[5]

Burt Lancaster stars as a conman promising rain for dollars to struggling farmers in the drought-ridden South. He almost gets away with his latest swindle, but burgeoning feelings for one of the farmer’s daughters (Katharine Hepburn) threatens to make an honest man of him. It’s a very atypical role for Hepburn, playing a spinster desperate for a man. But she pulls it off, despite the baggage she brings from all her previous, more feminist portrayals. Burt Lancaster is very cool (and kinda hot). The movie is based on a play, and like so many other adaptations, it feels like a filmed stage performance. I like the fact that it largely takes place over the course of one evening, and that we spend most of the movie with the same four characters — it’s intimate. But I couldn’t believe the romantic relationships the movie started building, and in the end, there isn’t much to help this movie translate well for modern audiences. With Lloyd Bridges.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn), Best Score (Alex North)