Pocket Money (1972)

Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy gets mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked rancher.

Director:

Stuart Rosenberg

Writers:

Terrence Malick (screenplay), J.P.S. Brown (novel),

Stars:

Paul Newman, Lee Marvin, Strother Martin

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paul Newman	...	Jim Kane
Lee Marvin	...	Leonard
Strother Martin	...	Bill Garrett
Wayne Rogers	...	Stretch Russell
Hector Elizondo	...	Juan
Christine Belford	...	Adelita
Kelly Jean Peters	...	Ex-Wife
Gregory Sierra	...	Chavarin (as Gregg Sierra)
Fred Graham	...	Uncle Herb
Matt Clark	...	American Prisoner
Claudio Miranda	...	Ministerio Publico

Storyline

Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy gets mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked rancher.

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Plot Keywords:

mexican money | tortilla | bronc riding | horse | startled | 

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Taglines:

The two most memorable characters the West can never forget!

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Genres:

Western | Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jim Kane

Filming Locations:

Ajo, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Artists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on a novel called "Jim Kane", that was the working title of the film. The title was changed to take the emphasis off of one character and to stress the partnership of Paul Newman and Lee Marvin.

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Quotes

Jim Kane: Boy, if anybody cheats me, I'm gonna hit him with a Stillson wrench and shove him in a coal hopper
Bill Garrett: [chokes on his scotch-on-the-rocks] Well, if you're gonna talk like that,
[shuffles away]
Jim Kane: Hmm?
Bill Garrett: [nervously; shuffling away a bit more] Well, if, ah, if you're gonna talk like that, I'm, I'm-a just gonna move down the line

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood Remembers Lee Marvin (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Pocket Money"
Written and Performed by Carole King

User Reviews

has some good humor and two charismatic and occasionally funny leads, and it's aimless...

Pocket Money is a good film, but I wonder if it would be with any other stars, or even simply one star as staying true to the book the movie's based on. The script is by Terrence Malick (yes that Malick, it was his first official Hollywood gig after all so he had to pay at least one due), and it offers some keen one-liners, some that are very subdued in the sense of humor, and an opportunity for an actor to play it how he will. It's also, akin to what's weaker about Malick, a little flimsy and aimless on plot and more about atmosphere of the situation. If Malick were directing it it might resemble one of those mythic modern westerns. Under director Stuart Rosenberg of Cool Hand Luke, who isn't an eccentric genius-artist filmmaker like Malick but a sturdy craftsman, it's a lot more simplistic, and ultimately isn't about much except two s***-kickers looking to buy some cows and get paid the money deserved.

But as it stands, Paul Newman and Lee Marvin, even without the greatest material, can act the pants off of it and Newman somehow makes his character amiable and cool when not seeming to have it all upstairs except for livin' in the moment kind of thinking. Marvin fleshes his character out a bit more than Newman perhaps because, frankly, he's more of the comic relief however in slight and clever ways (watch as he is washing up and almost uses a pigeon to dry his face, or his rambling dialog when he and Newman are sitting atop the train). By the time it ends we might not feel like it can go much else, and it ends on a somewhat (though surprisingly good) ambiguous ending. But there's also the feeling that a lot has gone on, a lot of wheeling and dealing and almost nearing insight into the condition of greed and double-crossing in men. Almost. That and the sweet Alex North score that combines many forms of music.