Raintree County (1957)
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11% of critics liked it
(9 reviews) -
53% of users liked it
(595 ratings)
Conceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation, Raintree County wasn't quite as successful as its role model, but it still proved a moneyspinner for MGM. Elizabeth Taylor stars as a spoiled Southern belle who falls in love with pacifistic Indiana youth Montgomery Clift. Though… More Conceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation, Raintree County wasn't quite as successful as its role model, but it still proved a moneyspinner for MGM. Elizabeth Taylor stars as a spoiled Southern belle who falls in love with pacifistic Indiana youth Montgomery Clift. Though Clift is engaged to Eva Marie Saint, what Taylor wants, Taylor gets, and she isn't above using the dirtiest of deceptions to win Clift's affections. When the Civil War break out, Clift, a staunch abolitionist, joins the Union, much to the dismay of true-to-Dixie Taylor. While Clift is off fighting the war, Taylor descends into a depression that deepens into insanity. At war's end, Clift tries to come to terms with Taylor's lunacy for the sake of their child. But the strain proves too much for both of them, leading to an operatic climax which curiously segues into a happy ending (happy for some of the characters, anyway). If Montgomery Clift's performance--and appearance--seems to fluctuate wildly throughout the film, it is because he was involved in a serious auto accident during shooting, one that left both physical and emotional scars from which he never completely recovered. The 187-minute Raintree Country (reduced to 168 minutes after its initial roadshow engagements) was adapted by Millard Kaufman from the best-selling novel by Ross Lockridge, Jr. (whose own life story was infinitely more tragic than anything in his book). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Edward Dmytryk
- Written By
- Millard Kaufman
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Classics
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Dec 20, 1957 Wide
- Studio
- MGM Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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, TIME Magazine
Begins in tedium and ends, 168 leaden minutes later, in apathy.
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Variety Staff, Variety
Picture lacks highlight material; even the war scenes don't quite have the necessary impact and the relationship between Taylor and Clift could have been charged up more.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
MGM's attempt to repeat the success of Gone With the Wind turned out to be an elephantine bore.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
This mammoth color picture, which now runs twelve minutes shy of three hours, gives evidence of being outfitted with every extravagance save a script.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
A memorable if generally unsuccessful attempt by MGM to bring back the glory of Gone With the Wind.
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Cast
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Montgomery Clift
as John Wickliff Shawnessy
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Elizabeth Taylor
as Susanna Drake
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Eva Marie Saint
as Nell Gaither
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Nigel Patrick
as Prof. Jerusalem Webster Stiles
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Lee Marvin
as Orville "Flash" Perkins
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Rod Taylor
as Garwood B. Jones
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Agnes Moorehead
as Ellen Shawnessy
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Walter Abel
as T.D. Shawnessy
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Jarma Lewis
as Barbara Drake
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Tom Drake
as Bobby Drake
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Rhys Williams
as Ezra Gray
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Russell Collins
as Niles Foster
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DeForest Kelley
as Southern Officer
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Ruth Attaway
as Parthenia
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Oliver Blake
as Jake the Bartender
- Nesdon Booth
- William Challee
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Isabelle Cooley
as Soona
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Jack Daly
as Photographer
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Michael Dante
as Jesse Gardner
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John Eldredge
as Cousin Sam
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Robert Forrest
as Spectator
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Robert Foulk
as Pantomimist in Blackface
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Dorothy Granger
as Mme. Gaubert
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James Griffith
as Man with Gun
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Myrna Hansen
as Lydia Gray
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Stacy Harris
as Union Lieutenant
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Rosalind Hayes
as Bessie
- Frank Kreig
- Luana Lee
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Donald Losby
as Jim Shawnessy at Age 2 1/2
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Mickey Maga
as Jim Shawnessy at Age 4
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Owen McGiveney
as Blind Man
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Gardner McKay (II)
as Bearded Soldier
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Burt Mustin
as Granpa Peters
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Bill Walker
as Old Negro Man
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Charles Watts
as Party Guest
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Phil Chambers
as Starter
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Michael Dugan
as Nat Franklin
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Don Burnett
as Tom Conway
- Phyllis Douglas
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Sue George
as Girls
- Janet Lake
- Millicent Patrick
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Eileen Stevens
as Miss Roman
