Cat Ballou Reviews

Since I have a huge weak spot for Jane Fonda, I was definitely eager to check this flick. I'm not a huge fan of Westerns in general but I always enjoy a good Western from time to time but, honestly, it wasn't one of them. I mean, Jane Fonda was really charming, as usual, and she tries really hard to make her character appealing but it didn't work, I'm afraid. I know, it is just a Western comedy and I shouldn't take it too serioualy but I thought it was one of the most boring and idiotic Westerns I have ever seen. I mean, it wasn't really bad, I'll give you that, but it wasn't entertaining either. The worst thing, the most frustrating thing, was that Lee Marvin eventually won an oscar for his supporting part. He wasn't really bad and he actually gave a decent performance but, from all the characters he has portrayed during his impressive career, was it really the one which should have been rewarded?! I don't think so .... Furthermore, I think it is a good idea to make Westerns with a female main character, I haven't seen many of those, but they should provide a more interesting plot than this. Anyway, to conclude, I thought the whole thing was really disappointing and it is not really worth a look, in my opinion.

Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda), an aspiring schoolteacher, is traveling by train to Wolf City, Wyoming, to visit her rancher father, Frankie Ballou (John Marley). En route she unwittingly helps accused cattle rustler Clay Boone (Michael Callan) elude his captor, the sheriff (Bruce Cabot), when Boone's Uncle Jed (Dwayne Hickman), a drunkard disguised as a preacher, distracts the lawman. She reaches the ranch to find that the Wolf City Development Corporation is trying to take the ranch away from her father, whose only defender is an educated Indian, Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini). Clay and Jed appear and reluctantly offer to help Catherine. She also hires legendary gunfighter Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin) to come and help protect her father from fast-drawing Tim Strawn (also Marvin), alias Silvernose, the hired killer who is threatening Frankie.

Shelleen arrives, a drunken stumblebum who is literally unable to hit the broad side of a barn when he shoots and whose pants fall down when he draws his gun. Strawn kills Frankie, and when the townspeople refuse to bring him to justice, Catherine becomes a revenge-seeking outlaw known as Cat Ballou. She and her four gang members 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 reveals that Strawn was his brother.

Cat poses as a lady of loose morals and confronts town boss Sir Harry Percival (Reginald Denny), owner of the Wolf City Development Corporation. A struggle ensues, Sir Harry is killed, and Cat is sentenced to be hanged on the gallows. Just after the noose is placed around her neck, Uncle Jed (again as a fake preacher) cuts the rope as she falls through the trapdoor. Her gang then spirits her away in a daring rescue