Cat Ballou

Long before "Unforgiven” deconstructed the Western, or "Blazing Saddles” lampooned it, "Cat Ballou” poked the genre in the eye. An altogether enjoyable comedy, the film is full of small surprises, big laughs, and wonderful character turns. Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda) is a schoolteacher until a hired thug kills her daddy. To protect what she loves, she collects two petty criminals, a wisecracking hired hand, and a hired killer, Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin). Unfortunately, Shelleen is a raging drunk who is so inebriated and unsteady with a gun he literally misses the broad side of a barn. However, Cat has, as they used to say in those days, a mind of her own, and she masterminds a spectacular train heist that puts them all on the lam. Lee Marvin won an Academy Award for his dual roles as the derelict Shelleen and his nasty, villainous identical twin brother Tim Strawn, complete with a fake steel nose! The framing device, two wandering minstrels played by Stubby Kaye and Nat "King” Cole, singing exuberant songs about the exploits of Cat Ballou, are the maraschino cherries on the top of this fun, Wild West confection.

1965

Movie

2018-02-07 18:26:01

1.85:1

2018-02-07 18:26:01