Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

One-Eyed Jacks Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 28, 2016

Nominated for Oscar Award for Best Cinematography, Marlon Brando's "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new filmed introduction of the new restoration of the film by Martin Scorsese; new video essay by film historian Toby Roan; new video essay by filmmaker and critic David Cairns; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring writer Howard Hampton's essay "Zen Nihilism" and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Surrounded

The handsome bandit Rio (Marlon Brandon) and his best pal Dad Longworth (Karl Malden, On the Waterfront) rob a bank somewhere in the heart of Mexico and then run away with two sacks of gold. Not too long after that, they are surrounded by the Federales on the top of a windy hill, with only one of their horses still breathing. Dad wins a draw to bring back fresh mounts from a nearby village while Rio covers for him, but once he sneaks out, he decides to dump his partner and pocket all of the gold. Meanwhile, the Federales storm the hill and arrest Rio.

Five years later, Rio escapes from prison and goes looking for Dad. In a rundown bar in Mexico, Rio learns from bank robber Bob Amory (Ben Johnson, The Wild Bunch) that Dad has been living the good life as a sheriff in Monterey. Rio then lets Bob convince him to ride with his posse to Monterey and take down Dad while his men empty the local bank’s new safe. It all goes according to Bob’s plan until Rio meets his old partner, and after he invites him to have dinner with his family falls madly in love with his beautiful daughter Louisa (Pina Pellicer). When later Dad discovers that Louisa is carrying Rio’s baby, all hell breaks loose.

One-Eyed Jacks, the one and only film Brando directed in the early 1960s, is a very unusual western whose elegance reminds of the work of the great director Douglas Sirk. The bulk of it feels like a giant, constantly evolving live portrait of the glorious West envisioned by a true artist with a frequently overwhelming passion for natural beauty.

The film is loosely based on Charles Neider’s popular novel The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones about Billy the Kid and his relationship with Pat Garrett, but Brando actually shifts the focus of attention to the painful transformation of his character and his love for the daughter of his former partner. As such, it is easier to profile as a character-driven period drama than a flashy western about two fearless rivals.

The current version of the film, which runs at approximately 141 minutes, isn’t Brando’s original edit (which according to various reputable sources was well over five hours long). It was finalized by Paramount, and even though it turned out to be quite successful at the box office, Brando never felt that it was what he initially intended audiences to see.

Even in its current form, however, the film very effectively separates itself from all other westerns from the same era. The only notable exception is Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar which exhibits very similar poetic elegance, though one could probably easily argue that its rebellious spirit actually brings it a lot closer to the many experimental films the New Wave directors created in France.

*Brando’s first choice to direct the film was a very young Stanley Kubrick, but after a series of disagreements over the script, he was released. It is worth mentioning that Neider’s novel was also used by Sam Peckinpah as the foundation for his classic western Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid with Kris Kristofferson and James Coburn.

One-Eyed Jacks Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Marlon Brando's One-Eyed Jacks arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Undertaken by Universal Studios in collaboration with The Film Foundation, this new restoration was created from the original 35mm, 8-perforation Vista Vision negative and the 35mm Y-layer separation master (to recover faded blue). These film elements were scanned, using pin registration, at 6K resolution on a Northlight film scanner. Restoration work then proceeded at 4K resolution. The negative and Y-layer files were digitally recombined using 3D image manipulation tools. The film elements were configured for A/B printing, so all transitions, such as fades and dissolves, were recreated to conform to the theatrical cut of the film. Dirt and damage removal was accomplished with a host of digital tools, including MTI Film's Nova, Digital Vision's Phoenix, HS-Art's Diamant, and Autodesk's Flame. The monaural soundtrack was remastered from the original 35mm, 3-channel discrete dialog, music, and effects magnetic master. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.

Restoration supervision: NBCUniversal Global Media Operations - Content Management, in consultation with Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Restoration services: NBCUniversal StudiosPost, with additional work performed by Prasad Group and MTI Film."

The improvements in terms of depth, clarity and stability are substantial. There are entire sections of the film, not just small segments, that now have the type of appearance that a film shot in Vista Vision should have. (The previous release is so problematic that it actually creates the impression that the film was shot with an amateur camera). On a large screen it is also very easy to appreciate the dramatically improved fluidity. During the nighttime footage as well as some indoor footage shadow definition is vastly superior now and as a result there are small details and nuances that are a lot easier to distinguish. There is a visible layer of very fine grain. Some minor fluctuations emerge, but they are never distracting. There are traces of very careful denoising/degraining corrections, which I assume were done in an effort to rebalance the image as best as possible. There are some visible density fluctuations, but the most noticeable ones are actually a byproduct of age/preservation-related issues that can be traced back to the available elements. The film has a stable color scheme. There are healthy primaries and a very good range of nuances. However, I feel that the overall balance could have been even better. For example, it does feel like the blues are not strong enough; the overall range of reds is also a bit too dark, while in a few segments the yellows/browns really come off too strong. There are no distracting cuts, debris, damage marks, stains, or warped/torn frames. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

One-Eyed Jacks Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless audio track is excellent. One thing that immediately makes an impression is the vastly superior depth. There is an overall better balance as well, with the mid/high registers now being free of the 'thinning' that is present on the previous Blu-ray release of the film. There are no audio dropouts, distracting background hiss, or digital distortions to report.

One-Eyed Jacks Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for One-Eyed Jacks. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080p.)

• Introduction by Martin Scorsese - this video introduction by director Martin Scorsese was recorded in 2016 by The Film Foundation for the upcoming special presentation of the new restoration of One-Eyed Jacks the Cannes Film Festival. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Marlon Brando - presented here is a collection of audio selections which Marlon Brando likely recorded in 1958 while Stanley Kubrick was still set to direct One-Eyed Jacks. Many of these selections highlight key differences between Marlon Brando's original vision and what ended up being the final version of the film which Paramount edited and distributed in cinemas across the United States. In English, not subtitled. (34 min, 1080p).

• A Million Feet of Film - presented here is a brand new video essay by film historian Toby Roan which focuses on the fascinating production history of One-Eyed Jacks. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, 1080p).

• I Ain't Hung Yet - presented here is a new video essay by filmmaker and critic David Cairns which focuses on the visual style and narrative structure of One-Eyed Jacks. In English, not subtitled. (25 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring writer Howard Hampton's essay "Zen Nihilism" and technical credits.

One-Eyed Jacks Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is unfortunate that we do not have at least some sort of rough print of the long version of One-Eyed Jacks endorsed by Marlon Brando. The production history of One-Eyed Jacks is beyond fascinating and if even half of the information floating around is actually true then what Brando wanted us to see was probably a very different film. However, I still think it is fair to say that even in its current form, the film very effectively separates itself from all other westerns of the same era. Criterion's new Blu-ray release of the recent restoration of One-Eyed Jacks should remain the film's definitive presentation on the home video market. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.