Cat Ballou

Cat Ballou is a 1965 American Western comedy film starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin, who won an Academy Award for his dual role. The story involves a woman who hires a notorious gunman to protect her father's ranch and later to avenge his murder, only to find that the gunman is not what she expected. The supporting cast features Tom Nardini, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman and Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye, who together perform the film's theme song, in addition to appearing throughout the film in the form of travelling minstrels or troubadours as a kind of musical Greek chorus and framing device.

The film was directed by Elliot Silverstein from a screenplay by Walter Newman and Frank Pierson adapted from the 1956 novel The Ballad of Cat Ballou by Roy Chanslor, who also wrote the novel filmed as Johnny Guitar. Chanslor's novel was a serious Western, and though it was turned into a comedy for the film, the filmmakers retained some darker elements. The film references many classic Western films, notably Shane. The film was selected by the American Film Institute as the 10th greatest Western of all time in its AFI's 10 Top 10 list in 2008.

Plot

Catherine "Cat" Ballou, a notorious outlaw, is set to be hanged in the small town of Wolf City, Wyoming. Two banjo and guitar playing "Shouters", Professor Sam the Shade and the Sunrise Kid, sing the ballad of Cat Ballou and regale the audience with the tale of how she began her career of crime.

Some months prior, Catherine, then an aspiring schoolteacher, is returning home by train to Wolf City from finishing school. On the way, she unwittingly helps accused cattle rustler Clay Boone elude his captor, Sheriff Maledon, when Boone's Uncle Jed, disguised as a preacher, distracts the lawman.

Arriving home at her father Frankie Ballou's ranch, Catherine learns that the Wolf City Development Corporation is scheming to take his ranch. Frankie's sole defender is his ranch hand, educated Native American Jackson Two-Bears. Clay and Jed appear and reluctantly offer to help Catherine. She hires legendary gunfighter Kid Shelleen to help protect her father from gunslinger Tim Strawn, the tin-nosed hired killer who is threatening him.

Shelleen arrives and proves to be a drunken bum who is a crack shot only when he is inebriated. His presence proves to be useless, as Strawn abruptly kills Frankie. When the townspeople refuse to bring Strawn to justice, Catherine becomes a revenge-seeking outlaw, known as Cat Ballou. She and her gang rob a train carrying the Wolf City payroll, then take refuge in the desperado hideout "Hole-in-the-Wall". Shelleen is shocked to discover the legendary outlaw Cassidy is, now, a humble saloonkeeper in Hole-in-the-Wall.

The gang is thrown out when it is learned what they have done, due to Hole-in-the-Wall's continued existence being dependent on the sufferance of Wolf City. Strawn arrives and threatens Cat. Shelleen, motivated by his affection for Cat, works himself into shape. Dressed up in his finest gunfighter outfit, he goes into town and kills Strawn, then reveals he is Strawn's brother.

Cat poses as a prostitute and confronts Sir Harry Percival, the head of the Wolf City Development Corporation. She attempts to force him into confessing that he ordered her father's murder. A struggle ensues; Sir Harry is killed, and Cat is sentenced to be hanged. With Sir Harry dead, Wolf City's future is hopeless, and the townspeople have no mercy for Cat. As the noose is placed around her neck, Uncle Jed, again disguised as a preacher, appears and cuts the rope just as the trapdoor opens. Cat safely falls through and onto a wagon, and her gang spirits her away in a daring rescue.

Production

Cat Ballou was director Elliot Silverstein's second feature film, with the pressure of filming leading to some quarrels with the producer Harold Hecht, although the film was ultimately a box office success.^[2]

Ann-Margret was the first choice for the title role, but her manager turned it down without letting the actress know.^[3] Ann-Margret wrote in her autobiography that she would have taken the part.^[4] Among others, Kirk Douglas and Dick Van Dyke turned down the role of Shelleen.^[2][5] Michael Callan was under contract to Columbia.^[6]

The film was shot on location in Colorado, including parts of Canon City and Texas Creek, as well as the ghost towns of Rosita and Buckskin Joe. It was also filmed around the Tunnel Drive Trail and the Wet Mountain Valley.^[7]

Nat King Cole was ill with lung cancer during the filming of Cat Ballou. A chain smoker, Cole died four months before the film was released.

Jay C. Flippen suffered a circulatory failure during filming and, as a result, later had his leg amputated, due to gangrene.^[8]

Reception

Box office

Cat Ballou earned over $20.6 million in North America, making it the 7th highest-grossing film of 1965.^[2]

Critical response

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "a breezy little film" which "does have flashes of good satiric wit. But, under Elliott Silverstein's direction, it is mostly just juvenile lampoon."^[9] Variety wrote that the film "emerges middlingly successful, sparked by an amusing way-out approach and some sparkling performances."^[10] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post praised the film as a "springy satire", adding, "What makes this fun is the style. Forming a mighty cool duo, Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye sing their way in and out of the plot with folk songs which Cole 'Don't Fence Me In' Porter would have relished. The format is novel and stylishly delivered."^[11] Pauline Kael in Film Quarterly called it "lumpen, coy, and obvious, a self-consciously cute movie," adding that "mainly it is full of sort-of-funny and trying-to-be-funny ideas and a movie is not just ideas."^[12] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "I'm in the minority, apparently. Cat Ballou, which is being hailed as a cowboy Tom Jones or something of the sort, seems to me about as funny as a soundtrack burp."^[13] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "The jokes in Cat Ballou are uneven, but the mood behind the film is happily consistent."^[14]

Awards and nominations

In his Academy Award acceptance speech, Lee Marvin concluded by saying: "I think, though, that half of this belongs to a horse somewhere out in San Fernando Valley", a reference to the horse Kid Shelleen rode, which appeared to be as drunk as Shelleen was.^[23]

American Film Institute

• 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated^[24]
• 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #50^[25]
• 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
  • Tim Strawn – Nominated Villain^[26]
• 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
  • "The Ballad of Cat Ballou" – Nominated^[27]
• 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated^[28]
• 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
  • #10 Western Film^[29]

Television pilots

Two separate television pilots were filmed. A 1970 pilot, written and produced by Aaron Ruben, featured Lesley Ann Warren as Cat, Jack Elam as Kid Shelleen and Tom Nardini repeating his role, while a 1971 pilot starred Jo Ann Harris as Cat, Forrest Tucker as Kid Shelleen and Lee J. Casey as Jackson Two-Bears.^[30]

In popular culture

• Cat Ballou is the favorite film of comedy directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly, as stated in The AFI 100 Years, 100 Laughs television special. The Balladeers from their film, There's Something About Mary, are inspired by similar characters in Cat Ballou.
• Imagery from the hanging scene of Jane Fonda was spoofed advocating her execution for treason, following her 1972 visit to Hanoi. A brief test shot from that scene was used as part of Alex DeLarge's sadistic reverie in the movie A Clockwork Orange.
• "Cat Ballou" is a card in the Spaghetti Western board game Bang!
• In a 2014 interview on NPR, actor Bryan Cranston called Cat Ballou the "movie that had the most impact" on him when he was growing up.^[31]
• Part of the opening animation of the Columbia logo featuring Jane Fonda was incorporated in the beginning of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).^[32]
• In episode 69 of the popular fiction podcast Welcome to Night Vale, Cecil Palmer mentions that he watched this movie with his boyfriend Carlos the Scientist repeatedly. Later episodes confirm that Cecil is a fan of the film, and episode 192, "It Doesn't Hold Up" features Cecil discussing the film.

See also

• List of American films of 1965

References

1. ^ "Cat Ballou, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Archived September 28, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
2. ^ Cole, Georgelle. "Cat Ballou" on TCM.com
3. ^ Watters, Jim (March 24, 1975). "Ann-Margret's Juicy Role". People. Vol. 3, no. 11. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010.
4. ^ Passafiume, Andrea. "Cat Ballou (1965)". TCM Movie Database. Archived from the original on 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
5. ^ "Dick van Dyke Reveals Iconic Hollywood Roles He Passed on". December 14, 2023.
6. ^ Vagg, Stephen (6 April 2025). "Not Quite Movie Stars: Michael Callan". Filmink. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
7. ^ "Custer, Fremont Counties Selected for Film Locale". Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. September 5, 1964. p. 22.
8. ^
9. ^ Crowther, Bosley (June 25, 1965). "The Screen: 'Cat Ballou'". The New York Times
10. ^ "Cat Ballou". Variety. May 12, 1965.
11. ^ Coe, Richard L. (June 24, 1965). "'Cat Ballou' Is Zingy Spoof". The Washington Post. p. D20.
12. ^ Kael, Pauline (Fall 1965). "Cat Ballou". Film Quarterly. 19 (1): 54. doi:10.2307/1210823. JSTOR 1210823
13. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (June 19, 1965). "Why the Hullabaloo About 'Cat Ballou?'" Los Angeles Times. p. 19.
14. ^ "Cat Ballou". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 32 (380): 131. September 1965.
15. ^ "The 38th Academy Awards (1966) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived January 11, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
16. ^ "Berlinale 1965: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Archived 2013-10-15 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
17. ^ "BAFTA Awards: Film in 1966". BAFTA. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
18. ^ "18th DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
19. ^ "Cat Ballou". Golden Globe Foundation. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
20. ^ "1965 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
21. ^ "1965 New York Film Critics Circle Awards". New York Film Critics Circle. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
22. ^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived 2012-12-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
23. ^ Osborne, Robert. Outro to Turner Classic Movies presentation of Cat Ballou (May 14, 2011)
24. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies Nominees". Archived 2013-10-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
25. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs". American Film Institute. Archived 2013-03-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
26. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains Nominees". Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
27. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees". Archived 2015-04-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
28. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies Nominees (10th Anniversary Edition)". Archived 2016-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
29. ^ "AFI's 10 Top 10: Top 10 Western". American Film Institute. Archived 2016-06-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
30. ^ Goldberg, Lee (1991). "Big Screen to Small Screen | Pilots Based on Movies". Unsold Television Pilots: 1955-1990. New York: Citadel Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-8065-1242-6. Retrieved 2024-12-16. – via Internet Archive Book Reader
31. ^ Gross, Terry. "Fresh Air: From Walter White To LBJ, Bryan Cranston Is A Master Of Transformation" Archived 2017-10-21 at the Wayback Machine NPR (March 27, 2014)
32. ^ Beck, Jerry (December 31, 2018). "The Trippy Columbia Logo Art in "Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse"". Cartoon Research. Archived February 27, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 4, 2021.