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Fighting Kentuckian (Col)
Director: George Waggner
Product Group: Video
Studio: Republic Pictures
ISBN: 6301736303
EAN: 9786301736305
UPC: 017153112733
VHS Tape
Running Time: 102 minutes
Original Release Date: 1949-09-15
Theatrical Release Date: 1949-09-15
Release Date: 1998-05-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
SKU: BX023-061023011
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Non-rental VHS in original box (as shown). Box is clean and shiny with light wear. Tape looks/plays great.
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Editorial Reviews
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Amazon.com
Here's something you don't see every day. Then again, would you want to? Several years before the 1950s' Davy Crockett craze, John Wayne donned a coonskin cap to play a militiaman in early-19th-century Alabama. He and his fellow Kentuckians are just passing through--"marching 600 miles," as they merrily sing (and sing, and sing), because riverboat magnate John Howard has refused to haul them. Howard and all-purpose scoundrel Grant Withers are scheming to dispossess a community of French émigrés--veterans of Napoleon's Grand Army who've come seeking life, liberty, etc. in the New World. Howard's also out to marry Vera Ralston, the French general's daughter. Naturally, Wayne's just the lad to gum up both plans. Wayne himself produced The Fighting Kentuckian, but far from repeating the success of his maiden effort, Angel and the Badman, this is one of the feeblest films in his long career. Writer-director George Waggner never gets a handle on what a pre-Western should look and move like. Consequently, the cast does a lot of standing around looking silly in period costume, waiting--mostly in vain--for the script to establish their connection to one another and something resembling a plot. There is a glossier look to the proceedings than most Republic pictures achieved, thanks to Lee Garmes's pearly cinematography, but this is scant consolation. So is the almost creepy presence of Oliver Hardy, sans Laurel, doing Ollie-shtick as Wayne's jolly sidekick. No, he doesn't say, "This is another fine mess you've got me into!" But he should. --Richard T. Jameson
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Customer Reviews
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A Romantic "Eastern", not Western
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-06-15
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
John Wayne is well known for his westerns. The setting of this 1949 flick is Alabama, involving men who came from Kentucky. So this is technically an "eastern". The scenes are apt for the early 1800's: Soldiers are still using flintlocks, Alabama is about to be admitted to the Union as a state, and there is a large group of French citizens exiled after Napoleon's ignominious defeats.
John Breen (John Wayne) falls in love with a French woman. Trouble is, she is already earmarked for an arranged marriage to another man. A love triangle develops. Breen is determined to marry her. But he adds to the problems by pretending that he is a surveyor. He also finds out that there is a scheme afoot to defraud the French of some of their property by moving the posts that define the boundaries of the property.
This flick is more than a love story. It pushes the American way over the then-European way. The American way is progressive and the European way is traditional. In the American way, women marry whomever they love and whomever they choose to marry. In the then-European way, women married according to arranged marriages. These were usually based on social class, the wealth of the suitor, and the professional connections of the suitor with the father of the bride. The bride's wishes counted for little.
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Mainly Nostalgia
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-03-22
0 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I give this movie 3 stars mainly out of nostalgia. I doubt that contemporary veiwers will get much out of this unless they are cinamatography buffs that enjoy films from this era.
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The Fighting Kentuckian
Rating (3)
Date: 2007-11-14
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is not one of the Duke's best films but it is entertaining, which, I presume should be a measuring stick for anything titled "entertainment". This isn't a western but should be listed as a pre-western (does this make it an "eastern"?), along with the likes of "Drums Along the Mohawk" or "Unconquered". The casting of Oliver Hardy in one sense is a stretch but it's also brilliant. Vera Ralston is badly miscast. It's this casting of Ralston that led to some compromising of other roles. Her accent is NOT French so the other roles were cast with this in mind. It should be stated that the casting of Vera Ralston was forced upon Wayne by the studio. For the price this isn't a bad deal; I found the quality of the disc to be good. So, enjoy the Duke in a not-so-typical role.
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Great Movie, Poor Quality
Rating (3)
Date: 2007-08-05
1 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is most likely the best all-around John Wayne movie for any fan of classic movies. While it has that western style that John Wayne is known for, it also is the funniest John Wayne movie I have ever seen as Oliver Hardy is hysterical. The movie is a classic and I am surprised that this is the only copy available on DVD, other than the Two-Movie disc on Amazon. The quality is poor however, as this DVD is not digitally remastered as most Classics have been. Its better than the VHS version but shows the wear and tear of movies that are over 50+ years old. Nevertheless, It is the best version available and a must have for any John Wayne fan.
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dvd review
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-05-12
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Great dvd. One of John Waynes best. Received in super condition and with fast delivery.
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