Cat Ballou

This is a great movie and funny for older kids and adults. Lee Marvin gives an incredible performance and truly deserved the Oscar he won for it. The satire is very biting and on target. I cannot recommenced this movie more highly.

I've always loved the Cat Ballou movie and recall seeing it many times over the years, but I only just now purchased the DVD. The movie has a great cast, headed up by a young Jane Fonda and others who were just starting or who were in the prime of their careers. Lee Marvin won an Oscar for his work, even though he was only in 2/3rds of the movie. That said, he played two very different roles and was included in a photo that had everyone talking back in 1965 when the film was made. The famous picture has one of his drunken characters leaning against a building, nearly passed out, while atop his horse. The infamous part of the photo, though, is the pose is that the horse trainer coaxed that horse into by giving him lots of sugar (so I've read). The horse was actually crossing his front legs, so that the horse appears drunk, too. It's a fabulous shot, so much so that at the Oscars when he won, Marvin didn't thank his co-workers, but he thanked the horse! At any rate, this movie is an off-beat western comedy that includes awesome musical narration by Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye. Those two tell the story of Cat Ballou very entertainingly. It's a story of vengeance and romance as Cat (Fonda) goes after the person responsible for her father's death and ends up falling in love. Michael Callan and Dwayne Hickman provided much of the comedic elements. These two performers got together to provide commentary for the movie and they were a hoot. They told stories about making the movie and talked about the actors and how it was working with one another. To me, they seemed honest and respectful. They laughed a lot and apparently have remained good friends over the passing decades. They teased each other a lot about their performance in the movie and other things. They kept in time with the movie, talking about the making of it as they remembered it. I really enjoyed hearing what they had to say. There is a feature on the making of the movie and a trailer for it, as well as trailers for other movies For me, the commentary makes me a happy buyer because Callan and Hickman truly did enjoy themselves and pass on whatever information they could to viewers.

Many people will never have heard of this old comedy western, but it remains a classic in its way, and Lee Marvin's horse ALONE deserved an Oscar.

I saw this when I was a kid, loved it then and LOVED it all over again. Jane Fonda has never been so luscious to look at and a joy to watch. Michael Callhan gives a wonderful performance and this film should've led to bigger parts. Why it didn't remains a bit of a mystery. Lee Marvin shows great comedy chops and commands the screen with the underlying sadness of the character with perfect restraint. Stubby & Nat add a considerable amount of charm as does the old-fashioned Hollywood western attention to details. I'm surprised no one has turned this into a big Broadway musical. In the hands of the right group of inventive Broadway pros, this would be box-office gold

good movie

Cat Ballou is one of the funniest Western spoofs, if not the funniest, to come out of Hollywood. Made in 1965, it features taut writing, songwriting, direction and one of the greatest performances ever by Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen. Tom Nardini's performance as Jackson Two-Bears is also noteworthy. The movie is narrated by 2 minstrels played by Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye. The songs shine. This movie also features one of the most complex dance sequences I've ever seen in a film. The 2 romantic leads are played by Jane Fonda and Michael Callan. John Marley plays the father of Cat Ballou who speaks Hebrew to Jackson in his belief that Native Americans are a lost tribe of Israel. Lee Marvin, with his elastic long torso, long arms and legs, large head, small eyes & underbite, uses his physical form to hilarious comic effect playing the washed up, drunken, gun fighter. The movie also features the winsome Dwayne Hickman who played Dobie Gillis. The movie asks what happened to the Old West in 1894 with development arriving and Native Americans protected by the 14th amendment? What other comedy would ask these questions? The costumes are well-done particularly the richly colored jacket worn by Nat King Cole. Jane Fonda's eyes in about half of the movie glisten as tho filled with tears (glycerin?) in scenes that don't call for tears. Her hair and makeup are a little distracting but then it's 1965. And, the set design looks like it was constucted from cardboard and balsa wood. However, this movie didn't call for great set design. It works well despite it. I gave it 5 stars.

Very funny movie

Scritto da Walter Newman e Frank. P. Pierson (che poi vincerà l’Oscar come migliore sceneggiatore per lo script di “Quel pomeriggio di un giorno da cani” diretto da Sidney Lumet), anche se tratto dal romanzo di Roy Chanslor, “Cat Ballou” ha però un tono ben diverso, molto più ironico e scanzonato, e davvero innovativo. Infatti Catherine Ballou (interpretata da una bravissima e luminosa Jane Fonda) – la “Cat Ballou” del titolo – è una protagonista davvero insolita per un film western. Nonostante la formale educazione ricevuta in un collegio di suore, quando lo spietato bounty killer Silvernoose (Lee Marvin) le uccide davanti agli occhi il padre, lei non esita a chiedere a Kid Shelleen (sempre Lee Marvin), che aveva assoldato per difenderlo, di farle giustizia sommaria. Fra le grandi novità che introduce il film c’è quella impensabile fino a poco tempo prima: tutti gli uomini che portano stivali, speroni e lunghe pistole non sembrano essere all’altezza degli eventi. A partire dallo stesso Shelleen una volta mito del selvaggio West e ormai ridotto a un misero alcolista che non si rende conto neanche di quando gli calano le braghe. Per non parlare dei due cowboy Clay e Jed, pavidi truffatori che dissimulano uno strano e ambiguo reciproco rapporto, gli unici, a parte l’indiano Jackson-Due Orsi (continuamente vessato per il colore della sua pelle) disposti ad aiutarla… Insomma, una commedia molto particolare grottesca e divertente ambientata nel West – “mostro sacro” della cultura nordamericana – antesignana delle lotte sociali che in quegli anni avevano appena acceso le polveri, e avevano nel loro centro la lotta al razzismo e l’emancipazione della donna. Paragonabile solo a “Mezzogiorno e mezzo di fuoco” diretto dal grande Mel Brooks quasi un decennio dopo, e alle ancora più recenti pellicole dei fratelli Coen. Jane Fonda, che con questo film viene consacrata star di primo livello, già palesa quello che sarà il suo cinema: fatto di donne che devono lottare quotidianamente contro l’arroganza, l’ingerenza e la prepotenza degli uomini. Da ricordare anche l’interpretazione di Lee Marvin, che non a caso vince l’Oscar come miglior attore protagonista, spesso simbolo di uomini e personaggi duri e tosti, che invece ci regala un ubriacone patetico e rassegnato, che fa da contraltare allo spietato e piatto Silvernoose. Questa pellicola è stata anche l’ultima interpretata da Nat King Cole, stroncato da un cancro ai polmoni – le cui prime avvisaglie emersero proprio sul set – molti mesi prima che il film approdasse nelle sale. Cole è stato il prima artista di colore ad avere un programma alla radio e successivamente alla televisione tutto suo, anche se poi, le feroci polemiche razziali di impavidi benpensanti portarono altrettanti pavidi sponsor al ritiro dei loro finanziamenti. Sempre in prima linea contro il razzismo, anche nel mondo dello spettacolo, ne subì le dirette conseguenze nel 1956 quando venne pestato a sangue a Birmingham, in Alabama, da un gruppo di ameni membri del “White Citizens’ Council” poco dopo aver iniziato il suo concerto. Evento che viene ricordato anche nel recente e splendido “Green Book” di Peter Farrelly. Artista fra i più quotati in quel periodo negli USA e nel mondo, Nat King Cole ebbe difficoltà ad ottenere la parte di Sunrise Kid – uno dei due cantastorie del film – e vediamo se qualcuno ne indovina il motivo? …Il colore della sua pelle, esatto! La produzione, infatti, era propensa a “non turbare troppo” la morale degli spettatori con un cowboy di colore che suona e canta nel vecchio West (…poveri noi!). Fortunatamente, sia il regista che il cast artistico – così dicono le cronache dell’epoca – ebbero la meglio.

偽善を、痛快に、ふくしゅうで、はらす、 ジェーーン。フォンダ。 古き、よき、アメリカの、西武劇。 おもしよいよ。

Nostalgia. One of the most important movies ever. Lee Marvin won deservedly best actor award. One of Jane Fonda ‘s best one of my favourite singers Nat king Cole died after making this movie I was 15 in 1965 In my latter years My father watched game shows and golf tournaments. Nothing else. Never went to the movies. But he watched my VHS copy of “ Cat Ballou” Over and over. There are movies better “ the great Escape” “ gone with the wind” “ Ben Hur” etc But l think my father was right This movie is special. Own again. Lizard

superbe chef d'oeuvre a revoir

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