THE FIGHTING KENTUCKIAN is an interesting John Wayne flick because it was one of the last B-movies he made, and his star was already on the rise. So, you’ve got John Wayne in his prime in a movie that isn’t quite as good as what most John Wayne fans are probably used to.
The flick must be in the public domain, because the print I watched was terrible, with sound and picture varying from reel to reel. The audio, in particular, was bad. Maybe there’s a good print out there, I don’t know, but if there is, it is not on Netflix.
John Wayne stars as a Kentucky militiaman who leaves his regiment after 5 years of service to pursue a romance with the feisty daughter (Vera Ralston) of a French general (Hugo Haas) who is intent on settling the land with his fellow French exiles (it’s 1819 and Napoleon’s followers were no longer welcome in France). Unfortunately, Ralston’s already set to marry a local businessman (John Howard) who is embroiled in a scheme to rob the French settlers of their land.
This is the general “stranger rides into town and helps underdogs rescue their land from evil rich guys” Western plot, and it has been done better elsewhere, but there is some charm in Wayne’s motivations – he simply fell in love at first sight with Ralston, and has to have her. He’s a little nervous about it because he’s never felt this way before, and the feelings are at odds with his macho personality.
She’s in love with him, too, but she thinks her marriage to the villain might help her peoples’ cause. As a result, Wayne finds himself in the middle of all kinds of treachery, plotting and double crosses. By the time the final battle rolls around, I’d grown tired of the endless exposition. This movie would have benefitted from a simpler plot.
Still, like I said before, the flick isn’t without charm and a lot of this comes from Wayne’s unlikely team up with sidekick Oliver Hardy, who provides the film’s comic relief. Some of his shtick is dated, of course, but you can’t deny Hardy has an impish, innocent charm that gives the movie a slight edge up from complete mediocrity. Hardy even gets a heroic moment, in the end, and Wayne proves to be a great straight man.
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