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Kentucky Movie Review

Kentucky is a 1938 drama film directed by David Butler and starring Loretta Young, Richard Greene and Walter Brennan. It’s a weak movie.

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“Every day’s a good day for racing!“

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When John Dillon steals horses from Thad Goodwin’s farm, Thad is killed in front of his young grandson, Peter. Over 70 years later, Peter has relayed the story to his family, who vicariously carries the grudge. Dillon’s grandson, Jack, tries to make good on the promise of a horse his father had made to Peter’s daughter, Sally, but when she discovers Jack’s lineage, she finds trusting his intentions difficult.

This is one of those standard children’s flicks that center around a sport, here it’s about horse racing. I found all of those scenes tiresome and far from exciting. They are okay, not bad in any way, but definitely not memorable at all.

What I liked in Kentucky is its Technicolor cinematography. It’s so good and evocative, in fact, that it really brought you to its setting and it made the movie richer and much more charming than it had any right to be. The movie is technically pretty good for what it is.

The acting is all over the place. Loretta Young is okay, but Richard Greene is far from great in his wooden performance. The two are much less interesting than the movie’s supporting player. And yes, the supporting player is once again Walter Brennan.

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This guy was in so many supporting roles during the thirties, which resulted to him getting quite a few Oscar wins. He got it again for Kentucky, and although I probably would not give it to him, I am fine with that choice by the Academy. He plays a typical character for him, but he’s such an endearing guy in this movie that it’s hard to root for him, and he made the movie both more interesting and more professional.

Kentucky is a forgettable flick that is okay, but quite familiar in terms of its plot, though definitely excellent in its wonderful, evocative Technicolor cinematography. The leads are much less memorable, but Walter Brennan is quite good in his Oscar-winning role.