Monday 3 February 2014

Movie: 'Cat Ballou' (1965)

It's probably extremely obvious by now that my fondness lies firmly with the underdog in practically everything. Am I devouring Agatha Christie novels from the Golden Age of Mystery writing? No, it's Dorothy L Sayers who's filling that role and wonderfully. Is it the incredibly overrated Tom Baker who is my favourite Doctor Who? No, it's either Jon Pertwee, whose era built the show up to such a healthy state that it could go to such excesses, or Patrick Troughton whose performance was excellent in an era of little variety in storytelling. And now, after writing up two lectures in a very short time today am I going to lavish praise upon a stalwart icon of a film legendary to all? No. I will talk about 'Cat Ballou', which hardly anyone seems to talk about ever, which is a shame as it's a hoot.

Comedy westerns are a thinly populated little niche of cinema, seemingly consisting almost entirely of 'Support Your Local Gunfighter', 'Support Your Local Sheriff', 'Four Eyes And Six Guns', 'Destry Rides Again' and this charming oddball effort starring Jane Fonda but really dominated by the massively talented Lee Marvin as a washed-up drunken gunslinger called Kid Shelleen. It is bizarre that Marvin didn't make more comedies apart from this and 'Paint Your Wagon' (a very odd movie) as he is pitch perfect, a performer without equal in the film. All the other actors are comically talented, even surprisingly Fonda, but it's Marvin's colossal charisma that takes us from his entrance through to the ending.

The story is simple - and throughout punctuated and narrated by the singing minstrels Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye - wherein Catherine 'Cat' Ballou returns home to her father's ranch after completing her schooling only to find him under horrific pressure from the nearby town to give up his water rights for an encroaching commercial development. The company hires a gunslinger and kills the father, Catherine crosses the line with some outlaws and robs the company's payroll in revenge, and Kid Shelleen bumbles around before cleaning up and falling for Ballou and then falling apart again in the rejection. It's really not about the plot, but more the sharp and punchy dialogue and crisp colours of the mid 1960s. And the minstrels who link the different parts of the film together. Told in flashback from just before Cat being led out to the gallows for apparently killing the company president, the pace continues briskly, before the small collapse that presages the common problem in comedies of having to have the story move in at some point. It's a lovely little movie.

This isn't an in depth review so I can just ramble on about the things I remember, which are a beautiful barn dance sequence amid the musical backdrop of the movie and the balance of a cast which is clearly and vainly trying to hold its own against the mighty Marvin. The latter defies description but the former is fascinating as the director builds a long single take version of the barn dance, moving up and down the structure with Cat and interacting with all the main cast - bar Marvin who hasn't arrived yet - before it finally breaks down into a massive brawl. It works magnificently, everyone strictly in place and ready to interact, even stopping off with Nat and Stubby as they perform with the musicians. It's the centrepiece of a film that isn't too afraid to do things that other movies won't and it elevates the whole thing not to classic status but to great status. It's the underdog of Westerns. The other thing to note is that is one of Nat King Cole's last movie appearances - he was already sick while filming - and that his and Stubby Kaye's interludes are perfectly judged, including some heart breaking moments as Cat rides away from the now-appropriated ranch and the sun sets.

'Cat Ballou' is slight in many ways, but it deserves to be watched and savoured. It's true that the ending is tonally strange as she seemingly (we don't see it) guns down the company president while disguised as a floozy, sitting uncomfortably with the rest of the film, before being rescued by her friends. The ending is offset though by Marvin, the magnificent stunt work of Yakima Canutt, Marvin again in a dual role, and a comedy horse. Oscars were won, accolades bestowed and the movie was quietly forgotten. I remember though, and so does the Quirky Muffin.

We like underdogs.

O.

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