John Wayne and Oliver Hardy

 

After Napoleon was defeated in 1815, a number of his former soldiers came to the U.S. and were given land grants in Alabama. And that little known historical fact provides the background for 1949's The Fighting Kentuckian, one of four films in which John Wayne wears a coonskin cap.

In this case, Wayne plays John Breen, a member of a Kentucky militia unit on its way home after fighting alongside Andy Jackson during the War of 1812. It's while that unit is passing through one of the areas settled by the French that Breen falls hard for a beautiful French woman named Fleurette (Vera Ralston). He opts to leave the militia here rather than march home with him. His buddy Willy Paine also sticks around. 

Willy, by the way, is played by Oliver Hardy. It's not a pairing you would expect to see, but it works. The two have remarkable chemistry together, with Wayne playing an effective straight man for Hardy's comedic sidekick moments.  Two scenes in particular stand out. One in which they are posing as surveyors and have to pretend they know how to use the proper equipment; and another in which the two end up sitting with a group of fiddlers playing at a party. Willy can handle a fiddle, but Breen hasn't any idea what to do with one. Both are sincerely funny moments of comic relief. 

At the same time, we easily believe that Willy will have Breen's back whenever there is trouble.

In fact, Wayne wanted Hardy to appear with him in more films, but Stan Laurel (who had been ill) recovered and that classic partnership resumed. The world didn't get enough Laurel and Hardy as it is, but it's too bad Wayne and Hardy didn't get a few more films in. 

And trouble does indeed ensue. Fleurette is already engaged to a local businessman. And that businessman is involved in a scheme to cheat the French out of their land. He is, in fact, one of four main bad guys (well--three bad guys and one bad gal), pretty much all of whom turn out to have Chronic Backstabbing Syndrome.

The story doesn't involve a great deal of action until the end, but the story remains interesting as Breen gradually figures out what's going on and tries to prevent the French from being cheated out of their land. Along the way, several strong character moments give strength to the story. A confrontation with Fleurette's fiance has the villain cleverly using Breen's sense of honor against him. And a scene in which Breen talks with Fleurette's father (a former general in Napolean's army) is very nicely done. I especially like the way Breen treats the older man with unfailing respect, even when the general is making a (not unreasonable) arguement for why Breen can't marry the woman he loves.

When we get to the action scenes, they are worth waiting for, with escapes, chases and a pitched battle between the French and a group of rivermen working for the villains.

By the way, there is a colorized version of this movie kicking around. Avoid it like its the Black Plague suffering from Typhoid, Yellow Fever and Gangrene. If you see more than two minutes of it, you'll be struck with an urge to gouge your own eyes out. Watch this film only in its original black-and-white.