| Cat Ballou | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Elliot Silverstein |
| Written by | Walter Newman Frank Pierson |
| Based on | The Ballad of Cat Ballou 1956 novel byRoy Chanslor |
| Produced by | Harold Hecht |
| Starring | Jane Fonda Lee Marvin Michael Callan Dwayne Hickman Nat King Cole Stubby Kaye |
| Cinematography | Jack A. Marta |
| Edited by | Charles Nelson |
| Music by | Frank De Vol(score) Mack David(songs) Jerry Livingston(songs) |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $20.7 million[2][3] |
Cat Ballou is a 1965 AmericanWestern comedy film starringJane Fonda andLee Marvin, who won anAcademy Award for hisdual role. The story involves a woman who hires a notorious gunman to protect her father's ranch and later to avenge his murder, only to find that the gunman is not what she expected. The supporting cast featuresTom Nardini,Michael Callan,Dwayne Hickman andNat King Cole andStubby Kaye, who together perform the film's theme song, in addition to appearing throughout the film in the form of travellingminstrels ortroubadours as a kind of musicalGreek chorus andframing device.
The film was directed byElliot Silverstein from ascreenplay byWalter Newman andFrank Pierson adapted from the 1956 novelThe Ballad of Cat Ballou byRoy Chanslor, who also wrote the novel filmed asJohnny Guitar. Chanslor's novel was a serious Western, and though it was turned into a comedy for the film, the filmmakers retained some darker elements. The film references many classic Western films, notablyShane. The film was selected by theAmerican Film Institute as the 10th greatest Western of all time in itsAFI's 10 Top 10 list in 2008.
Catherine "Cat" Ballou, a notorious outlaw, is set to behanged in the small town of Wolf City,Wyoming. Two banjo and guitar playing "Shouters", Professor Sam the Shade and the Sunrise Kid, sing the ballad of Cat Ballou and regale the audience with the tale of how she began her career of crime.
Some months prior, Catherine, then an aspiring schoolteacher, is returning home by train to Wolf City from finishing school. On the way, she unwittingly helps accused cattle rustler Clay Boone elude his captor, Sheriff Maledon, when Boone's Uncle Jed, disguised as a preacher, distracts the lawman.
Arriving home at her father Frankie Ballou's ranch, Catherine learns that the Wolf City Development Corporation is scheming to take his ranch. Frankie's sole defender is his ranch hand, educatedNative American Jackson Two-Bears. Clay and Jed appear and reluctantly offer to help Catherine. She hires legendary gunfighter Kid Shelleen to help protect her father from gunslinger Tim Strawn, the tin-nosed hired killer who is threatening him.
Shelleen arrives and proves to be a drunken bum who is a crack shot only when he is inebriated. His presence proves to be useless, as Strawn abruptly kills Frankie. When the townspeople refuse to bring Strawn to justice, Catherine becomes a revenge-seeking outlaw, known as Cat Ballou. She and her gang rob a train carrying the Wolf City payroll, then take refuge in the desperado hideout "Hole-in-the-Wall". Shelleen is shocked to discover the legendary outlawCassidy is, now, a humble saloonkeeper in Hole-in-the-Wall.
The gang is thrown out when it is learned what they have done, due to Hole-in-the-Wall's continued existence being dependent on the sufferance of Wolf City. Strawn arrives and threatens Cat. Shelleen, motivated by his affection for Cat, works himself into shape. Dressed up in his finest gunfighter outfit, he goes into town and kills Strawn, then reveals he is Strawn's brother.
Cat poses as a prostitute and confronts Sir Harry Percival, the head of the Wolf City Development Corporation. She attempts to force him into confessing that he ordered her father's murder. A struggle ensues; Sir Harry is killed, and Cat is sentenced to be hanged. With Sir Harry dead, Wolf City's future is hopeless, and the townspeople have no mercy for Cat. As the noose is placed around her neck, Uncle Jed, again disguised as a preacher, appears and cuts the rope just as the trapdoor opens. Cat safely falls through and onto a wagon, and her gang spirits her away in a daring rescue.
Cat Ballou was directorElliot Silverstein's second feature film, with the pressure of filming leading to some quarrels with the producerHarold Hecht, although the film was ultimately a box office success.[3]
Ann-Margret was the first choice for the title role, but her manager turned it down without letting the actress know.[5] Ann-Margret wrote in her autobiography that she would have taken the part.[6] Among others,Kirk Douglas andDick Van Dyke turned down the role of Shelleen.[3][7] Michael Callan was under contract to Columbia.[8]
The film was shot on location in Colorado, including parts ofCanon City andTexas Creek, as well as theghost towns ofRosita andBuckskin Joe. It was also filmed around theTunnel Drive Trail and theWet Mountain Valley.[9]
Nat King Cole was ill withlung cancer during the filming ofCat Ballou. Achain smoker, Cole died four months before the film was released.
Jay C. Flippen suffered a circulatory failure during filming and, as a result, later had his leg amputated, due togangrene.[10]
Cat Ballou earned over $20.6 million in North America, making it the7th highest-grossing film of 1965.[3]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 90% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10.[11]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[12]
Bosley Crowther ofThe New York Times called it "a breezy little film" which "does have flashes of good satiric wit. But, under Elliott Silverstein's direction, it is mostly just juvenile lampoon."[13]Variety wrote that the film "emerges middlingly successful, sparked by an amusing way-out approach and some sparkling performances."[14]Richard L. Coe ofThe Washington Post praised the film as a "springy satire", adding, "What makes this fun is the style. Forming a mighty cool duo, Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye sing their way in and out of the plot with folk songs which Cole 'Don't Fence Me In' Porter would have relished. The format is novel and stylishly delivered."[15]Pauline Kael inFilm Quarterly called it "lumpen, coy, and obvious, a self-consciously cute movie," adding that "mainly it is full of sort-of-funny and trying-to-be-funnyideas and a movie is not just ideas."[16] Philip K. Scheuer of theLos Angeles Times wrote, "I'm in the minority, apparently.Cat Ballou, which is being hailed as a cowboyTom Jones or something of the sort, seems to me about as funny as a soundtrack burp."[17]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "The jokes inCat Ballou are uneven, but the mood behind the film is happily consistent."[18]
In hisAcademy Award acceptance speech,Lee Marvin concluded by saying: "I think, though, that half of this belongs to a horse somewhere out inSan Fernando Valley", a reference to the horse Kid Shelleen rode, which appeared to be as drunk as Shelleen was.[27]
Two separatetelevision pilots were filmed. A 1970 pilot, written and produced byAaron Ruben, featuredLesley Ann Warren as Cat,Jack Elam as Kid Shelleen and Tom Nardini repeating his role, while a 1971 pilot starredJo Ann Harris as Cat,Forrest Tucker as Kid Shelleen and Lee J. Casey as Jackson Two-Bears.[34]
