Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Cat Ballou Blu-ray Movie Review

"Why do men always think marriage is the only thing on a woman's mind?"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 31, 2024

Initially made available on Blu-ray in 2016 via an out of print Limited Edition Twilight Time release, Cat Ballou returns courtesy of Sony, who retains most of the film's extras (including two commentary tracks) and delivers equally strong video and audio. The 1965 comedy was directed by Elliot Silverstein (A Man Called Horse, Nightmare Honeymoon) and stars Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin in a dual role, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, Nat King Cole, Stubby Kaye, Tom Nardini, John Marley, Reginald Denny, Jay C. Flippen, Arthur Hunnicutt, Bruce Cabot, Burt Mustin and Paul Gilbert.

"Hallelujah, Brothers! I am here to comfort the sinner and return the stray lamb to the fold. Let them what's troubled, let them what's vexed o' mind take heart. There are many good things of comfort in the Bible, Sister. Indeed, there are. It's a better world we're all bound for. Where trouble don't come around, Sister. And earthly care is forgotten. And green pastures wait the tired sinner, and honey flows like water! Hoo!"

Marvin has a field day in Cat Ballou as boozy "sharpshooter" Kid Shelleen, a guy who literally can't hit the side of a barn with a shot unless he's liquored up. Marvin also appears as the metal-nosed bad guy Tim Strawn, the kind of villain who would be twirling his mustache if that part of his face weren't already covered with a large metal proboscis. With such a pair of over the top performances at the core of Cat Ballou, the film could have easily tipped over into chaos, but what's so refreshing about the film is how breezy the rest of the performances are. Fonda portrays the initially prim and proper Catherine Ballou who has hopes of helping her father Frankie (John Marley) homestead while pursuing a teaching career, but who quickly gets wrapped up with a couple of none too promising low level thieves. That aggregation includes sweet Clay Boone (Michael Callan) and his hard drinking Uncle Jed (Dwayne Hickman), who is first seen impersonating a man of the cloth. Also on hand is Frankie's farmhand Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini), a Native American who unfortunately is the subject of at least one manifestly politically incorrect sight gag in the film (it was 1965, after all). Cat Ballou has a bevy of sight gags, in fact, many tied to the farcical efforts of Kid Shelleen.

Click here to read the rest of Jeffrey Kauffman's review of the film, which he says "kind of plays like a gussied up television entry, a swift and often undeniably entertaining send up of the Western genre." But, he adds, "Cat Ballou is frequently laugh out loud hilarious and it benefits from both the hyperbolism of Marvin as well as the (relatively) more restrained Fonda and the rest of the supporting cast."

Cat Ballou Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Yeah, it's all over in Dodge. Tombstone too. Cheyenne, Deadwood, all gone, all dead and gone. Why, the last time I came through Tombstone, the big excitement there was about the new rollerskate rink that they had laid out over the OK Corral. I'll tell you something else, I used to work for the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and a Congress of Rough Riders. And I rescued many stagecoach passengers from road agents and drunkard injuns... in the nick of time! Twice a day, three times on Saturday."

Twilight Time acquired a Sony-Columbia transfer in 2016, so it's only fitting that Sony releases Cat Ballou itself this time around. With a striking 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer, the film looks every bit as good as its source elements and original photography. Colors are blistering and beautiful, with warm but smartly saturated colors and skin tones, sharp-shooting primaries, inky black levels and suitably sweltering contrast. The image actually comes on a touch strong at times, not that anyone will complain. Detail is top-notch too, with a wholly refined grain field (that only takes a dive on three occasions by my count), deadly defined edges, and plenty of exacting fine textures, particularly in closeups of the actors. Stubble, stitching and errant hairs fare brilliantly, while even the most vast landscapes have endless nuances in tow. Banding and blocking are nowhere to found, thankfully, and compression issues are MIA. There are moments where black levels hinder delineation, but each one is minor and short-lived. Overall, the transfer is as good as any high-dollar, high-quality presentation, whether by preservation or restoration.

Cat Ballou Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

"Well now friends. Just lend an ear, for you're now about to hear the Ballad of Cat Ballou. It's a song that's newly made. And Professor Samuel Shade and the Sunrise Kid are singing it for you. Cat Ballou-u-u. Cat Ballou-u-u. Cat Ballou-u-u!"

Sony's Blu-ray release features two lossless options: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo, both of which were included with the 2016 Twilight Time edition. Of the two, Kauffman writes, "The 5.1 mix opens up the appealing score and interstitial song elements while also providing occasional discrete placement of effects like gunshots or galloping hooves. The low end on the surround track is quite fulsome, if perhaps not at the level younger viewers have come to expect from newer films. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly and there are no prioritization problems of any kind. The new commentary mentions how revelatory the 2.0 mix is, though my hunch is most ardent audiophiles will find it perfectly competent but probably not mind blowing."

Cat Ballou Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

"Round and round and round they went, 'til man and gal and beast were spent. Round and round and round they rode... oh, what an episode!" Extras include:

• Audio Commentaries - Two tracks are included. The first features actors Michael Callan and Dwayne Hickman, the second with film historians Eddy Friedfeld, Lee Pfeiffer and Paul Scrabo.

• The Legend of Cat Ballou (SD, 13 minutes) - An archive EPK-style featurette.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 4 minutes)

Missing from the 2016 Twilight Time Limited Edition release is an isolated score and "Lee and Pamela: A Romance," a thirty-minute featurette about Lee Marvin and his relationship with his wife Pamela.

Cat Ballou Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"So she rode away, just where now is a mystery, but Cat rode into history and her legend grew. She was the Queen of the outlaws, Her Highness Cat Ballou... Cat Ballou, Cat Ballou... well, our story now is through! Cat Ballou, Cat Ballou... we'll say farewell to Cat Ballou!"

Cat Ballou caught me by surprise. I didn't expect to enjoy it nearly as much as I did. Nitpicks aside, it's a fun, funny, fully entertaining Western comedy with all the songs, gunplay and hilarity you could hope for. It's no Blazing Saddles, but it's a decent stand-in. Sony's Blu-ray release makes it all go down that much more smoothly too, thanks to an excellent AV presentation and a solid complement of extras.