy the evening with Zack and Sophie. Hannah sees them together and quickly leaves, which upsets Little Eli. Big Eli finishes writing
150-667: A major star; studios were already phasing out low-budget Westerns. Veteran comedian Andy Clyde (as "Winks" Grayson) was a valuable asset as co-star, but the series got little attention. After 12 films, Clyde left the cast, replaced by Fuzzy Knight (playing his sidekick "Texas") and later by Jim Bannon . In 1950 Wilson starred in Gunslingers , Arizona Territory , Cherokee Uprising , Fence Riders , and Outlaws of Texas . In 1951 his character continued in Lawless Cowboys , Stage to Blue River , Canyon Raiders , and Abilene Trail . There
175-442: A reply from the president, but the letter advises him that the pearl has no value. Zack suggests that Eli ride the riverboat and complete the sale of the tobacco. He gambles at the roulette wheel and wins, so he plans to tell everyone that he got the money from the president for his pearl. The gamblers will not let him leave the boat, so and he and Little Eli jump off the boat with their dog and Zack's money. Big Eli and Zack appear at
200-564: A town where they have the same last name as a family suspected of murder. After a struggle, Big Eli is arrested and put in jail. Little Eli is minded by a woman named Hannah, an indentured servant. Two members of another family are feuding with the Wakefields and think that Eli is part of that. They meet with the sheriff, who is prepared to give Eli to them, but Hannah steals the jail key and frees Eli. Big Eli and Little Eli leave town and take her with them. The sheriff finds them, so they use some of
225-413: Is a man who Texas needs. Big Eli tells Little Eli that he is marrying Susie and that they are not going to Texas. Eli explains that he has promised his brother that he will learn the business. He tells his son to bury the horn used for calling the dog so that they will never find it. He does, but then digs it up. Susie tells Big Eli that Hannah helped him fight Bodine. Eli hears his son blow the horn, which
250-646: Is an adaptation of the novel The Gabriel Horn by Felix Holt. The film was shot in locations around Kentucky, including Cumberland Falls , the Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park near London , Owensboro and Green River , and at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Village near Rockport, Indiana . A featured landmark is the natural arch Sky Bridge . Frontiersman Elias "Big Eli" Wakefield decides to leave 1820s Kentucky to move to Texas with his son "Little Eli". They find
275-435: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Kentuckian (1955 film) The Kentuckian is a 1955 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Burt Lancaster , who also stars. This is one of only two films that Lancaster directed (the other was The Midnight Man ), and the only one for which he has sole credit. It is Walter Matthau 's film debut. The film
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#1733092845540300-402: The bar, and it is clear the others now respect Eli. At a town party, Bodine encourages one of the children to fight with Little Eli. The boy, Luke, picks up a whip and attacks Little Eli, after which Bodine attacks Big Eli with his whip. He is beating Eli until Hannah traps the whip under the wagon wheel. Eli defeats Bodine easily without his whip. Pleasant Tuesday Babson sees this and says that he
325-516: The boat. Little Eli apologizes to Susie for leaving the class, and she tells Big Eli that he should be proud of his son for not backing down from the other children. When Eli takes his son hunting, Hannah hears their dog and meets them at the fire. Eli deduces that she has indentured herself again to give him his Texas money, but he tells her to get the paper back and free herself. Big Eli realizes that he forgot about dinner with Susie, but she forgives him when he arrives apologetically late. He receives
350-511: The camera. The next year Whip Wilson starred in his own series of films, the first being Crashin Thru , followed by Haunted Trails , Range Land and Riders of the Dusk . He first was given a horse named "Silver Bullet", whose name was later shortened to "Bullet", then changed to "Rocket" due to Roy Rogers having a dog named "Bullet" in his films. Wilson may have come along too late to establish himself as
375-485: The dog also hears and breaks the rope, freeing himself to run to Little Eli. Little Eli goes to see Hannah, but Bodine is there with the two feuding brothers. They grab him and wait for his father. Big Eli is approached by Babson, who wants him for Texas, so Eli looks for his son. Bodine refuses to join the brothers in killing Eli and the Texan. The brothers kill him and shoot Babson, but Hannah shoots one of them. Eli runs toward
400-404: The letter to the president, offering to sell him the pearl. The bar patrons laugh at Big Eli for thinking that the pearl was worth anything. Zack enters and tells his brother to leave the bar. The school children tease Little Eli about the pearl, but Susie stops the teasing. Zack teaches his brother about tobacco. The Texas steamboat arrives to pick up tobacco, and the townsfolk are allowed to tour
425-460: The money that they need to go to Texas to free her. They arrive in town to find Big Eli's brother Zack. He encounters Stan Bodine, who is an expert with a whip, and he tells Eli where to find him. Eli is warmly greeted by his brother, but Zack's wife Sophie looks down on Hannah because she is a servant. Zack wants Eli to stay with him, so he plans to have Eli work for him while never saving enough to reach Texas. While mussel fishing, Little Eli finds
450-405: The other brother before he can load his gun, and reaches him in time. He kills him with the butt of the rifle. Eli tells Little Eli that they are going to Texas and invites Hannah to join them. She accepts. Near the end of the film, a ferocious fight occurs between Lancaster's character and Matthau's whip-wielding antagonist. Matthau was doubled by whip expert Whip Wilson , who cut Lancaster across
475-588: The painting The Kentuckian , which depicts a scene from the film. The painting belonged to the Hecht family for years, but was ultimately donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1978. Whip Wilson Whip Wilson (born Roland Charles Meyers , June 16, 1911 – October 22, 1964) was an American cowboy film star of the late 1940s and into the 1950s, known for his roles in B-Westerns . He
500-457: The public this way: "He was born on a fabulous ranch in Pecos, Texas , was a rodeo champion, has an engineering degree, is a direct descendant of General Custer , and he was a World War II Marine hero, and he does his own movie stunts." None of these claims was true. In fact, he had not even one shred of experience that could possibly resemble the fictional persona that Monogram created for him. He
525-425: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title The Kentuckian . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Kentuckian&oldid=1081843285 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
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#1733092845540550-687: The shoulder after the star asked him to "hit me and make it look real". Lancaster had also taken a real whipping during the filming of Norma Productions 's first film Kiss the Blood Off My Hands in 1948. The film features an appearance by the famed sternwheel riverboat Gordon C. Greene , the same steamboat used in Gone with the Wind and Steamboat Round the Bend . As part of the publicity, producers Hecht and Lancaster commissioned Thomas Hart Benton to create
575-454: Was nothing novel or original about Wilson to distinguish himself from other cowboy stars. The name of his horse, the bullwhip gimmick, and the false past created by his publicity agents were all derivative. Wilson's career never really took off, and by 1952 his Hollywood career was all but over, with him starring in Night Raiders and his last film, Wyoming Roundup . He appeared uncredited in
600-409: Was one of eight children. Wilson had been a moderately successful singer before coming to Hollywood. Following Buck Jones 's death in the famous Cocoanut Grove fire of 1942, which claimed the lives of 492 people, Monogram Pictures had been searching for someone to replace him. Producer Scott R. Dunlap saw Meyers, and thought he looked similar to Jones. This, apparently, was enough to build him into
625-517: Was one of the very few Western film heroes of the day who was not a "cowboy" in real life. Most had at least some experience as genuine cowboys or cowgirls, and fit the part. Many had also actually served during World War II. His first film role was playing a sheriff (uncredited) in God's Country (1946), followed by a co-starring role alongside Monogram's singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely in the 1948 film Silver Trails , both of which gave him experience in front of
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