Product Details

• Actors: Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Earl Holliman
• Directors: Joseph Anthony
• Writers: N. Richard Nash
• Producers: Hal B. Wallis, Paul Nathan
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: January 13, 1998
• Run Time: 121 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301105931
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,552 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This 1950s classic is based on the N. Richard Nash play of the same name (and not to be confused with the John Grisham novel and subsequent film). It's drought time in the Southwest; things are so bad that when a con man (Burt Lancaster) comes to town promising he can make rain, a rancher takes him up on it. But the rancher's spinster daughter (Katharine Hepburn) is skeptical--until Lancaster makes lightning strike her heart, with the unexpected consequence of the rainmaker falling in love with her. Lancaster is charismatic and funny and finds his match in Hepburn (with Earl Holliman providing comic relief as her impulsive younger brother). Think Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian on a farm, minus the music (though Rainmaker later was made into the Broadway musical 110 in the Shade). --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Water! I recommend it", February 2, 2007

By 

K. Williams (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rainmaker (DVD)

Bill Starbuck (Burt Lancaster) is a charlatan selling multi-flavored hopes of fulfilled dreams. Take your pick: early-warning tornado devices or cumulous nimbus over drought stricken cattle. It requires more than animated gestures and wild stories to satisfy the matrimonial desires of aging Lizzie Curry (Katherine Hepburn). Their paths cross in the Southwest as THE RAINMAKER promises thunder to the Curry family of hopefuls and hopeless.

At 49 - just six years older than Lancaster, Hepburn appears old enough to be mother to her theatrical siblings - a mistaken assumption expressed by daffy brother Jim (Earl Holliman) when he remarks how wonderful it would be for her to conceive a child so he could have a little brother. Nevertheless, the vigorous passion of this Old Maid desiring change without changing well compliments the undesputed Star - buck. From the moment he enters a scene, Lancaster steals the show with prolific lines of what Hepburn shamelessly labels "bunk."

The smile that overcomes me when the film begins is frequently interrupted by tears of joy and thunderous outbursts of laughter. I love it when a DVD investment pays off this well. Put your faith in THE RAINMAKER.

Movie quote: "Rain is rain, brother. It comes from the sky. It's a wetness known as water - 'aqua pura.' Mammals drink it. Fish swim in it. Little boys wade in it. And the birds flap their wings and sing like sunrise. Water! I recommend it."

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, September 10, 2005

By 

gy knott (Santa Clara, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rainmaker (DVD)

Everytime this movie came on T.V. I watched. Then I decided I might as well get it for myself. I am thrilled I did. The look, the sound - all are great. Very pleased.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Romance, December 2, 2006

By 

C. Robertson (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rainmaker (DVD)

I first saw this film when I was 10, and fell instantly in love with Burt Lancaster. His enthusiasm, amazing smile and sheer energy make this story a joy to watch. Katherine Hepburn always struck me as a little too old for the part, but she is so good that you can't imagine anyone else playing Lizzie. When I saw Burt Lancaster later in Elmer Gantry, I was stuck by the likeness to his character Starbuck in The Rainmaker; Starbuck is a sweeter, less manipulative charater than Gantry. The Rainmaker is set in a western town suffering from a drought; into the town comes Starbuck, a seller of hope in the form of a promise to make it rain. He meets Lizzie, an "old maid" who longs for a man to love her, and the promise of children and security this brings. This is a very sweet story; while I could not understand Lizzie's final choice when I was younger, now I can see what she wanted and why she made the decision she did. This is a charming film, and it is lovely to see it looking to clear and bright on DVD.