The Rainmaker (1956 film)

The Rainmaker
The Rainmaker
	Film poster
Directed by	Joseph Anthony
Screenplay by	N. Richard Nash
Based on	The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash
Produced by	Hal B. Wallis
Starring	Burt Lancaster; Katharine Hepburn ; Wendell Corey
Cinematography	Charles Lang
Edited by	Warren Low
Music by	Alex North
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Hal Wallis Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	December 13, 1956;
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2.1 million (US)

The Rainmaker is a 1956 American western romance film directed by Joseph Anthony and adapted by N. Richard Nash from his 1954 play The Rainmaker. The film tells the story of a middle-aged woman, suffering from unrequited love for the local town sheriff; however, she falls for a con man who comes to town with the promise that he can make it rain. It stars Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges and Earl Holliman. Holliman won a Golden Globe Award for his performance.

The Rainmaker has been remade twice: the first time as a television film of the same name in 1982 directed by John Frankenheimer; the second time in Hindi as Thodasa Roomani Ho Jayen in 1990.^[2]

Plot

During the Depression era in the Midwest, con man Bill Starbuck acts as a rainmaker, but is chased out of town after town. One day, he arrives in a drought-ridden rural town in Kansas and shows up at the door of spinsterish Lizzie Curry and the rest of the Curry clan. Lizzie keeps house for her father, H.C., and two brothers on the family cattle ranch. As their farm languishes under the devastating drought, Lizzie's family worries about her marriage prospects more than about their dying cattle. Prior to Starbuck's arrival, Lizzie was expecting Sheriff File, for whom she harbors a secret yen, though he declined the family's invitation to dinner. Starbuck promises to bring rain in exchange for money.^[3] Against Lizzie's protests, H.C. goes for the deal out of desperation for rain even though he thinks Starbuck is a con. Starbuck is exposed, but the Curry clan stands up for him, leading to both Starbuck and File finally declaring for Lizzie. In the end, Lizzie gets her man, and of course, it rains.

Cast

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

Accolades

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	Best Actress	Katharine Hepburn	Nominated	^[4]
Academy Awards	Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Alex North	Nominated	^[4]
British Academy Film Awards	Best Foreign Actress	Katharine Hepburn	Nominated	^[5]
Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture – Drama		Nominated	^[6]
	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Burt Lancaster	Nominated
	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama	Katharine Hepburn	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Earl Holliman	Won
Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Written American Drama	N. Richard Nash	Nominated	^[7]

References

^ "Top Grosses of 1957", Variety, 8 January 1958: 30
^ Ghosh, Avijit (2013). 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed. Tranquebar Press. ISBN 978-9383260317.
^ http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm BLS Inflation Calculator
^ "The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
^ "BAFTA Awards: Film in 1958". British Academy Film Awards. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
^ "The Rainmaker". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2010.

External links

The Rainmaker at IMDb
The Rainmaker at the TCM Movie Database
The Rainmaker at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

[1] "Top Grosses of 1957", Variety, 8 January 1958: 30

[2] Ghosh, Avijit (2013). 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed. Tranquebar Press. ISBN 978-9383260317.

[3] ttp://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm BLS Inflation Calculator

[4] "The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.

[5] "BAFTA Awards: Film in 1958". British Academy Film Awards. Retrieved November 27, 2024.

[6] "The Rainmaker". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved November 27, 2024.

[7] "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2010.

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