After the Battle of Waterloo partisans of Napoleon Bonaparte were not the world's most popular people. They were not wanted in the France of Louis XVIII and would not have been welcome elsewhere in Europe, particularly in those countries which had been at war with Napoleon or occupied by his forces, so they turned to America. Napoleon may have been a warmongering tyrant, but he had been an American ally (of sorts) during the War of 1812, so he counted as "our son of a bitch", and any friends of his were welcome to come to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
"The Fighting Kentuckian" is in style, if not in geography, a Western. (Call it a "South-Eastern"). Despite the title, the story is not set in Kentucky but in what was then the Alabama Territory where in 1817 Congress had authorised the sale of land to a group of Bonapartist exiles. The action takes place in the following year. The title refers to the fact that a regiment of Kentucky militiamen are marching through the area on their way back to their home state. One of them, John Breen, falls in love with Fleurette De Marchand, the beautiful daughter of a Bonapartist general. The film then details Breen's attempt to thwart a plot by a gang of ruthless speculators to defraud the French exiles of their land. He also has a rival for Fleurette's hand in the shape of Blake Randolph, a wealthy local businessman.
For most of its length the film is essentially a romantic comedy with a historical setting. The overall tone can be gauged from the fact that one of the main characters, Breen's friend Willie Payne, is played by Oliver Hardy, making a rare appearance without Stan Laurel. Only at the end does the tone change significantly. Someone at Republic Pictures evidently decided that, for a John Wayne film, there was too much comedy and too little action, so there is a full-scale pitched battle between the French settlers and the thugs hired by the speculators to put them off their land. (It seems to me highly unlikely that the thugs, however much they had been hired for, would have wanted to slug it out with battle-hardened veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, quite willing to shoot to kill, but we'll let that pass).
The end of the film also sees a change in Blake's character. He is that rare thing in movies, a repentant villain. (The film's main, and quite unrepentant, villain is not Blake but George Hayden, the leader of the speculators). Blake was at one time a party to Hayden's scheme, but his quite sincere love for Fleurette means that he is no longer an enemy of her people but a defender of their rights, to the point where he is prepared to sacrifice his life for them. This makes him a more potentially interesting character than Breen (a bit of a rough diamond, but morally a straightforward hero) so it is a pity that more attention was not paid to building up Blake's character. This story might, in fact, have worked better as a serious drama, with Blake as tragic hero, than it does as a comedy. (The relationship between Blake and Breen reminded me of that between Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay in "A Tale of Two Cities").
In his best movies ("Stagecoach", "Fort Apache", "The Searchers", "True Grit", "The Shootist", etc.) John Wayne gave America some of its most iconic cinematic symbols of manliness and heroism. Even his greatest admirers, however, would have to admit that he made his fair share (perhaps more than his fair share) of potboilers, and "The Fighting Kentuckian" is one of these. Comedy was never really Wayne's forte and Breen will never rank as one of the great Wayne characters. 5/10 Some goofs. One of Willie's most prized possessions is a top hat which he says has been in his family for three generations. As top hats had only been invented some 20 years before the date when this film is set this seems unlikely. When playing chess with Breen, Willie takes three of his opponent's pieces in one move- something legal in draughts, but not in chess. In the final battle the French charge into battle on horseback with all guns blazing. This might have been possible in a Western set some sixty or seventy years later, but not in one set in 1818. The early nineteenth century cavalryman fought with sword and lance- before the invention of the revolver and repeating rifle single-shot firearms would have been little use to him. Little attention has been paid to period accuracy as far as costumes are concerned; some of Fleurette's dresses recall the Civil War era, some fifty years after the date of this film.
"The Fighting Kentuckian" is in style, if not in geography, a Western. (Call it a "South-Eastern"). Despite the title, the story is not set in Kentucky but in what was then the Alabama Territory where in 1817 Congress had authorised the sale of land to a group of Bonapartist exiles. The action takes place in the following year. The title refers to the fact that a regiment of Kentucky militiamen are marching through the area on their way back to their home state. One of them, John Breen, falls in love with Fleurette De Marchand, the beautiful daughter of a Bonapartist general. The film then details Breen's attempt to thwart a plot by a gang of ruthless speculators to defraud the French exiles of their land. He also has a rival for Fleurette's hand in the shape of Blake Randolph, a wealthy local businessman.
For most of its length the film is essentially a romantic comedy with a historical setting. The overall tone can be gauged from the fact that one of the main characters, Breen's friend Willie Payne, is played by Oliver Hardy, making a rare appearance without Stan Laurel. Only at the end does the tone change significantly. Someone at Republic Pictures evidently decided that, for a John Wayne film, there was too much comedy and too little action, so there is a full-scale pitched battle between the French settlers and the thugs hired by the speculators to put them off their land. (It seems to me highly unlikely that the thugs, however much they had been hired for, would have wanted to slug it out with battle-hardened veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, quite willing to shoot to kill, but we'll let that pass).
The end of the film also sees a change in Blake's character. He is that rare thing in movies, a repentant villain. (The film's main, and quite unrepentant, villain is not Blake but George Hayden, the leader of the speculators). Blake was at one time a party to Hayden's scheme, but his quite sincere love for Fleurette means that he is no longer an enemy of her people but a defender of their rights, to the point where he is prepared to sacrifice his life for them. This makes him a more potentially interesting character than Breen (a bit of a rough diamond, but morally a straightforward hero) so it is a pity that more attention was not paid to building up Blake's character. This story might, in fact, have worked better as a serious drama, with Blake as tragic hero, than it does as a comedy. (The relationship between Blake and Breen reminded me of that between Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay in "A Tale of Two Cities").
In his best movies ("Stagecoach", "Fort Apache", "The Searchers", "True Grit", "The Shootist", etc.) John Wayne gave America some of its most iconic cinematic symbols of manliness and heroism. Even his greatest admirers, however, would have to admit that he made his fair share (perhaps more than his fair share) of potboilers, and "The Fighting Kentuckian" is one of these. Comedy was never really Wayne's forte and Breen will never rank as one of the great Wayne characters. 5/10 Some goofs. One of Willie's most prized possessions is a top hat which he says has been in his family for three generations. As top hats had only been invented some 20 years before the date when this film is set this seems unlikely. When playing chess with Breen, Willie takes three of his opponent's pieces in one move- something legal in draughts, but not in chess. In the final battle the French charge into battle on horseback with all guns blazing. This might have been possible in a Western set some sixty or seventy years later, but not in one set in 1818. The early nineteenth century cavalryman fought with sword and lance- before the invention of the revolver and repeating rifle single-shot firearms would have been little use to him. Little attention has been paid to period accuracy as far as costumes are concerned; some of Fleurette's dresses recall the Civil War era, some fifty years after the date of this film.