Cat Ballou
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Elliot Silverstein
Jane Fonda
Lee Marvin
Michael Callan
Dwayne Hickman
Nat King Cole
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Catherine Ballou, an aspiring schoolteacher, is traveling by train to Wolf City, Wyoming, to visit her rancher father, Frankie Ballou. En route she unwittingly helps accused cattle rustler Clay Boone elude his captor, the sheriff, when Boone's Uncle Jed, a drunkard disguised as a preacher, distracts the lawman. She reaches the ranch to find that the Wolf City Developing Company is trying to take away the ranch from her father, whose only defender is an educated Indian, Jackson Two-Bears. Clay and Jed appear and reluctantly offer to help Catherine. She also wires legendary gunfighter Kid Shelleen to come and help protect her father from fast-drawing Tim Strawn, alias Silvernose, the hired killer who is threatening Frankie. Shelleen arrives, a drunken stumblebum who is literally unable to hit the side of a barn when he shoots and whose pants fall down when he draws his gun. Strawn kills Frankie, but the townspeople refuse to bring him to justice, and Catherine becomes a revenge-seeking outlaw known as Cat Ballou. She and her four associates rob a train carrying the Wolf City payroll, and Shelleen, inspired by his love for Cat (unrequited because she loves Clay), shapes up and kills Strawn. Later he casually admits that Strawn was his brother. Cat poses as a prostitute and confronts town boss Sir Harry Percival, owner of the Wolf City Developing Company. A struggle ensues; Harry is killed; and Cat is sentenced to be hanged. Just as the noose is being placed around her neck, however, her gang arrives and stages a daring rescue.
Director
Elliot Silverstein
Cast
Jane Fonda
Lee Marvin
Michael Callan
Dwayne Hickman
Nat King Cole
Stubby Kaye
Tom Nardini
John Marley
Reginald Denny
Jay C. Flippen
Arthur Hunnicutt
Bruce Cabot
Burt Mustin
Paul Gilbert
Robert Phillips
Charles Wagenheim
Duke Hobbie
Ayllene Gibbons
Everett L. Rohrer
Harry Harvey Sr.
Hallene Hill
Gail Bonney
Joseph Hamilton
Dorothy Claire
Charles Horvath
Chuck Roberson
Nick Cravat
Ted White
Erik Sorenson
Ivan L. Middleton
Carol Veazie
Crew
Malcolm Brown
Yakima Canutt
Mack David
De Vol
Ray Gosnell
Harold Hecht
Harold Hecht
Virginia Jones
Ben Lane
Mitch Lindemann
Jerry Livingston
Lee Lukather
Richard Mansfield
Jack Marta
Charles Nelson
Miriam Nelson
Walter Newman
Frank R. Pierson
Charles J. Rice
Earl Snyder
Bill Thomas
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Wins
Best Actor
Award Nominations
Best Editing
Best Score
Best Song
Best Writing, Screenplay
Quotes
He's a murderer, a hired killer. His nose was bit off in a fight.- Jackson Two-Bears
If I was gonna be scared, I'd be scared of the fella who bit it off, not him!- Frankie Ballou
He did it! He missed the barn!- Clay Boone
Kid, Kid, what a time to fall off the wagon. Look at your eyes.- Jackson Two-Bears
What's wrong with my eyes?- Kid Sheleen
Well they're red, bloodshot.- Jackson Two-Bears
You ought to see 'em from my side.- Kid Sheleen
Some gang! An Indian ranch hand, a drunken gunfighter, a sex maniac, and an uncle!- Cat
And the first time I ask you to do something for me, like rob one little train!- Cat
I smell a water hole!- Kid Sheleen
Trivia
Roy Chanslor's original novel was a serious western. The comedy elements were added for the film.
When filming the scene where Kid Shaleen takes a bath and dons his costume, director Elliot Silverstein had all actions timed to the beat of a metronome, its pace increasing when Shaleen takes his guns. He planned to have the scene scored with Spanish guitars following this beat, but the producer was adamantly opposed to anything Spanish in a Western. In the end electric guitars were used.
The film's horse trainer told Silverstein that the scene where a horse leans against a wall with its front legs crossed could not be shot because horses don't cross their legs, then that it might be possible if he had a couple of days. Silverstein invoked his rank as director and gave him an hour. The trainer plied the horse with sugar cubes while repeatedly pushing its leg into position, and they were able to get the shot.
'Kirk Douglas' turned down the role of Shaleen.
At his acceptance of the Oscar, Lee Marvin opened by saying, "Half of this probably belongs to a horse out there somewhere".
Nat 'King' Cole died several months before the film was released.
Miscellaneous Notes
Voted Best Actor (Marvin) by the 1965 National Board of Review (shared with his work in "Ship of Fools").
Winner of the Best Actor Prize (Marvin) at the 1965 Berlin Film Festival.
Released in United States 1965
Released in United States March 1976
Released in United States 1965
Released in United States March 1976 (Shown at FILMEX: Los Angeles International Film Exposition (The 48-Hour Cowboy Movie Marathon) March 18-31, 1976.)
