| 9:15 p.m. | Cat Ballou Elliot Silverstein (U.S., 1965) |
Frank Pierson in Person
Quite the kitten herself, Jane Fonda plays Cat Ballou, prim schoolmarm turned vengeful outlaw, in this lusty send-up of the all-American Western. When Cat finds her father's Wyoming ranch confiscated by unscrupulous developers, she teams up with some ne'er-do-well desperadoes, including alky gunslinger Kid Shelleen, two clumsy cattle rustlers, and a sardonic Sioux ranchhand, to teach the land-grabbers the Three Rs: Robbin', Rollickin', and Revenge. Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye wander through the high jinks like a jocular cowboy chorus singing "The Ballad of Cat Ballou." But it is Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen and his twin brother Strawn, a cold-blooded killer with a prosthetic nose, who really lassoes the laughs. Whether he's singing "Happy Birthday" over the coffin of Cat's father, or so soused he can't hit the broad side of a barn, Marvin (in an Oscar-winning performance) saddles us with stumble-drunk delight. Cat Ballou is all slapstick leather with potshots that never miss their mark.
—Steve Seid
• Written by Frank Pierson, Walter Newman, from the novel The Ballad of Cat Ballou by Roy Chanslor. Photographed by Jack Marta. With Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Nat King Cole, Dwayne Hickman. (96 mins, Color, 35mm, From Sony Pictures Releasing)
