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The Rainmaker

The Rainmaker

Romance · Western · 1956

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!

Movie details

The Rainmaker

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

1956 Romance · Western 2h 1m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

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!

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Rainmaker?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Two tough westerners bring home a group of settlers who have spent years as Comanche hostages.

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The Ballad of Lefty Brown

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Aging sidekick Lefty Brown has ridden with Eddie Johnson his entire life. But when a rustler kills Eddie, Lefty is forced from his partner’s shadow and must confront the ugly realities of frontier justice.

Barquero

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Jake Remy leads a gang of outlaw cutthroats making their escape toward Mexico from a successful robbery. Barring their way is a river--crossable only by means of a ferry barge. The barge operator, Travis, refuses to be bullied into providing transport for the gang and escapes across river with most of the local populace--leaving Remy and his gang behind, desperately seeking a way across. A river-wide stand-off begins between the gang and the townspeople, both groups of which have left people on the wrong side of the river.

A Man Called Sledge

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A pioneering family fights back against a gang of vicious outlaws that is terrorizing them on their newly-built farm on the plains of Montana.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Joseph Anthony

Written by

N. Richard Nash

Burt Lancaster

Burt Lancaster

Bill Starbuck

Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn

Lizzie Curry

Wendell Corey

Wendell Corey

Deputy Sheriff J.S. File

Lloyd Bridges

Lloyd Bridges

Noah Curry

Earl Holliman

Earl Holliman

Jim Curry

Cameron Prud'Homme

Cameron Prud'Homme

H.C. Curry

Wallace Ford

Wallace Ford

Sheriff Howard Thomas

Court is in session

Put The Rainmaker on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.