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Cat Ballou

Cat Ballou

List Price: $14.94
Your Price: $11.21
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great Except For Ms. Hanoi
Review: Lee Marvin is awesome in his role as Kid Sheleen... you have to see him! The story is humorous and a good satire on western flicks. The music (Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole) is lively and quite enjoyable. A fun movie about the typical western theme -- a crook trying to take over someone else's land and property for his own nefarious reasons. Why then should this movie be rated at only 2? Without the Hanoi Princess (famous for her picture on the anti-aircraft gun pretending to shoot down American planes and American boys) playing the role as Cat, I'd give it a 5. Her presence is enough to lower any rating by at least 3 points.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One Of The All Time Best comedy Westerns
Review: Lee Marvin was fantastic in dual role of Tim Strawn and the "kid". Well written and one of the best musical scores of all the western movies. Jane Fonda at her best and she looks great in the saddle. I have seen this film at least two dozen times and I still get a big kick out of it,

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One Of The All Time Best comedy Westerns
Review: Lee Marvin was fantastic in dual role of Tim Strawn and the "kid". Well written and one of the best musical scores of all the western movies. Jane Fonda at her best and she looks great in the saddle. I have seen this film at least two dozen times and I still get a big kick out of it,

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If you've never seen a horse with a hangover, buy this movie
Review: Of all the western spoofs ever written, this has to be the best. Although I despise hanoi jane, I'm still willing to pay the price of the movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jane Before She Put "Hanoi" In Front of Her Name
Review: Sadly, this film presages what Jane Fonda could have been--a good actress. Playing second fiddle to a superb performance by Lee Marvin, she turns in a fine, very funny, performance.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another old favorite
Review: Saw this film 7-8 times earlier in life, not just to look at Jane Fonda but because it's one of the funniest films I know. Lee Marvin, as 'the hero', is at his best!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Steel-eyed Kid Shelleen
Review: Saw this flick when it first came out: four performances were unforgettable --- marvellous Marvin, fascinating Fonda, melodious Cole and Kaye. Within its own light comedy framework this film is a masterpiece, regardless of what one or two reviewers think. This must be due to Elliot Silverstein's exceptionally deft direction. It is fast-paced and beautifully balanced. The characters cut across each other like oil and vinegar, hardly a scene is out of place. It has all the hallmarks of a masterpiece: timelessly entertaining, thought-provoking and even moving, both sad and funny, and can stand any number of repeat viewings. Silverstein's comments in the extra features are brief, to the point and invaluable. Fonda's acting (what a sweetie, what a dish!) is perfection in the part; Marvin's magical transformation from derelict to dead-eye via a throat-full of hooch is just as astounding every time you watch it. His arrival in Wolf City is one of the most dynamic entrances by a legendary gunman ever seen in movies. Anyone who hasn't already seen this evergreen comedy is in for a treat.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great, as long as you don't take Westerns too seriously
Review: The amiable yet surprisingly fast-paced "Cat Ballou" is the grandma of later western spoofs like "Shanghai Noon," and it has worn remarkably well. In the opening, young Cat(herine) Ballou is returning to the West to be a teacher after her education Back East. Through no fault of her own, she gets tangled up on the train with two outlaws, a good-looking but decidedly narcissistic type (Michael Callan) and his somewhat dimwitted uncle (Dwayne Hickman).

Cat decides to visit her father's ranch first and is shocked to see that the ranch well has been befouled by manure and there is a price on her father's head, all because he refuses to sell the land to a British holding company. Before too long her father is killed, and she engages the help of a girlhood hero, Kid Sheleen (Lee Marvin) for revenge. Sheleen turns out to be less than the heroic type, but ultimately Cat's bitterness and the young men's propensity toward crime turn them all into an outlaw gang.

Expect gentle ribbing of such Western-movie staples as the black-clad assassin, the barroom brawl, the bawdy house, the train robbery, the righteous preacher-man, the corrupt sheriff, and the pompous capitalist. The more you know about Westerns the funnier this spoof is, yet if you take your Westerns TOO seriously this might seem a little. . . well . . . sacriligeous. Jane Fonda is absolutely beautiful in this 36-year-old film, as are the outdoor settings. A crisp and fun film to own.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lee Marvin at his best
Review: The late Lee Marvin was a very versatile actor, as demonstrated in this motion picture. He much deserved the academy award for his dual role, playing both the alcoholic gunman, Kid Shelleen, and the evil gunman who is his opponent. He said later that it was a fun role that did not take much of his time.

The story is set during the time of the railroad robber barons. They acquired needed right-of-ways by whatever means. When Cat's father is killed by the railroad's hired gun, she hires Kid Shelleen, sight unseen, and has to get him into shape. They dispense their own form of justice, but the law is on the side of the railroad. The motion picture has many memorable scenes that will stick in your memory.

Lee Marvin's performance made this a classic motion picture. Jane Fonda plays Cat, but without Lee it might have been a so-so film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worth seeing, if only for Lee Marvin's performance!
Review: This 1965 spoof of westerns was a big hit back then. It's the story of Katherine Ballou, nicknamed "Cat" and played by Jane Fonda, who comes home to her small Wyoming town after studying to be a schoolmarm. However, because her father refuses to sell his land to the speculators, he is brutally murdered. She goes gunning for revenge. But this is a comedy and it's all very lighthearted, especially since there are constant musical narratives by Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole. Lee Marvin won an academy award for his excellent portrayal of two aging outlaw gunmen and he's great. It's worth seeing, just to see his performance as he's a master not just of facial expressions, but also of total body language. Jane Fonda looks pretty as the sweet-young-thing turned outlaw. And there's enough love interest and comical episodes to keep the story moving. There's a train-robbing incident that is quite funny. And, of course, there's a happy ending.

I'm not much for comedies and so that fact that I was willing to spend the 96 minutes watching it all the way through says a lot for it. Recommended for light entertainment.


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