Cat Ballou (1965)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Elliot Silverstein

Writers:

Roy Chanslor (novel)
Walter Newman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 June 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

A gen-u-ine movie first! A way-out whopper! A funny movie? YOU BET IT IS...!

Plot:

A woman seeking revenge for her murdered father hires a famous gunman, but he's very different from what she expects.

Plot Keywords:

Minstrel | Revenge | Studio Logo Segues Into Film | Interrupted Hanging | Schoolteacher

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Catherine 'Cat' Ballou
Lee Marvin	...	Kid Shelleen / Tim Strawn
Michael Callan	...	Clay Boone
Dwayne Hickman	...	Jed
Nat 'King' Cole	...	Shouter (as Nat King Cole)
Stubby Kaye	...	Shouter
Tom Nardini	...	Jackson Two-Bears
John Marley	...	Frankie Ballou
Reginald Denny	...	Sir Harry Percival
Jay C. Flippen	...	Sheriff Cardigan
Arthur Hunnicutt	...	Butch Cassidy
Bruce Cabot	...	Sheriff Maledon
Burt Mustin	...	Accuser
Paul Gilbert	...	Train messenger

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-8 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway - 1193 Fremont County Road 3A, Canon City, Colorado, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

This film inspired NBC to make two different pilots which aired on consecutive days in 1971. One pilot starred Lesley Ann Warren, and the other, Forrest Tucker.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Catherine is on the train at the beginning, she addresses her teacher as "Mrs. Parker", but when talking to Jed a minute later she refers to her as "Miss Parker".

Quotes:

Jackson Two-Bears: Kid, Kid, what a time to fall off the wagon. Look at your eyes.
Kid Sheleen: What's wrong with my eyes?
Jackson Two-Bears: Well they're red, bloodshot.
Kid Sheleen: You ought to see 'em from my side.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Everybody Loves Raymond: Working Girl (#3.22)" (1999)

A funny sad romp through the not-so-old West!!!

This HAS to be one of Jane Fonda's favorite movies: she gets to be both shy naive ingenue and rip roaring Western leader of an outlaw gang. Her outlawing is beautifully justified as the evil town members plot to take over her father's spread and finally have him killed. All are in on the plot/take, including the sheriff, a ne'er do well planted in the job. There are many similarities to 'Silverado', an equally well acted ensemble tour de force. Whoever did Lee Marvin's drunken riding, mostly out of the saddle, close to the ground, did a superior riding job. And if it was Lee himself, more credit to him. He got the Oscar and justifiably so. Under the comedy was the message concerning the sheep-like behavior of 'respectable, middle-class people', the wicked townfolk, bankrolled by the Wolf Company (love these names). Katherine Ballou, the respectable lovely schoolmistress, goes bad as the 'nice' people show themselves to be worse than the outlaws. Hole-in-the-Wall outlaws are allowed to live there undisturbed because the scion of the Wolfe company (who is responsible for having Jane's father shot and whom Jane shoots) lets them alone. They existed safely 'under the radar', but they want to put Jane et al out, because her gang's actions make them visible. Reminds me of many Massachusetts politicians, as well as Whitey Bulger.

The 'Indian's' comments are hilarious, expecially about Custer, spoken as he is surrounded by neatly dressed town thugs. It's an up-to-date funny tale with a social morale. You get the lesson without the moralizing. I loved it, and so glad I bought it.