Jane Fonda plays a notorious outlaw who is set to be executed when fate intervenes in the western comedy “Cat Ballou.” Director Elliot Silverstein (“A Man Called Horse” 1970) puts together an entertaining show from a good script by Walter Newman and Frank Pierson. It was adapted from the 1956 novel “The Ballad of Cat Ballou” by Roy Chanslor.
The super-talented cast includes Jane Fonda as Catherine “Cat” Ballou, Lee Marvin in dual roles as two gunslingers, Michael Callan as a cattle rustler, Dwayne Hickman as Uncle Jed, John Marley as Uncle Frankie Ballou, Reginald Denny as a wealthy businessman, Arthur Hunnicutt as Butch Cassidy, Burt Muslin as the accuser, Paul Gilbert as the train messenger, Tom Nardini as Jackson Two-Bears, Jay C. Flippen and Bruce Cabot as the sheriffs, and Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye as the “shouters” (singers who were narrating the film). This was Cole’s final film role, in a career that began in 1943 when he co-starred in Republic Pictures’ “Here Comes Elmer” with Dale Evans.
The watchable “Cat Ballou” was the seventh highest grossing movie of 1965 for the Harold Hecht Corporation and Columbia Pictures. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Lee Marvin for Best Actor. The non-winners were Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score (Frank De Vol), and Best Song (“The Ballad of Cat Ballou,” music by Jerry Livingston, lyrics by Mack David).
Cat Ballou (1965)
cinema
My Review
Jane Fonda plays a notorious outlaw who is set to be executed when fate intervenes in the western comedy “Cat Ballou.” Director Elliot Silverstein (“A Man Called Horse” 1970) puts together an entertaining show from a good script by Walter Newman and Frank Pierson. It was adapted from the 1956 novel “The Ballad of Cat Ballou” by Roy Chanslor.
The super-talented cast includes Jane Fonda as Catherine “Cat” Ballou, Lee Marvin in dual roles as two gunslingers, Michael Callan as a cattle rustler, Dwayne Hickman as Uncle Jed, John Marley as Uncle Frankie Ballou, Reginald Denny as a wealthy businessman, Arthur Hunnicutt as Butch Cassidy, Burt Muslin as the accuser, Paul Gilbert as the train messenger, Tom Nardini as Jackson Two-Bears, Jay C. Flippen and Bruce Cabot as the sheriffs, and Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye as the “shouters” (singers who were narrating the film). This was Cole’s final film role, in a career that began in 1943 when he co-starred in Republic Pictures’ “Here Comes Elmer” with Dale Evans.
The watchable “Cat Ballou” was the seventh highest grossing movie of 1965 for the Harold Hecht Corporation and Columbia Pictures. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Lee Marvin for Best Actor. The non-winners were Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score (Frank De Vol), and Best Song (“The Ballad of Cat Ballou,” music by Jerry Livingston, lyrics by Mack David).