One-Eyed Jacks (1961)

Marlon Brando plays Rio and Karl Malden plays Dad Longworth in this tale of two south-of-the-border bank robbers who find themselves on the run from the Federales after a third partner has been killed.

Stuck on a hillside with one living horse and the law closing in, they decide someone needs to go to a nearby hacienda for fresh mounts.

Rio rigs it so that Longworth gets to ride off. What he doesn’t suspect is that Longworth will flee with a fresh horse and the gold, leaving him in the hands of the law.

Five years later, Rio breaks out of prison. His first priority: Find and kill Longworth.

To his surprise, he discovers that “Dad” has gone straight; heck, he’s even married and become sheriff of Monterey, Calif., where a bank brimming with money makes an inviting target for Rio and his new partners in crime, Bob Emory (Ben Johnson) and Harvey Johnson.

Problem is, they arrive at fiesta time, which means the bank is closed. Which means Rio has time to meet his old pal and get reacquainted, lying about the five intervening years and acting as though they can pick up their friendship where they left off.

Ah, but this Rio is a devious one. He’s also met Longworth’s pretty and pure step-daughter Louisa, ripe for seducing by a slick-tongued devil. Especially if he lies about working for the law and gives her a $30 necklace he pretends was handed down from his own mother.

Longworth suspects the seduction, so when Rio guns down a loudmouth after a barroom brawl, it offers the perfect opportunity to make an example of him. He has Rio strapped to a hitching post, whips him, then using a shotgun butt to smash his gun hand.

Rio and his pals head off to an oceanfront hideout while he mends. He’s still determined to get even with Longworth.

What he didn’t expect is that he’s developed real feelings for Louisa.

Marlon Brandon as Rio, the man seeking vengeance against a partner who abandoned him to the rurales in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Karl Malden as Dad Longworth, who’s become respectable and been elected sheriff five years after robbing a bank in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Review:

This was supposed to be directed by Stanley Kubrick. Instead, it became the only film directed by Brando and clocks in at well over two hours, too long for the plot or the actors to sustain. And just imagine how long it could have been had Brando gotten his way; he destroyed an additional five hours of footage.

Both of our characters are flawed. Five years in prison have only made Brando more bitter. He still plans to make his living by breaking the law. And he’ll still spin any tale to bed a woman. And while Malden might have gone straight, he’s still using violence — witness the brutal whipping of Rio — to keep the law.

Ben Johnson turns in a fine performance as Rio’s not-so-loyal partner. Slim Pickens is the sheriff’s deputy who also has his lecherous eyes on Louisa and is angry that Rio gets there first.

Pina Pellicer as Louisa, trying to talk about their possible future to Rio in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Katy Jurado as Maria Longworth, pleading with her husband (Karl Malden) on behalf of Louisa in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Directed by:
Marlon Brando

Cast:
Marlon Brando … Rio
Karl Malden … Sheriff Dad Longworth
Katy Jurado … Maria Longworth
Pina Pellicer … Louisa
Ben Johnson … Ben Amory
Sam Gilman … Harvey Johnson
Slim Pickens … Deputy Lon Dedrick
Larry Duran … Chico Modesto
Timothy Carey … Howard Tetley
Miriam Colon … Redhead
Elisha Cook Jr. … Carvey
Rodolfo Acosta … Mexican Captain
Ray Teal … Barney
John Dierkes … Chet

Runtime: 141 min.

Ben Johnson as Ben Armory, a small-time bandit meeting Rio for the first time in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Sam Gilman as Harvey Johnson, one of the small-time bandits Rio joins up with in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Memorable lines:

Rio: “My home is … oh, anywhere I throw my saddle down, I guess.”
Woman: “Then you do much traveling?”
Rio: “Yeah, you might say that. I drift out of one town and into another. I transport money for the banks once in a while.”

Ben Amory: “Well, Harvey Johnson’s gonna be a famous name round these parts. You’re gonna get yourself killed by a fella called Rio.”
Harvey: “That ain’t him.”
Ben: “It ain’t, huh? I wouldn’t lose me a handful of brains trying to find out. Would you, Harv?”

Rio: “I have to admit, I was hot about it (being abandoned on a hilltop by Longsworth) at the time, but that was five years ago. A man can’t stay angry for five years. Can he?”

Rio to Ben Armony: “Get up you scum-sucking pig!”

Rio: “You’re forgetting one thing, Lon.”
Lon: “Yeah, what’s that?”
Rio: “Ain’t hung yet.”
Lon: “But you will be brother. You ain’t gettin’ no older than tomorrow.”

Marlon Brandon as Rio and Karl Malden as Dad Longworth decide someone needs to ride for help in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Pina Pellicer as Louisa and Marlon Brando as Rio during their intimate liaison on the beach in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Slim Pickens as Deputy Lon Dedrick, a man who covets Louisa and hates Rio as a result in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Larry Duncan as Chico Modesto, the man who breaks prison with Rio and becomes his friend in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Marlon Brando as Rio, working his lies and charm on a Mexican senorita in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Karl Malden as Dad Longworth, pondering whether to return for Rio or make off with the gold in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Miriam Colon as Red getting reacquainted with Rio (Marlon Brandon) after his five-year absence in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Pina Pellicer as Louisa and Katy Jurado as Maria Longworth, her mother, attending a fiesta in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)

Karl Malden as Dad Longworth and Marlon Brando as Rio, meeting again five years after robbing a bank together in One-Eyed Jacks (1963)