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Cat Ballou (1965)
Director: Elliot Silverstein
Writer: Walter Newman
Cast: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan
Genre: Comedy Western
A prim and proper school teacher, Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda) returns home and seeks revenge for her murdered father. She hires a famous gunman Shellen (Lee Marvin) that she's read about in a pulp fiction magazine. But the man who shows up is a far cry from the stuff of legends...Citizen Rules
This is a fun movie! It's not a serious western, it's part comedy with a bit of musical thrown in. Made in the mid 1960s, Cat Ballou is sometimes zany but always a well made movie. Shot outdoors on location in Colorado, it looks great and so does Jane Fonda!
We start out with Cat Ballou (Jane Fonda) in jail. Curiously she's sewing a dress. The film then flashes back to her arrival at her fathers ranch, where he's being threaten by the town's big wig to sell his property, or else! Jane is not only a looker here, she's an intelligent actress who plays the part of the straight man...err I mean woman to a tee. She's always in character and is a big part of the film.
Lee Marvin is the other draw in this film. Lee won both a Golden Globe & Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Actually he plays two roles. He's Shellen the broken down ex gunfighter, who's a drunk and can't hit the side of a barn. And he plays the mysterious bad man in black with the silver nose, his real nose having been shot off. Lee Marvin is always wonderful in his roles, here he gets to do comedy in an outlandish way. Fans of Lee Marvin really need to see him in this.
One of the neat things about Cat Ballou is the 'Shouters', two song men who show up with dueling banjos and sing the praises of Cat Ballou. This might sound corny, but it works and works well. They tell a part of the story in between acts and it's a great chance to see the legendary Nat King Cole in action.
Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole sing several ballads.
Director: Elliot Silverstein
Writer: Walter Newman
Cast: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan
Genre: Comedy Western
A prim and proper school teacher, Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda) returns home and seeks revenge for her murdered father. She hires a famous gunman Shellen (Lee Marvin) that she's read about in a pulp fiction magazine. But the man who shows up is a far cry from the stuff of legends...Citizen Rules
This is a fun movie! It's not a serious western, it's part comedy with a bit of musical thrown in. Made in the mid 1960s, Cat Ballou is sometimes zany but always a well made movie. Shot outdoors on location in Colorado, it looks great and so does Jane Fonda!
We start out with Cat Ballou (Jane Fonda) in jail. Curiously she's sewing a dress. The film then flashes back to her arrival at her fathers ranch, where he's being threaten by the town's big wig to sell his property, or else! Jane is not only a looker here, she's an intelligent actress who plays the part of the straight man...err I mean woman to a tee. She's always in character and is a big part of the film.
Lee Marvin is the other draw in this film. Lee won both a Golden Globe & Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Actually he plays two roles. He's Shellen the broken down ex gunfighter, who's a drunk and can't hit the side of a barn. And he plays the mysterious bad man in black with the silver nose, his real nose having been shot off. Lee Marvin is always wonderful in his roles, here he gets to do comedy in an outlandish way. Fans of Lee Marvin really need to see him in this.
One of the neat things about Cat Ballou is the 'Shouters', two song men who show up with dueling banjos and sing the praises of Cat Ballou. This might sound corny, but it works and works well. They tell a part of the story in between acts and it's a great chance to see the legendary Nat King Cole in action.
Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole sing several ballads.
Sadly this was Nat King Cole's last performance in a movie. He was very sick with lung cancer and died several months after these scenes were filmed. He never lived long enough to see the film's release.
Cat Ballou is an enjoyable, fun film to watch.
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Cat Ballou is an enjoyable, fun film to watch.
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