The Fighting Kentuckian
Dir: George Waggner
1949
**
The Fighting Kentuckian is a fairly disappointing affair. It's not the best of the western genre and certainly not the best of John Wayne. I like director George Waggner but more for his TV work, most notably Batman. It is historically inaccurate and never, ever convincing. The acting is hammy to say the least, the action never really works and the story lack fluidity. The only reason why it is worth watching is to see the bizarre but quite brilliant pairing of John Wayne and Oliver Hardy. Oliver Hardy steals the show, even though his screen time seems to have been greatly reduced and it's made fairly obvious who he is (and why he was cast) by the reactions to every scene he's in which are over the top and what you'd expect from a chat show host after a special guest performance.