Best movies featuring Kentucky? Books?

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by Bobilee

Don't forget the classic Robert Mitchum film "Thunder Road", moonshine and cars.

Missymom, I made a mistake, the movie the song is from is "Coney Island" (1943). Here are some of the lyrics, I couldn't make out quite all of them:


here she comes
ain't we lucky,
here she is,
the pride of old Kentucky.
Miss Lulu Brown is coming down that ..........? street
she knocks them dead in any town
that's no steam boat, that's a dreamboat
"I've a fascinatin', captivatin' style, lordy,
this chicken puts the kick in every smile"
take a look at that, my boy,
your gazin' at Miss Lulu from Louisville
down from head to toe, give her the double o, ain't that a thrill,
if you never knew a Dixie gal, don't worry pal, you will
well shut my mouth, you'll go mad about that struttin' gadabout,
lulu, lulu, lulu, lullu, miss lulu from Louisville,
miss lulu, who is the thrill of Louisville

http://http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Grable-Pin-Up-Soundtrack-Anthology/dp/samples/B0000017CT/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1

How cute! Thank you Bobilee!

[KYcoyote]

Does anybody remember "The Outlaw Josey Wales?" It was Clint Eastwood gittin attacked by redleg jay-hawkers at end of Civil War...... coulda been western kentucky.

And then there was another famous Eastwood flick with Yankees and Rebels fightin over a bridge forever, until he finally snuck out and blew the bridge to smitherines. Anybody know what bridge this was??

[derynut75]

Originally Posted by Ridgerunner

Hi, Micah Girl. You remind me of a Kentucky book entitled "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come" which inspired four movies of the same title between 1928 and 1961. The '28 version was silent. The '61 version starred pop singer Jimmie Rodgers (whose biggest hit was "Honeycomb"). I am not familiar with the other two versions. The book deals with conflicting loyalties within otherwise closeknit families during the Civil War. A 1957 movie, "April Love," starred Pat Boone and Shirley Jones. None of these movies were actually filmed in Kentucky. Neither was "Daniel Boone, Trailblazer," a 1956 film with Bruce Bennett, Lon Chaney, Jr. and country singer Faron Young. But a film that definitely was filmed there is "Harlan County, U.S.A.," a 1976 documentary dealing with labor strife in that coalfield county. And that reminds me of "Harlan County War" with Holly Hunter (2000). (I would not recommend that these two films be seen by younger children.) Kentucky literature and history have always been of interest to me because I grew up just over the mountain in Virginia. My life has been enriched by the writings of John Fox, Jr. and Jesse Stuart.

I don't mean to be critical but I'm affraid you have been misinformed. "April Love" was most definately filmed in Kentucky! Not only do I know a lady who was an extra in the movie I own the very John Deere BR tractor Pat Boone got running and the uncle drove through the hay stack. The movie was filmed in the Versailles, KY area which is very close to Lexington so it's usually listed as being filmed there.

[dixiegirl7]

The old classic "Raintree County" with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift was filmed in two locations in Kentucky as well as Natchez, MS. The premiere of this movie was in Louisville, KY. The stars stayed at the Brown Hotel. My mother worked at the hair salon across the street and they were asked to do Elizabeth Taylor's hair and a manicure. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but Johnny Depp is from Owensboro and George Clooney is from Lexingon. Just a little Kentucky trivia...lol.

[JefferyT]

Three Kentucky writers who became maybe more famous outside of Kentucky and the fictional books I like by them.


Gurney Norman
"Divine Right's Trip"
This famous hippie novela was first published in the Whole Earth Catalogue, and then in book form. This is sort of a road novel, but really its about homecoming. Readers might be put off about the druggy aspect, but the book really doesnt glorify that. Fascinating book considering the author was a hippy, but also a true mountain folk, native of Grundy VA, but spent his youth in KY, going to UK befoe moving to California.

Wendell Berry
My two favorites are "The Memory of Old Jack" and "A Place on Earth". These novels are set in Henry County (the area along the KY river south of Carollton) which is were Berry was from. Berry's written quite a bit, nonfiction and poetry as well as novels, but these are good introducations. The characters overlap in the books, too, as his collection of novels all explore the same place, people's relationships and nature of community, but through different characters and familys.

Berry's fiction also allows him to explore the literal and metaphorical implications of marriage as that which binds individuals, families, and communities to each other and to Nature itself - yet not all of Port William is happily or conventionally married. "Old Jack" Beechum struggles with significant incompatibilities with his wife, and with a brief yet fulfilling extramarital affair. The barber Jayber Crow lives with a forlorn, secret, and unrequited love for a woman, believing himself "mentally" married to her even though she knows nothing about it. Burley Coulter never formalizes his bond with Kate Helen Branch, the mother of his son. Yet, each of these men find themselves firmly bound up in the community, the "membership," of Port William.

Berry is a also a real good essayist. "Recollected Essays" and "The Long Legged House" are good essay books by him.

Ed McClanahan
"The Natural Man"
This comic novel is set in the country back behind Maysville, I think in a ficitionalized Brookville or Mnt Olivet, where McClanahan is from. It's about high school kids and the "natural man", an orphan brought to town from Cincinnati to play basketball. This is one of the funniest books I've ever read, literally laughed out loud. McClanahan has a true gift for the comic and ear for language. A very enjoyable book!

Another good book, really a collection of little memoirs on charcaters he's encountered is "Famous People I Have Known".

[xxmagex]

Raintree County was filmed in Danville and Paducah Kentucky
Raintree County (1957)

There are still stories told in Danville about when the film company came to town.

[backwards nose]

My favorite movie moment involving Kentucky is in IN To Deep. You see a sign that says Newport,KY and the next thing you know there in the sticks. Movie magic. I think that roller blading movie airborne had a few NKY shots in it too. They shot the bar scene in Rainman at Pompilios in Newport. A syndicate wife is a good non-fiction book about the mob/sin city days of Newport and Little Mexico's a decent fictional book. Me and my buddy mixed blood for an independent film down the street but we both forgot the name of it so I haven't seen it.

[Carl Scheid]

I just received a VHS of the movie Tin Pan Alley and was looking for the song LuLu of Louisville. But it wasn't included? I was hoping to get the words to the song. My 103 year old aunt started to sing it but couldn't remember some of the words. Can you help me out?

[lexingtony]

Harriette Arnow's "The Dollmaker" is a must read. It was later made into a movie in the 80s starring Jane Fonda. It's a WWII story of an Appalachian Kentucky woman whose family was plucked from their home and resettled in Detroit where her husband has gone to work in a war factory. Read the book first, then watch the movie. Arnow also authored several other books, including Hunter's Horn -- another fantastic read.

Another great Kentucky author is Silas House: Clay's Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves, The Coal Tattoo...all excellent books.

P.S. I second a previous poster's suggestion about Jesse Stuart....I read some of his works as a child and they have always stuck with me.