Product Description

CLASSIC WESTERN SPOOF ABOUT A NOTORIOUS FEMALE OUTLAW AND HER DEVOTED GANG OF FOLLOWERS. HIGHLIGHTED BY LEE MARVIN'S OSCAR WINNING PERFORMANCE AS THE LEGENDARY GUNSLINGER AND TOWN DRUNK, KID SHELLEEN. SPECIAL FEATURES: TALENT FILES, INTERACTIVE MENUS, PRODUCTION NOTES, SCENE SELECTIONS, AND MUCH MORE.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5584 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 2000-08-08
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.com
Long before Unforgiven deconstructed the Western, or Blazing Saddles lampooned it, Cat Ballou poked the genre in the eye. An altogether enjoyable comedy, the film is full of small surprises, big laughs, and wonderful character turns. Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda) is a schoolteacher until a hired thug kills her daddy. To protect what she loves, she collects two petty criminals, a wisecracking hired hand, and a hired killer, Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin). Unfortunately, Shelleen is a raging drunk who is so inebriated and unsteady with a gun he literally misses the broad side of a barn. However, Cat, has, as they used to say in those days, a mind of her own, and she masterminds a spectacular train heist that puts them all on the lam. Marvin won an Academy Award for his role as the derelict Shelleen, and his performances (he actually has two) are still topnotch and on target. The framing device, two wandering minstrels, played by Stubby Kaye and Nat "King" Cole, are the maraschino cherries on the top of this Wild West confection. --Keith Simanton

Customer Reviews

Wicked through and through
This is a great little comedy, kind of a musical with lots of laughs, catchy songs, and some classic scenes. Lee Marvin is very deserving of his Oscar, as scene stealer Kid Shelleen. This drunken gun slinger manages to miss the broad side of a barn. Jane Fonda is great as the revenge seeking Cat Balou. "The face of an angel, fights like the devil."

However, the real treat of this film is the pair of wandering minstrels. Stubby Kaye (Nicely Nicely in Guys and Dolls) strums around with Nat "King" Cole providing a lovely soundtrack. Their performance really makes this movie work, and moves it beyond a western parody.

Lee Marvin at his best
The late Lee Marvin was a very versatile actor, as demonstrated in this motion picture. He much deserved the academy award for his dual role, playing both the alcoholic gunman, Kid Shelleen, and the evil gunman who is his opponent. He said later that it was a fun role that did not take much of his time.

The story is set during the time of the railroad robber barons. They acquired needed right-of-ways by whatever means. When Cat's father is killed by the railroad's hired gun, she hires Kid Shelleen, sight unseen, and has to get him into shape. They dispense their own form of justice, but the law is on the side of the railroad. The motion picture has many memorable scenes that will stick in your memory.

Lee Marvin's performance made this a classic motion picture. Jane Fonda plays Cat, but without Lee it might have been a so-so film.

Great movie, great DVD!
"Well now, friends, just lend an ear / For you're now about to hear / The Ballad of Cat Ballou..." so begins the "Greek chorus" of Nat 'King' Cole and Stubby Kaye, banjos in hand. Having seen "There's Something About Mary" before "Cat Ballou," I didn't realize that the former was paying homage to the latter with this clever device. (Of course, being the original, "Cat Ballou" does it much better). By the way, the often-humorous score is by Frank DeVol.

The performances are good all around, each character with well-played and memorable funny bits. Jane Fonda plays it straight and serious next to the inept-ness of so-called outlaws Dwayne Hickman and Michael Callan and the over-the-top Lee Marvin (in a dual role as the Kid Sheleen, the drunken hero, and Tim Strawn, the bad guy with an artificial nosepiece). Marvin and the horse steal the show!

This movie is a lot of fun - pure entertainment - and the DVD people at Columbia/Tri-Star did a really good job putting together some extras. The audio commentary with Hickman and Callan itself is fun to listen to while watching the movie on repeat; it's very informative and even laugh-out-loud funny at times. The featurette with the director provides some good info on the movie, and the original trailer and vintage advertising (movie posters, etc.) is nostalgic.

The picture and sound quality is excellent; the visuals are clear and colorful, no noticeable scratches...the sound is very clear for being monaural. One side of the disc has the widescreen (definitive) version; the other side has the formatted version, which is also worth a look as it contains some extra information at the top and bottom of the screen on the scenes that were soft-matted.

I love this movie - it's nice to see that the DVD people took some interest enough to put together the special features on an almost 40-year-old film. Keep up the good work!