Wow. George's mentioning "Paint Your Wagon" reminded me of some silly westerns like "The Apple Dumpling Gang" and "Blazing Saddles." Then I remembered the title of a comic western on TV all the time that my mom really loved: "Cat Ballou." I couldn't recall any of the plot, just a few vague scenes with Lee Marvin, so I looked it up and — Get out! — look at this description:
"A woman seeking revenge for her murdered father hires a famous gunman, but he's very different from what she expects. (He's a drunk!)"
Sound familiar? Only, this movie preceded "True Grit" by four years (1965) and Jane Fonda is shown on the movie poster WEARING PANTS.
2 comments:
"Cat Ballou" was my absolute favorite! I probably watched it 1,000 times. I almost chose this for the blog. Lee Marvin is spot-on. And the fabulous Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye are a sort of Greek chorus.
Yes, that is good. When I was trying to think of what to compare “True Grit” to, I thought of “Cat Ballou”. But I was thinking in terms of the comedy similarities. The dialogue of “True” reminded me of the dialogue of “Cat”. But “Cat” is a more through and through comedy than “Grit” is. I quit thinking about the similarities at that point, but you are right that there are a few more.
I'd agree that “Cat Ballou” is a pretty fun flick. It walks that line of being not quite cheesy but very close.
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