Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Edison Witt
The first must-see film of the year.
Martin Bradley
This spoof western won Lee Marvin the Oscar for Best Actor but considering the opposition included Riichard Burton in "The Spy who came in from the Cold", Laurence Olivier in "Othello", Rod Steiger in "The Pawnbroker" and Oscar Werner in "Ship of Fools" perhaps giving Marvin the Oscar was overly generous. The film itself is highly enjoyable, a good follow-on from the Bob Hope spoofs and a nice precursor of "Blazing Saddles". It's got a good script from Walter Newman and Frank Pierson, lively direction from Elliot Silverstein and best of all, a first-rate cast that includes Jane Fonda, excellent in the title role of "Cat Ballou", Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, Tom Nardini, John Marley and as the balladeers Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye. It could be funnier I admit but it is also a very hard film to dislike.
HotToastyRag
Cat Ballou starts off with Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye singing to the camera, alongside their banjos, telling the audience of the Ballad of Cat Ballou. It's a perfectly adorable way to start the western comedy, and the singers return throughout the film to keep the audience company and sing a reprise or two.Jane Fonda is the title character, the cutest little lady in the Wild West. If you've never seen a Jane Fonda movie, this is a great one to start with. She's so cute, you won't be able to keep yourself from grinning and giggling. While on the train home to her father's ranch in Wyoming, she accidentally helps Michael Callan escape from the sheriff, so when she asks him to stay on at the ranch to help protect her father, he agrees. Her dad, John Marley, is dodging a hired gunman, and Jane does her best to hire bodyguards to protect him.Lee Marvin won an extremely undeserved Oscar in 1966 for his dual role in Cat Ballou. He plays both the hit-man hired to kill Marley as well as the drunken gunslinger Jane hires to protect him. Rod Steiger was nominated for The Pawnbroker that year, and once you've seen that performance, you might not ever forgive Lee Marvin for stealing his Oscar.Nevertheless, Cat Ballou is a very cute movie, and a must-see for Jane Fonda fans. She's two tons of cute, and I guarantee you'll be humming the title song long after the credits roll!
edlion43
Not a film that gets any airing these days,which is a shame,because in its way it was a masterpiece..Lee Marvin was one of my favourites,and in Cat Ballou he showed his comic versatility, before i first saw it..I can't say I was too keen on Lee being comical,but what a success, add in Jane Fonda at the height of her beauty, and the great Nat King Cole, and the ingredients are there for a feast of spoof western.The plot is simple there is a dangerous killer to be dealt with.( Lee Marvin ) so they send for a dangerous gunman to sort him (also Lee Marvin ) unfortunately he's a hopeless drunk..add in Jane Fonda as the notorious gang leader Cat Ballou and the whole picture is extremely enjoyable...when you see this film its not dated, you will see just how beautiful Jane Fonda was, although at the time she wasn't very popular in the USA..But most of all Lee Marvins twin performances make you see what a great actor he was..super film.
st-shot
After her father is murdered by land grabbing rail road mercenaries daughter Cat (Jane Fonda) vows not to be intimidated or removed from her parcel. For insurance she hires hard drinking gunfighter Kid Shaleen (Lee Marvin) to level the playing field. Problem is the Kid is more drunk than gunfighter these days and it's left up to Cat and the boys to get him in fighting shape to face a nose-less fast gun (also played by Marvin).Cat Ballou is simply all Marvin as the drunken Kid Shaleen with an able assist from a cross legged mount that seems as drunk as The Kid. The generic settler versus railroad scenario is ho hum at best and while Jane Fonda is a comely visage in snug jeans and check blouse she along with the rest of the drab cast contribute most by staying out of the way of the uproariously funny lurching and stumbling Marvin and steed. As semi musical narrators there's some pleasant musical interludes offered up by a pair of strolling balladeers played by Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye but in this film nobody comes close to outdrawing Marvin's top gun performance.
