Jane Fonda plays the title character, an aspiring school teacher who returns to visit her father only to find his ranch in disarray.
That’s largely because business interests in the nearby Wolf City, Wyoming, are trying to force him off that ranch.
And they’ve hired a fast gun, Tim Strawn (Lee Marvin), to help in those efforts.
Strawn has a metal plate where his nose should be because it was bitten off in a fight, but that makes him no less deadly.
Ranch hand Jackson Two-Bears has a simple solution for Cat — she should hire her own gunfighter to protect her dad.
Well, she winds up with three — two minor outlaws named Clay Boone (Michael Callan) and his uncle Jed, who often poses as a preacher. Plus the notorious Kid Shelleen (also Lee Marvin).
The hero in dime novels, Shelleen is more drunkard than kid these days. In fact, he’s at his best as a gunfighter when he’s drinking.
The trio can’t keep Cat’s dad from being gunned down by Strawn, but they prove able assistants when Cat decides to get revenge for that dastardly deed.
Her primary target: Sir Harry Percival, head of the Wolf City Development Co.
Jane Fonda as Cat Ballou, challenging Clay and Jed to help her even the score with Tim Strawn in Cat Ballou (1965)
Lee Marvin as Kid Shellen, showing off his six-gun skills even when drunk in Cat Ballou (1965)
Review:
A wacky and genuinely funny comedy Western that resulted in a best actor Oscar for Lee Marvin thanks to his raucous performance as the drunken Kid Shelleen.
The Kid might wobble in his saddle, but he never falls off. He also leads a posse on one of the wildest horse chases ever filmed.
Jane Fonda is a delight as the feisty Cat, who gets one kiss from outlaw Clay Boone and forever seems torn about her feelings toward him. But she’s never confused about this: Her father’s death will be avenged, even if it lands her in a hangman’s noose.
Stubby Kaye and Nat “King” Cole help the story along with a catchy theme song, reappearing at several points during the film. Cole was actually sick with lung cancer at the time and died in February 1965 at age 45, four months before the film was released.
Michael Callan as Clay Boone, suddenly wary when Cat Ballou starts talking about love in Cat Ballou (1965)
Dwayne Hickman as Jed, pretending to be a preacher, but equipped with a pistol in his Bible in Cat Ballou (1965)
Directed by:
Elliot Silverstein
Cast:
Jane Fonda … Cat Ballou
Lee Marvin … Kid Shelleen
Lee Marvin … Tim Strawn
Michael Callan … Clay Boone
Dwayne Hickman … Jed
Tom Nardini … Jackson Two-Bears
John Marley … Frank Ballou
Reginald Denny … Sir Harry Percival
Jay C. Flippen … Sheriff Cardigan
Arthur Hunnicutt … Butch Cassidy
Bruce Cabot … Sheriff Maledon
Burt Mustin … Accuser
Paul Gilbert … Train Messenger
Nat “King” Cole … Shouter / Sunrise Kid
Stubby Kaye … Shouter / Sam the Shade
Runtime: 96 min.
Song: “The Ballad of Cat Ballou” by Stubby Kaye and Nat “King” Cole
Tom Nardini as Jackson Two-Bears, a faithful employee of Frank Ballou in Cat Ballou (1965)
John Marley as Frank Ballou, confronting the sheriff about a poisoned well while Cat looks on in Cat Ballou (1965)
Memorable lines:
Catherine Ballou, having been left in company of a preacher: “Mrs. Parker didn’t introduce us. I’m Catherine Ballou.”
The preacher, rocking forward: “I’m drunk as a skunk.”
Clay Boone, plotting to stay close to Cat: “Oh, I hate shotguns. Don’t you? They leave such an oozy corpse.”
Cat Ballou: “Is a square dance anything like a war dance?”
Jackson Two-Bears: “This one is.”
Cat Ballou: “You won’t make me cry. You’ll never make me cry.”
Lee Marvin as Tim Strawn, the killer hired to get rid of Cat Ballou’s dad so his ranch can be seized in Cat Ballou (1965)
Reginald Denny as Sir Harry Percival, the man who hired Tim Strawn to help his acquire Frank Ballou’s ranch in Cat Ballou (1965)
Cat Ballou, looking into her father’s casket: “Why is he smiling like that?”
The Undertaker: “Well that was hard, little lady.”
Cat: “My father never smiled like that in his whole life.”
Clay Boone: “(We) can’t hold up no train.”
Cat Ballou: “Why not?”
Clay: “Lots of reasons.”
Cat: “Name one.”
Clay: “We’re rustlers, not train robbers”
Cat: “Well, if people didn’t try something not, there wouldn’t be hardy any progress at all.”
Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole, delivering one of the musical interludes to narrate the story in Cat Ballou (1965)
Michael Callen as Clay Boone, showing off his predicament when he meets Cat in Cat Ballou (1965)
Michael Callan as Clay Boone, hiding out in the railroad car occupied by Cat Ballou (Jane Fonda) in Cat Ballou (1965)
Tom Nardini as Jackson Two-Bears returning from a dance with Cat Ballou (Jane Fonda) in Cat Ballou (1965)
Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen, offering to sell his pistol so he can afford more whiskey in Cat Ballou (1965)
Arthur Hunnicut as the aging Butch Cassidy, retired to the Hole in the Wall in Cat Ballou (1965)
Jay C. Flippen as Sheriff Cardigan, listening to Cat’s demands for justice after the death of her dad in Cat Ballou (1965)
Jane Fonda as Cat Ballou, pretending to be a lady of the night named Trixie, until she pulls a derringer in Cat Ballou (965)
Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen, fancied up and ready go get revenge against Tim Strawn in Cat Ballou (1965)
Jane Fonda as Cat Ballou, about to be hanged for killing a man in Cat Ballou (1965)
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