Ballou Cat is a 1965 musical comedy starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin, who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his double role. The story involves a woman who hired a notorious gunman to protect her father's farm, and then to avenge her murder, but found that the gunman was not what she expected. The supporting cast featured Tom Nardini, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, and singers Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye, who together played the movie theme song, on screen, throughout the movie.
The film was directed by Elliot Silverstein from a screenplay by Walter Newman and Frank Pierson of Ballad of Cat Ballou's novel by Roy Chanslor. Chanslor's novel is a serious Westerner, and although it turns into a comedy for the film, the filmmakers maintain some of the darker elements. The film refers to many Western classical films, notably Shane .
Video Cat Ballou
Plot
Catherine "Cat" Ballou, who wants to become a school teacher, returns home from boarding school by train to Wolf County, Wyoming to his father's farm, Frankie Ballou. On the way, he unwittingly helps those accused of being the thief, Clay Boone, who avoids his captor, Sheriff Maledon, when Boone's Uncle Jed, a drunk who disguises himself as a preacher, diverts the attorney's attention.
Upon arriving at home, Cat learns that the Wolves City Development Company plans to take the farm from his father, whose sole defender is the hand of his ranch, educated by Native American Jackson Two-Bears. Clay and Jed appear and reluctantly offer to help Catherine, and he hires the legendary shooter Kid Shelleen to help protect his father from Gunslinger Team Strawn, the assassin who threatens him.
Shelleen arrives, and proves to be a drunken bum whose trousers fall off when he pulls his gun, and who can not hit a barn when he shoots. Drawn kills Frankie, and when the townspeople refuse to bring Justice, Catherine becomes a criminal looking for a revenge known as Cat Ballou. He and his gang robbed the wagon carrying the City of Wolves salary, then took refuge in the "Hole-in-the-Wall", where the desperate go to hide from the law, but discarded knowing what they had done, because Hole-in-the -Wall can only continue to exist at the suffering of Wolf City. Shelleen, inspired by her loving care for Cat, works well, puts on her best fighting suit, and goes to town to kill Strawn, casually revealing later that Strawn is her brother.
Cat plays a prostitute and faces Sir Harry Percival, head of Wolf City Development Corporation. The struggle ensued, Sir Harry was killed, and Cat was sentenced to hanging. With Sir Harry dead, there is no hope for the future of Wolf City, and the city dwellers have no mercy for Cat. When the rope is attached to his neck, Uncle Jed appears, re-dresses as a preacher, and cuts the rope just as the trapdoor opens. The cat falls through and into his wagon and his gang spirit goes in a brave rescue.
Maps Cat Ballou
Cast
Cole and Kaye, billed simply as "Shouters", act as a Greek choir, intermittently appearing on the screen to tell the tale through the continuous poems of "The Ballad of Cat Ballou", one of the songs written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston for the film..
Production
- This film is the second film director Elliot Silverstein, and his relationship with producer Harold Hecht when filming is not smooth.
- Ann-Margret is the first choice for the title role but her manager rejects it without telling the actress. Ann-Margret wrote in his autobiography that he would want that part.
- Among other things, Kirk Douglas allegedly rejected the role of Shelleen. Years later he plays the same dual role in the The Man from Snowy River .
- Nat King Cole is ill with lung cancer during the filming of Cat Ballou . A chain smoker, Cole died four months before the film was released.
- The movie was taken in 28 days.
- Renowned make-up artist John Chambers creates a fake nose worn by Lee Marvin as depicted in the movie.
- A former Great Western Railway of Colorado steam locomotive 2-8-0, number 51, owned by Boulder Scientific Company of Boulder, Colorado, is used in films, with scenes taken at Canon City, Colorado, in September 1964.
Reception
The film was well received by critics and popular amongst cinema audiences and earned over $ 20.6 million in ticket sales in 1965, making it one of the top ten money-making films of the year.
Awards and honors
Lee Marvin's award winning
- 1965 Academy Award for Best Actor in Main Role
- 1965 Academy Award Winner for Best Actor
- 1965 Golden Globe Award Winner for Best Actor
- 1965 Silver Bear for Best Actor at Berlin's 15th International Film Festival
In an Oscar acceptance speech, Lee Marvin concluded by saying, "I think, though, half of this belongs to a horse somewhere in San Fernando Valley," a reference to the horse Kid Shelleen riding, which seems just as drunk with Shelleen first.
Academy Award nominee
At the 38th Academy Awards, the film also produced nominations for:
- Best Movie Editing - Charles Nelson
- Best Music, Printing Music, Adaptation, or Care - Frank De Vol
- Best Music, Songs - Jerry Livingston and Mack David for "Ballou Cat Ball"
- Best Posts, Scenarios Based on Material from Other Media - Walter Newman and Frank Pierson
Golden Globe Award nominee
At the 23rd Golden Globe Awards, the film also produced nominations for:
- Best Movie - Musical or Comedy - Harold Hecht, producer
- Best Actress - Musical or Comedy - Jane Fonda
- Most Promising Newcomer - Men - Tom Nardini
- Best Original Song - Jerry Livingston and Mack David for "The Ballad of Cat Ballou"
More
The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in this list:
- 1998: AFI 100 Years... 100 Movies - Nominated
- 2000: AFI 100 Years... 100 Laughs - # 50
- 2003: AFI 100 Years... 100 Heroes & amp; Criminals:
- The Strawn Team - Crime Nomination
- 2004: AFI 100 Years... 100 Songs:
- "Ballou Cat Ballads" - Nominated
- 2007: AFI 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated
- 2008: 10 Top 10 AFI:
- # 10 West Movies
In June 2008, AFI revealed "Ten Big Ten" - the top ten films in ten genres of American "classic" movies - after a vote of over 1,500 people from the creative community. Cat Ballou is recognized as the tenth best movie in the Western genre.
In popular culture
- Cat Ballou is a favorite film of comedy director Bobby and Peter Farrelly, as stated on the AFI television show 100 Years, 100 Laughs. The Balladeers from their movie, There Something About Mary, were inspired by similar characters in Cat Ballou .
- An image of the fake Jane Fonda hanging scene that advocated execution for treason after his 1972 visit to Hanoi. A brief shot from the scene was used as part of Alex DeLarge's sadistic application in the movie A Clockwork Orange.
- "Cat Ballou" is a card in the western spaghetti game Bang! .
- In an interview on NPR 2014, actor Bryan Cranston called Ballou Cat Ballou the most impact on him as he grew up.
See also
- List of American films of 1965
References
External links
- Cat Ballou on IMDb
- Ballou Cat at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cat Ballou in AllMovie
- Cat Ballou in the TCM Film Database
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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