Cat Ballou.
Cat Ballou is a 1965 comedy Western.
Cast[]
Singing cast[]
- Lee Marvin - Kid Shelleen/Tim Strawn
- Stubby Kaye - Shouter
- Nat King Cole - Shouter
Non-singing cast[]
- Jane Fonda - Catherine "Cat" Ballou
- Michael Callan - Clay Boone
- Dwayne Hickman - Jed
- Tom Nardini - Jackson Two-Bears
- John Marley - Frankie Ballou
- Reginald Denny - Sir Harry Percival
Plot[]
Catherine Ballou, who wants to be a schoolteacher, is returning home by train to Wolf City, Wyoming, to the ranch of her father, Frankie Ballou. On the way, she unwittingly helps accused cattle rustler Clay Boone elude his captor, Sheriff Maledon, when Boone's Uncle Jed, a drunkard disguised as a preacher, distracts the lawman.
At the ranch, she learns that the Wolf City Development Corporation is scheming to take the ranch from her father, whose sole defender is his ranch hand, an educated Native American, Jackson Two-Bears. Clay and Jed appear and reluctantly offer to help Catherine, and she hires legendary gunfighter Kid Shelleen to help protect her father from gunslinger Tim Strawn, the hired killer who is threatening him.
Shelleen arrives, a drunken bum whose pants fall down when he draws his gun, and who is unable to hit a barn when he shoots. Strawn kills Frankie, and when the townspeople refuse to bring Strawn to justice, Catherine becomes a revenge-seeking outlaw known as Cat Ballou. She and her gang rob a train carrying the Wolf City payroll, then take refuge in "Hole-in-the-Wall", where desperados go to hide from the law, but are thrown out when it is learned what they have done, since Hole-in-the-Wall can only continue to exist on the sufferance of Wolf City. Shelleen, inspired by his love for Cat, works himself into shape, dresses up in his finest gunfighting outfit, and goes into town to kill Strawn, casually revealing later that Strawn is his brother. In a humorous scene, Shelleen enters the funeral parlor where Frankie's body is resting, and sings "Happy Birthday" before blowing out the candles.
Cat poses as a prostitute and confronts Sir Harry Percival, the head of the Wolf City Development Corporation. A struggle ensues, Sir Harry is killed, and Cat is sentenced to be hanged on the gallows. With Sir Harry dead, there's no hope for Wolf City's future, and the townspeople have no mercy for Cat. As the noose is placed around her neck, Uncle Jed appears, again dressed as a preacher, and cuts the rope just as the trapdoor is opened. Cat falls through and onto a wagon and her gang spirits her away in a daring rescue.
Musical numbers[]
- "The Ballad of Cat Ballou" - Shouters
- "Happy Birthday to You" - Kid Shelleen
- "Shall We Gather at the River?" - Townsfolk
- "Rock of Ages" - Townsfolk