Frontiersman Elias "Big Eli" Wakefield decides to leave 1820s Kentucky to move to Texas with his son "Little Eli". Along the way, they run into two women who take a liking to the pair: indentured servant Hannah, who wants to go with them, and schoolteacher Susie, who would rather marry Big Eli and settle down. Big Eli has to deal with villainous Stan Bodine, who is skilled with a bullwhip.
Clem Bevans as the pilot of the River Queen (uncredited)
Production
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 the shoulder after the star asked him to "hit me and make it look real".[3] Lancaster had also taken a real whipping during the filming of Norma Productions's first film Kiss the Blood Off My Hands in 1948.[4]
As part of the publicity, producers Hecht and Lancaster commissioned Thomas Hart Benton to create 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.[5]
References
^'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956