Cat Ballou (1965) User Reviews

Great western spoof, and Lee Marvin steals the film!

[ClassicAndCampFilmReviews · 8/10 · 15 January 2005]

Cat Ballou is a movie spoof unlike any other, and a great parody of the Western film genre. Jane Fonda appears in one of her most playful film roles ("Barbarella" is another light and funny Fonda classic), and Lee Marvin gives one of his finest film performances (he won his Oscar for his dual roles). Add to this mix a wondrous soundtrack, with Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye as minstrels of sorts who stroll and sing throughout, making the film almost seem like a musical; an outstanding supporting cast including Michael Callan (who later appeared on TV's "One Life to Live"), and Dwayne Hickman (TV's Dobie Gillis), and the result is this hilarious, thoroughly entertaining film that was nominated for five Academy Awards (Marvin was the sole winner).

Catherine Ballou (Fonda)is a recently graduated-from-school schoolteacher returning home to live with her father on his ranch, but he is gunned down upon her arrival. She enlists the help of a loyal ranch-hand, a couple of outlaws, and most notably, a has-been gunman by the name of Kid Sheleen (Marvin) to help her get revenge. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable film that still stands up today, and Lee Marvin stealing the entire film in his amazing dual role performance as both Tim Strong and Kid Sheleen. Lee Marvin alone makes the film well worth seeing.

The dialogue is great. Take this exchange as an example:

Jackson Two-Bears: "Kid, Kid, what a time to fall off the wagon. Look at your eyes." Kid Sheleen: "What's wrong with my eyes?" Jackson Two-Bears: "Well they're red; bloodshot." Kid Sheleen: "You ought to see 'em from my side."

I was thrilled when the widescreen special edition of this long-time favorite of mine came out in 2003, and on DVD. I have the soundtrack on vinyl, but I have always wished that it would come out on CD; Nat King Cole is one of my all-time favorite singers, and his rendition of "They'll Never Make Me Cry" always makes me...anyway. This film still hasn't lost any of its humor or fun with the passing of time, and stays on of my personal "top ten list" of comedy.

Fun, sweet, and amusing western/comedy

[FiendishDramaturgy · 8/10 · 18 August 2003]

Cat Ballou is a fun romp through the great American west. While it presents a definite "Apple Dumpling Gang" atmosphere, it still retains its gritty and resolute (...they'll never make her cry...) feeling.

One of the best American Western comedies.

Fonda is compelling as Catherine "Cat" Ballou, the "schoolmarm-gone-bad." Her performance in this movie is among the best performances of her career.

Lee Marvin's acting abilities really reach out and grab you with his dual role as Kid Shelleen and brother-gone-horribly-wrong Tim Strawn. As Shelleen, you get to experience his comedic genius (this movie has a classic comedy scene that most of us never forget, featuring Marvin as Shelleen sitting on his horse, and he AND the horse are leaning drunkenly against a building), and as Tim Strawn, the tension POPS out at you.

Michael Callan plays Clay Boone, Cat's would-be love interest. Michael Callan, also known as Mickey Calin, has done tons of movies starting with "They Came to Cordure" in 1959. In "Cat Ballou," his honest face and earnest smile captivate you right away, and his performance as Boone, holds you there. Although he's had loads of roles, most Americans will probably remember him from his stint on "One Life to Live," a popular American soap opera. (He played Jack Simmons.)

Frankie Ballou (Cat's Father) is played extremely well by John Marley; a curmudgeonly rancher who has definite views (however odd they may be) on the true origins of the Native American.

This movie has it all! Action, suspense, comedy and heart. It also boasts some of the greatest stars of its time: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Dwayne Hickman, Stubby Kaye (!!) (Marvin Acme in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Ellis Island *1984,* Taxi *1953,* Guys and Dolls *1955,* and Lil Abner *1959* among many more), Reginald Denny and Bruce Cabot!

The story is narrated in song by Nat King Cole, playing professor Sam The Shade AS Nat King Cole. This movie whisks you from your seat, carries you down the river, and plunges you over the waterfall. Hang on and enjoy the ride.

It easily rates an 8.4/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Tour de force performance by Marvin makes this a hit!

[dfranzen70 · 7/10 · 20 February 2000]

Jane Fonda plays Cat Ballou, back in the days when she was not only acting but also accepting sexy kittenish roles, a rancher's daughter out to avenge the murder of said rancher by the bad guys who run the town. Yep, it's a sex Western, one that gives us the one-of-a-kind performances of Fonda and of Lee Marvin, who has two roles - an alcoholic gunslinger who's supposed to be Cat's saving and a mean, dastardly hit man with a prosthetic nose - and who won himself an Oscar for his delightful work. But it's not just the lighthearted performances of the actors that floats this film, it's also the riveting, uproarious script. The pace is never dull - there are some Westerns that'll slow things down to kind of add mood to a story, but not this one. This would make a nice double-bill with another of Fonda's sexy early roles, "Barbarella."

Lee Marvin deserved the Oscar!

[jeremyfd · 4 April 2004]

I watched Cat Ballou again the other day after a gap of over 35 years. A spoof western, definitely. That Lee Marvin should not have won the Oscar? No way. It is far more difficult to carry off a role in what is obviously a pastiche than to excel in a serious dramatic part. Lee Marvin plays it to perfection. Watch his face in the bar scene in the hole in the wall, desperately trying to catch the moment to propose a toast - "I'll drink to that!". It's brilliant. This film has to be watched in the context of its time. It is no good trying to compare it to today's special effects dominated blockbusters or Pixar animations. The semi-musical format was innovative, and remains so today. Cat Ballou is a perfect example of 60's "cool".

Entertaining and fun western with agreeable comedy

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 26 June 2005]

A good and nice movie concerning a school teacher named Cat Ballou (Jane Fonda) , when the family farm is being threatened by the railroad she becomes a bandit to avenge her father's (John Marley) death , creating an outlaw group formed by a motley and butcher team ( Michael Callan , Tom Nardini and others) . Later on , she engages a boozy gunfighter (wonderfully interpreted by Lee Marvin) and they 'll take on a number of villains and other nasties (led by Reginald Denny) that have a hired gun , a murderer with an artificial nose ( also played by Marvin). A gen-u-ine movie first! A way-out whopper! A funny movie? You bet it is...! It's That Way-Out Whopper Of A Funny Western...A She-Bang To End All She-Bangs! . Cat Ballou Is All A Ball! .Is this the way to make a funny movie...? You bet it is!

It's a bemusing western with adjusted runtime in which there's humor , tongue-in-cheek , spoof , irony , shootouts , it's fast-moving and that's why isn't boring but funny . Lee Marvin won a deserved Oscar Academy Award for his double playing as a drunken , sympathetic cowboy and his twin , an odious , ominous killer , as Marvin is the best . The support cast is awesome , thus appearing habitual Western secondaries : J. C. Flippen , Arthur Hunnicut and Bruce Cabot . While Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye play splendidly two singing minstrels . Frank de Vol (Robert Aldrich's usual musician) soundtrack is jolly and lively .The film was well directed by Elliot Silverstein , he will subsequently achieve great success with ¨A man called horse¨. Rating : Better than average. Well worth seeing. . Essential and indispensable watching for Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda fans.

A helluva performance from Lee Marvin makes "Cat Ballou" a must-see Western comedy!

[ElMaruecan82 · 7/10 · 23 December 2018]

Maybe the best compliment I'd give to "Cat Ballou" is that I enjoyed it better than Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles (both films made it in American Film Institute Top 100 Comedies) but unlike Mel Brooks, Elliott Silverstein (a forgotten name) never gets carried away to the point he forgets to tell a story.

The film has a straightforwardness in the narrative that retrospectively betrays a lack of inspiration but it provides a reasonable amount of laughs and some hilarious gags (the "Happy Birthday To You" one killed me), setting the tone quickly and by quickly, I mean immediately. When you have the Columbia Lady turning into a cartoon pin-up, tossing her robe to reveal a sexy cowgirl shooting all over the screen in pure 60s animation, you know this is a movie that is aiming rather high in terms of laughs.

Then our eyes are gratified with the irresistible sight of Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole as official minstrels and officious Greek Chorus introducing us to the Ballad of Cat Ballou, played by a youthful Jane Fonda. Sadly, Cole would die a few months later of cancer and would never see the film be released, but he couldn't have a better ending role, he and Kaye form a wonderful matched couple.

So we discover the beautiful Cat Ballou waiting for the rope like Marie-Antoinette the guillotine and the film tells her story in flashback. We discover her as Catherine, a shy and prude soon-to-be teacher whose supporter leaves in a train next to the most respectable figure: a priest (Dwayne Hickman). 'Cat' had just caught the eye of a handsome escorted criminal Clay Boone (Michael Callan) and she's not indifferent to his charm.

There's something in Fonda's performance that is full of juvenile vulnerability and a repressed appetite for thrills of any sorts. In fact, no one is what he seems to be, the first time the priest opens his mouth, it sets the tone of unpredictability that drives every major supporting character, all deconstructing the myths of the Western in the funniest way. Even Frankie Ballou, the no-nonsense father played by John Marley mistakes his Native hand Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini) from one of the "chosen people".

The Native mistaken for a Jew and played by an Italian is perhaps the sanest character of male persuasion in the whole film. The priest is a scam, Boone a coward and the father who should take the threats of Wolf Fort's people seriously (he refuses to sell his ranch for the railroad company) doesn't care. This is all played for laughs, and Cat Ballou is both the woman and straight man of the film.

But even the best oiled comedy machinery wouldn't have worked too long if it wasn't for the genius casting of Lee Marvin. It takes more than half-an-a hour but it's all worth it. I wouldn't call it a dual performance as we don't see much of Tim Strawn, the man who gives a reason to Cat to seek revenge, but as Kid Shellein, he's simply a constant delight.

It's one thing to play drunk, but Kid isn't any drunkard, he's a gunslinger who can't do with and without the liquor: if he's too drunk, he's ineffective, if he's sober, he's shaking and the way he expresses his need is borderline drama, he needs to have a few drops to get on his feet and not drop his pants, and for a brief amount of time, he's the best shot of the west, the rest of the time, he's hilarious as well and provides most the laugh.

Marvin was responsible for the good and jovial atmosphere during the shooting and Silverstein credited him for that. Interestingly, Fonda didn't get along with him, maybe she resented having the less juicy role despite being the titular, but it's true that those who're looking for the equivalent of our "girl power" movies will be disappointed, "Cat Ballou" is bad ass all right but her incredible good looks and soft sexiness are the best assets she exhibits... the script doesn't give her much to value, even the crime that brings her to jail is rather played in an anticlimactic way.

In fact, Lee Marvin is the star and that the film isn't titled "The Legend of Kid Shellen" is because he's a supporting role, which brings me to a point: he should have shared with the horse his Oscar for Bet Supporting Actor. The year after, Mathau would win in Supporting for "The Fortune Cookie" where he was clearly the co-lead, got to wonder how the Academy works sometimes. But that doesn't diminish the film's merit, it's a classic Western comedy, bu is it a classic Western?

To be honest, I've held an unfair grudge against "Cat Ballou" and I blame it on the AFI. When it unveiled its Top 10 Westerns, two titles rang like abnormalities to me: "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" and "Cat Ballou". Never heard of any, saw each, and I thought Altman's film wasn't just one of the best Western but one of the best movies, period. But "Cat Ballou" kept me more skeptical.

I just rewatched two films that could have made decent tenth entries: John Ford's classics "My Darling Clementine" or "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". "Rio Bravo" or "The Magnificent Seven" would have been relevant. Or "The Ox-Bow Incident", "True Grit", "Little Big Man". "Cat Ballou" is an entertaining Western, but Top 10? Not sure it's Top 50 material.

These considerations put a considerable weight on my initial judgment and made me look at the film as something that stole a lousy spot in a list, instead of a fun, daring, sometimes hilarious parody of the Western genre, and had it dared a little more, perhaps its reputation would have equaled "Blazing Saddles", a film I found a tad overrated.

But if a comedy had to make it in the Top 10, I'm glad it was "Cat Ballou".

Lee Marvin's Magnum Opus

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 9 April 1999]

I have always enjoyed the tour-de-force effort of Lee Marvin in this movie. There are a series of scenes that make it an utter delight. When the rear of the stagecoach is opened and the crumpled up gunslinger rolls out on the ground, we know it's going to be a tough ride. When they get him sobered up enough to show his skill and in a demonstration of shooting, he misses the barn. He and his horse leaning against a building, both of them apparently drunk. Kid's rendition of Happy Birthday at the funeral of Cat's father. The ongoing chorus of "The Ballad of Cat Ballou" with Stubby Kaye and Nat "King" Cole. The scene where Kid Schelleen is bathed and preened in preparation for the big showdown is a classic. It's so much fun from beginning to end. This is a feel-good movie which never needs to be taken seriously.

Some gang! An Indian ranch hand, a drunken gunfighter, a sex maniac, and an uncle!

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 23 August 2015]

Cat Ballou is directed by Elliot Silverstein and adapted to screenplay by Walter Newman and Frank Pierson from the novel The Ballad of Cat Ballou written by Roy Chanslor. It stars Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, Tom Nardini, John Marley, Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye.

Catherine Ballou (Fonda), a prim and proper school teacher wannabe, returns home to Wolf City to find her father at loggerheads with the local development corporation. When things get dreadfully serious, she decides to do something about it, putting herself at the head of a nutty gang, which brings her into contact with famed boozy gunfighter Kid Shelleen (Marvin).

It's a quirky comedy Western, spoofing the Wild West while still containing some respect of the era. The tonal flows are patchy, as are the gags - both visually and orally, but it always entertains with honesty and ebullience. Fonda is simply beautiful and adorable, making Cat vulnerable but stoic as well, her waspish tongue delivering some great dialogue. Nardini as Indian Jackson Two-Bears also shines bright with some great comedy moments.

Marvin owns the film though, in what was an Oscar winning performance, he plays a dual role, where the prominent character is a riotous booze hound, so something about life imitating art there! The locations are gorgeous and beautifully photographed, and the musical links to the story segments provided by Cole (sadly to pass away before the pic was released) and Kaye as wandering minstrels, prove to be jolly and nifty in equal measure.

Throw in some gun play, a fun horse and a rollicking train robbery and you are good to go. Not all of it works, but the pluses far outnumber the minuses and fans of the leads get treasures unbound. 7/10

A modern, comedic western

[Marta · 10/10 · 27 February 1999]

One of the best modern westerns made that John Wayne wasn't in. Jane Fonda is great as the schoolmarm-turned-outlaw Cat Ballou. When she begins to seek vengeance against the railroad for her father's death, you believe she's really going to get them.

I don't have to say much about Lee Marvin's performance; it's perfect all the way. His dual role, where he plays Kid Shelleen and his evil brother, Tim Strawn, gives him the chance to really stretch his acting talents. When Marvin plays the drunken Shelleen, he's a comic delight. Even his horse looks drunk. When he plays Strawn, the screen sizzles. If you need a reason to see this movie, Lee Marvin should be the reason.

Michael Callan is fine as Jane Fonda's love interest, and Dwayne Hickman steals the scenes he's in as Callan's "uncle"; he's really good in this film. John Marley is pretty funny, also, and Cat's father; his views on the Indian nation are revolutionary, to say the least. Tom Nardini is wonderful as the hired hand who goes along on Cat's quest, none too willingly.

All in all, this is a tour-de-force of acting and writing. Sharp, witty, warm and action-packed, this is a film everyone should see at least once. I've seen it many times, and it's never lost its luster for me.

Lee Marvin great drunk

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 3 January 2015]

The movie starts with Catherine 'Cat' Ballou (Jane Fonda) about to be hanged. Then it flashes back to when she boards a train to Wolf City, Wyoming and her father Frankie Ballou (John Marley). She's a prim schoolteacher. For a reason that she doesn't even know, she helps Uncle Jed (Dwayne Hickman) free his nephew Clay Boone (Michael Callan) from the sheriff. The Wolf City Development Corporation is scheming to take over her father's water rights. He only has one ranch hand Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini). They are threatened by metal-nosed gunfighter Tim Strawn (Lee Marvin). Clay and Jed show up at a town dance and join Cat. She hires legendary Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin again) but he's a hopeless drunk. When Strawn kills Cat's father, the town protects him. Cat takes matters into her own hands.

This tries to reinvent the western genre. It does a terrific job at that. Fonda continues with her sexy naive kitten bit and move right into gun toting wildcat. She has shown her comic timing. The standout is Lee Marvin. He doesn't just do double duty but he has some of the best lines and does great comic drunk acting. This is fun action western.

AMUSING WESTERN ROMP WITH HOT JANE!

[shepardjessica-1 · 5/10 · 17 October 2004]

This mid-60's spoof of westerns won Lee Marvin an Academy Award and gave Ms. Fonda a lead role, but most of it is forgettable. Lee should have done more comedies, although he was a great heavy and hero in many dramas. Jane Fonda was beautiful, funny, and delightful. John Marley adds a bit of realism and Dwayne Hickman (Dobie Gillis on TV) is amusing in a smirky way. Michael Callan was shallow youth personified as always.

A 5 out of 10. Best performance = Mr. Marvin. Don't expect much and you will get a kick. Nice songs sung by the great Nat King Cole and Stuffy Kaye (from LIL' ABNER) and it flows smoothly. This type of film was pretty much finished a couple of years later, so enjoy it for '65!

"The Queen Of The Outlaws, Her Name Is Cat Ballou"

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 2 April 2007]

Cat Ballou's significance in film history is not the quality of the film itself, though it's a pretty funny piece of work. It's because it vaulted Lee Marvin up from the ranks of featured players and made him a star with an hysterical Oscar winning performance.

It's also the only time in film history that anyone won an Oscar for a dual role. Marvin is featured as deadly contract killer, Jack Strawn and as his alcoholic brother Kid Shelleen.

The brothers get into a range feud and opposite sides. An eastern conglomerate headed by Reginald Denny is putting the squeeze on John Marley right at the same time as his daughter Jane Fonda in the title role is coming back from eastern finishing school.

Marley and Fonda have a hired killer strong arming them, so at the suggestion of a curious gang of friends she's developed, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, and Tom Nardini, she goes and gets her own outlaw.

Of course the dueling Marvins do have it out and I think you can guess who won.

Sometimes it's easy to forget about some of the others in Cat Ballou because of Marvin's Oscar. Jane Fonda looks like she's having a great old time, satirizing certain themes that are sacred in Hollywood westerns. She plays her role as the budding Calamity Jane absolutely straight and lets the comedy fall around her.

One favorite I have from the film is Hollywood veteran Reginald Denny. In the old days he was usually a rival or best friend to various leading men in the Hollywood English colony. He looks like he's having one grand old time playing the rakish Harry Percival the chief villain of Cat Ballou.

The film is helped along with those singing narrations by Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye. At one time Cole and Kaye are in a bordello and he's both singing and playing the honky tonk piano. Since Cole's velvet syrupy singing is what most remember him for, it's good to remember that in the beginning Cole was a jazz pianist and his original records were with the Nat King Cole Trio as a pianist. His singing was something added and then took over his career. Cole was one of the great and most unique voices of the last century, he left us way too soon.

Four years later John Wayne won his Oscar for the boozy Rooster Cogburn in True Grit. What I would have loved to have seen is Wayne and Marvin playing their Oscar winning characters in a dual venture. That would have been a movie to remember.

As is the funny and touching Cat Ballou.

Great fun to watch!

[SmileysWorld · 7/10 · 17 April 2014]

Her father is gunned down by a hired killer because he refused to be forced off of his own land by dirty high officials.Mild mannered Catherine (Cat) Ballou seeks revenge with her only help being her dad's Indian farmhand,two bungling outlaws that have never shot anyone,and a drunken has been gunslinger.The odds against her are definitely stacked,which forces her to toughen up to help things go more smoothly.The events along the way are very entertaining as we see a much different Cat Ballou at the end than we did at the start.I especially enjoyed the musical aspect with the shouters played by Stubby Kaye and the late great Nat King Cole,who sadly,was ill during production and died several months before the film's release.His part in the film made it all the more enjoyable.Fun ride!

highly overrated and somewhat stupid

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 5 June 2005]

Lee Marvin got a lot of kudos for his portrayal of a hilarious drunk gunman. The only trouble was that when I saw it, Marvin was far from hilarious--just rather annoying and it is hard to believe this is supposed to be a comedy. Where are the laughs? I guess everyone tries real hard but the writing just isn't there and Marvin's character is just one-dimensional and uninteresting. I wonder what it would have been like if his character from the Dirty Dozen could have been substituted?! The sad thing about this movie is that despite his performance, Marvin got the Oscar that year. See for yourself with an open mind and you'll probably find yourself saying "why?".

A funny sad romp through the not-so-old West!!!

[alicecbr · 21 September 1999]

This HAS to be one of Jane Fonda's favorite movies: she gets to be both shy naive ingenue and rip roaring Western leader of an outlaw gang. Her outlawing is beautifully justified as the evil town members plot to take over her father's spread and finally have him killed. All are in on the plot/take, including the sheriff, a ne'er do well planted in the job. There are many similarities to 'Silverado', an equally well acted ensemble tour de force. Whoever did Lee Marvin's drunken riding, mostly out of the saddle, close to the ground, did a superior riding job. And if it was Lee himself, more credit to him. He got the Oscar and justifiably so. Under the comedy was the message concerning the sheep-like behavior of 'respectable, middle-class people', the wicked townfolk, bankrolled by the Wolf Company (love these names). Katherine Ballou, the respectable lovely schoolmistress, goes bad as the 'nice' people show themselves to be worse than the outlaws. Hole-in-the-Wall outlaws are allowed to live there undisturbed because the scion of the Wolfe company (who is responsible for having Jane's father shot and whom Jane shoots) lets them alone. They existed safely 'under the radar', but they want to put Jane et al out, because her gang's actions make them visible. Reminds me of many Massachusetts politicians, as well as Whitey Bulger.

The 'Indian's' comments are hilarious, expecially about Custer, spoken as he is surrounded by neatly dressed town thugs. It's an up-to-date funny tale with a social morale. You get the lesson without the moralizing. I loved it, and so glad I bought it.

Wacky, funny, goofy movie

[Geordie-4 · 7/10 · 28 June 2002]

Well, this is an odd movie. A Western with a (beautiful) female protagonist, the young Jane Fonda. She seeks to avenge the death of her father and is "helped" by four differing types. A very light-hearted film, really a piece of fluff. Nevertheless, Tom Nardini as Jackson Two Bears has some sly commentary on the plight of the Indians. I thought Lee Marvin was quite creative in this role, but I don't really know why he won an Oscar. However I do think it's good that the Academy actually gave out Oscars for comedies, something they seem to do very little these days, fearing appearing too light-hearted. Anyway, Fonda does fine, although I found Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole a bit offputting with their narration. Perhaps it was meant to be a nice diversion, but, perhaps given my more ironic viewpoint of this day and age, I thought that it seemed out of place in the film. It seemed counter to the tone of the movie and intrusive. It worked in "There's Something About Mary", but not here-though they both have great voices. Anyway, a nice little bit of fluff, not much else.

Excellent spoof western

[MOscarbradley · 7/10 · 9 March 2018]

This spoof western won Lee Marvin the Oscar for Best Actor but considering the opposition included Riichard Burton in "The Spy who came in from the Cold", Laurence Olivier in "Othello", Rod Steiger in "The Pawnbroker" and Oscar Werner in "Ship of Fools" perhaps giving Marvin the Oscar was overly generous. The film itself is highly enjoyable, a good follow-on from the Bob Hope spoofs and a nice precursor of "Blazing Saddles". It's got a good script from Walter Newman and Frank Pierson, lively direction from Elliot Silverstein and best of all, a first-rate cast that includes Jane Fonda, excellent in the title role of "Cat Ballou", Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, Tom Nardini, John Marley and as the balladeers Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye. It could be funnier I admit but it is also a very hard film to dislike.

Delightful and Quite Unusual; A Western Anti-Establishment Noir Comedy

[silverscreen888 · 8/10 · 22 June 2005]

"Cat Ballou" is a rarity as a film in many ways. It is side-splittingly hilarious,well-acted, anti-Establishment, borders on parody and has a storyline that belongs in a dramatic film. And it is a western comedy, another scarce category. Any account of this film must begin with its story, an unusual one as noted. Cakthrine Ballou meets several strangers on her way west, by train, to rejoin her father Frankie. Soon after her arrival, he is murdered. The authorities refuse to do anything. What happens next is, Cat Ballou and her friends, who happen to be he outlaws she had met, join with her Indian hired hand have already sent for a gunfighter--Kid Shellene who was supposed to protect her father. Falling in love with her, the Kid sobers up, dispatches, his own brother; then the gang ride off to new adventures, with the Kid drinking again because she's refused him for another of her henchman and they're wanted for having helped hasten the demise of the man who had had her father killed. Th settings and locales in the film are standard western ones, and very fine; the film is well-made without ever appearing to be "slick". So is the music by Frank de Vol and unusual songs scattered throughout. The piece's able director Elliot Silverstein has coaxed some of their best work ever from Jane Fonda as Cat, Michael Callan as her outlaw fiancée, Dwayne Hickman as a bogus preacher, John Marley as her father, Reginald Denny, J.C. Flippen and Bruce Cabot as the criminal element and Lee Marvin as the besotted gunfighter and his killer brother. There is an unusual narration, sung expertly and winningly Subby Kaye and Nat "King" Cole. The costumes by Bill Thomas are wonderful, and there is a rough-and-ready style about the work that millions have found engaging. The dialogue from a novel is well-above average also. This is a film that bears more than one viewing; it is clever, intentionally funny and quire well-constructed. Recommended to anyone who resents bullies or simply enjoys a well-earned laugh twelve. Marvin's best role, of a fine career.

A comedy and western amalgam

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 13 June 2016]

A comedy and western amalgam in 1965, director Elliot Silverstein's feature debut, CAT BALLOU breathes the last hurrah of the latter genre, a young Jane Fonda is cast as the titular heroine, Catherine Ballou, a schoolteacher-turned-outlaw in Wolf City, Wyoming, assembles a posse of bandits after her father (Marley) is shot dead by an evil hired-gun Tim Strawn (Marvin), to seek for justice and revenge. If the synopsis sounds too gruesome, I can assure you that the film has no design to align itself as a grim gunslinger thriller, you will witness neither blood nor dead bodies on screen, on the contrary, it jollily juggles between a mood-enlightening romance of Cat and Clay Boone (Callan), an outlaw-wannabe who is green, flippant but has a faint semblance of a chevalier, and a rowdy, reckless action-er highlighted by Kid Shelleen (Marvin again), a drunkard, has-been legend marksman.

Notably, the film also heavily features two balladeers (Kaye and King, the latter's presence is his silver screen swan song), narrate the overblown myth of Cat Ballou in the Greek chorus fashion, belt out verses from the Oscar-nominated "The Ballad of Cat Ballou"and other ditties written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston, which to a certain degree, dangerously teeters on being soporific and cringe-worthy thanks to its smug insistence.

Lee Marvin won an Oscar for his dual impersonations of the two sides of the same coin, a quite atypical occasion where the Academy is overwhelmed by comedic bent other than pathos- outpouring theatrics, Marvin is indeed a blast, to play against a poker-faced Fonda, he munificently dissipate his laugh-a-minute antics of a deadbeat souse, but when it's time to suit up for some serious matters, he can vigorously reborn as a traditional western hero in all glamour and panache, to humour the ingrained gun-worshiping demographic. Fonda, in her career breakthrough and soon to be sexed up as a sex symbol of the era, is gorgeous to behold, and it is only her could ride that awful mustard-yellow dress in the barroom country-dance-turn-to-brawl tradition. Last but not the least, a politically-correct portrayal of a native Indian, Jackson Two Bears (Nardini), aside from tamely grooming Kid Shelleen with deference in the ritualistic moment, he is the most trustworthy person Cat can depend on, her guardian angel and the one of the most integrity among the gang.

Western has already been long on the wane at the time, CAT BALLOU braves to elevate itself from being a footnote by sticking out as a novel genre-buster with a sheen of popular appeal, thus reaches out an audience beyond its pigeonholed marketability, in fact, that's something more relevant than the film's own artistic ambition half-an-century later.

One swell, zany western

[TravisD-2 · 8/10 · 1 August 2000]

A jolly good time fer sure. Cat Ballou is a great diversion with a nice plot (revenge) and a nice cast, too--check out Lee Marvin. It even has all the essentials of a western from the town dance ending with a madcap fistfight to outlaw gunslingers and horses. Cat Ballou pokes fun at practically all of them while still keeping in mind that the real deal is Ballou's desire to avenge her father. Great fun.

"They got a gunfighter. You get a gunfighter."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 17 January 2016]

So Lee Marvin won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance here; I don't quite know what to make of that. His competition that year were Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, Rod Steiger and Oskar Werner. I've seen none of the nominated pictures those actors appeared in so I'm in no position to judge, but come on. How does a drunken gunslinger out-shoot those other big names on reputation alone?

Well I see this Western has it's following based on some of the other reviews on this board, but a lot of the film didn't resonate with this viewer. It was OK as far as it goes, but some of it was a little too slapstick for my liking. And I couldn't connect with characters Clay Boone (Michael Callan), Uncle Jed (Dwayne Hickman) or even Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini), even though he offered promise as a Ballou ranch hand. Say, I wonder if the horse's head in the 'Godfather' movie came from the Ballou Ranch. That was John Marley as the principal in both situations, wouldn't that have been something?

One thing I did like about the picture was the reference to Hole in the Wall and the depiction of Butch Cassidy (Arthur Hunnicutt) as a washed up gunfighter running a general store. That was kind of clever, even if totally devoid of historical accuracy. There was also that very well choreographed square dance number with performers hooking up with each other out of nowhere, surprisingly well done if you ask me.

And oh yes, can't forget to mention Reginald Denny in his role as Sir Harry Percival. He caught my eye as butler Algy Longworth in the Bulldog Drummond flicks of the 1930's with an understated sardonic wit that made me a fan. He took that tumble out of the bathtub on the train about the same way he would have three decades earlier if he had ever gotten the chance. It was cool to see him here.

Overall though this was kind of a take it or leave it picture for me. It had some pretty good press back in the day, so maybe getting around to it a half century later isn't the worst thing I could do with my time. At least the march of time brought some recognition to the minstrel characters in the story; Nat King Cole was listed as Sam the Shade and Stubby Kaye went by Sunrise Kid in captioning when I watched it on Encore Westerns. The credits on IMDb simply lists them as 'Shouters'.

Just Not My Cup Of Tea

[sddavis63 · 2/10 · 10 December 2007]

The movie opens with Cat (Jane Fonda) in a prison cell, waiting to be hanged. From that point on, until the last few minutes, the movie is a flashback, explaining to the viewer the series of misadventures Cat experienced as she set out to avenge her father's murder, finally getting herself into the mess she was in. In all honesty, I didn't care much for this movie. Fonda's performance as Cat (evolving from a naive young schoolteacher into the leader of an outlaw gang) was pretty good, but beyond that I didn't find much to get excited about, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it was about Lee Marvin's performance as both Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn that won him an Oscar as Best Lead Actor for 1965. It's not that he did a bad job, but I certainly wouldn't have thought of it as Oscar-worthy. A dozen other actors could probably have taken the role and done just as well with it. The repeated cuts to Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye singing about Cat's experiences also threw me off, especially when it was so obvious that they weren't even playing the banjos they were holding (they'd be plucking them while there was no sound, then when there was sound they wouldn't be plucking.) Basically, this was nothing more than a series of at best mildly amusing misadventures, with some tired slapstick humour thrown in (especially by Marvin when playing the drunken gunfighter Shelleen) and a weak attempt at developing a romance between Cat and Clay (Michael Callan). Overall, I'd say this was a huge disappointment - which is perhaps explained by the fact that the novel on which it was based was a serious Western that was turned into a comedy for the big screen. It didn't work - at least, not in my opinion.

Hilarious

[grahamsj3 · 8/10 · 23 July 2003]

This film is a hilarious spoof of most of the serious oaters. Lee Marvin, who plays TWO roles, won Best Actor for this film and deserved it! This was before Jane Fonda became Hanoi Jane and I liked her back then. The plot is an oater standard - revenge for the relative (Jane's father) who'd been murdered. She hires a famous gunslinger (Marvin) to fight another gunslinger (also Marvin). This is a classic comedy and I think anyone would enjoy it!

You're not the only one with mixed emotions

[BrandtSponseller · 7/10 · 15 January 2005]

We learn from some singing narrators (Nat "King" Cole and Stubby Kaye) that Catherine "Cat" Ballou (Jane Fonda) is in jail and about to be hanged. Most of the film is an extended backstory telling us how she got there. The backstory starts with Ballou headed back home to Wolf City, Wyoming. It seems that her father, Frankie (John Marley), is having problems with the city, which wants to take over the water rights on his land, and which is prepared to do anything necessary to get it. On the way, Ballou meets and enlists the aid of two crooks, Clay Boone (Michael Callan) and Jed (Dwayne Hickman). Even with the additional aid of Frankie's ranch-hand, Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini), they're not enough, so she also sends for famed gunfighter Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin).

Cat Ballou is a good example of comedy in the classic literary sense. "Comedy" doesn't mean "a work that is funny", just like "horror" doesn't mean "a work that is scary". Genre terms do not imply particular emotions. Rather, they're about content and how content is handled. So comedies need not make you laugh, as this one did not make me laugh very frequently, even though some other people found it very funny. That might be one key to enjoying the film, especially for younger or newer audiences--do not watch it expecting to laugh until you cry, or even necessarily laugh at all.

Cat Ballou is worth watching, but it's not excellent, at least not until Marvin makes his appearance, and that doesn't occur until about 40 minutes into the film. If Cat Ballou were primarily Marvin's performance, it would be at least a 9. The other material is at best a 6, and dominates enough to bring my overall score down to a 7 out of 10.

The problem, for me, is that the other performances are just "serviceable". To an extent, most of the actors do not seem to know what to do with the material. The story is much more serious than you'd expect--the same plot could be lifted wholesale and put into a non-comedy western. It wouldn't likely be a very good serious western, though, as the plot is also formulaic and uninspired. None of the characters, with the exception of Ballou, are established very well, and I never really cared what happened to any of them. On the other hand, as a comedy, that might not be so important, and the comic approach somewhat saves the otherwise generic story.

Director Elliot Silverstein's pacing tends to be off, and even after Marvin appears, the film occasionally seems to drag. This is one of those films that's just barely over 90 minutes, but it seems like it's three hours long. That's not always a bad thing (I like long films), but in a lighthearted satire, it may not be the best quality.

Cole and Kaye are promising when we first see them, but the intermittent songs tend to go on too long, and most of them are the same song with different lyrics. I enjoyed them quite a bit at first, but after I while, my reaction to them was more, "Oy, now the film is going to stop for five minutes while they sing over and over about plot points that we've just been shown".

However, as I mentioned above, Marvin's performance is excellent (the discussion about whether he should have won the Oscar he did for this role is inconsequential to me--I strongly dislike the Oscars, never watch them (I dislike awards shows in general), and think that they routinely acknowledge poor films and ignore good ones; I have no respect for the Academy). He is amusing as an alcoholic gunfighter. I wanted to know more about his character, to follow him instead of Ballou. He brought depth to the role, easily implying a character with a complex backstory. The scene where we're introduced to Shelleen is easily the best in the film. The only really captivating scene where Shelleen is not the primary focus is the extended scene on the train.

Again, Cat Ballou is worth watching, but lower your expectations and have patience. It gets better once Marvin shows up.

Incredibly stupid and boring

[jimakros · 1/10 · 18 March 2008]

This is one of the most stupid and boring movies i've ever seen.Its frightening so many people love it.The academy must have been as drunk as Marvin pretends to be in the movie to give him an Oscar for this. Its a disgrace for such a great actor,who has given a number of excellent performances to be rewarded with an award one time when he had a little fun just acting silly.Jane Fonda had not yet realized her potential,was still in her early ingénue period,looking pretty but not much else,the situations are totally unfunny and a total waste of such great singing legend as Nat King Cole.This movie is a bomb,people beware and don't make the mistake of listening to all the hoopla about this ,like i did, you'll be dearly sorry.