The film was directed by Elliot Silverstein from a screenplaybyWalter Newman and Frank Pierson adapted from the 1956 novel The Ballad of Cat BalloubyRoy Chanslor, who also wrote the novel filmed as Johnny Guitar. Chanslor's novel was a serious Western, and though it was turned into a comedy for the film, the filmmakers retained some darker elements. The film references many classic Western films, notably Shane. The film was selected by the American Film Institute as the 10th greatest Western of all time in its AFI's 10 Top 10 list in 2008.
Catherine "Cat" Ballou, a notorious outlaw, is set to be executed in the small town of Wolf City, Wyoming. Two banjo and guitar playing "Shouters", Professor Sam the Shade and the Sunrise Kid, sing the ballad of Cat Ballou and regale the audience with the tale of how she began her career of crime.
Some months prior, Catherine, then an aspiring schoolteacher, is returning home by train to Wolf City from finishing school. On the way, she unwittingly helps accused cattle rustler Clay Boone elude his captor, Sheriff Maledon, when Boone's Uncle Jed, disguised as a preacher, distracts the lawman.
Arriving home at her father Frankie Ballou's ranch, Catherine learns that the Wolf City Development Corporation is scheming to take his ranch. Frankie's sole defender is his ranch hand, educated Native American Jackson Two-Bears. Clay and Jed appear and reluctantly offer to help Catherine. She hires legendary gunfighter Kid Shelleen to help protect her father from gunslinger Tim Strawn, the tin-nosed hired killer who is threatening him.
Shelleen arrives and proves to be a drunken bum who is a crack shot only when he is inebriated. His presence proves to be useless as Strawn abruptly kills Frankie. 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 the desperado hideout "Hole-in-the-Wall". Shelleen is shocked to discover the legendary outlaw Cassidy is now a humble saloonkeeper in Hole-in-the-Wall.
The gang is thrown out when it is learned what they have done, due to Hole-in-the-Wall's continued existence being dependent on the sufferance of Wolf City. Strawn arrives and threatens Cat. Shelleen, motivated by his affection for Cat, works himself into shape. Dressed up in his finest gunfighter outfit, he goes into town and kills Strawn, then reveals he is Strawn's brother.
Cat poses as a prostitute and confronts Sir Harry Percival, the head of the Wolf City Development Corporation. She attempts to force him into confessing that he ordered her father's murder. A struggle ensues; Sir Harry is killed, and Cat is sentenced to be hanged. With Sir Harry dead, Wolf City's future is hopeless, and the townspeople have no mercy for Cat. As the noose is placed around her neck, Uncle Jed, again disguised as a preacher, appears and cuts the rope just as the trapdoor opens. Cat safely falls through and onto a wagon, and her gang spirits her away in a daring rescue.
Dorothy Claire as Singer in Brothel (accompanied by Nat King Cole at piano)
Cast notes
Cole and Kaye, billed simply as "Shouters", act as a Greek chorus, intermittently appearing onscreen to narrate the story through ongoing verses of "The Ballad of Cat Ballou", one of the songs written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston for the film.[4]
Cat Ballou was director Elliot Silverstein's second feature film, with the pressure of filming leading to some quarrels with the producer Harold Hecht, although the film was ultimately a box office success.[3]
Ann-Margret was the first choice for the title role, but her manager turned it down without letting the actress know.[5] Ann-Margret wrote in her autobiography that she would have taken the part.[6] Among others, Kirk Douglas and Dick Van Dyke turned down the role of Shelleen.[3][7]
Bosley CrowtherofThe New York Times called it "a breezy little film" which "does have flashes of good satiric wit. But, under Elliott Silverstein's direction, it is mostly just juvenile lampoon."[10]Variety wrote that the film "emerges middlingly successful, sparked by an amusing way-out approach and some sparkling performances."[11]Richard L. CoeofThe Washington Post praised the film as a "springy satire", adding, "What makes this fun is the style. Forming a mighty cool duo, Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye sing their way in and out of the plot with folk songs which Cole 'Don't Fence Me In' Porter would have relished. The format is novel and stylishly delivered."[12]Pauline KaelinFilm Quarterly called it "lumpen, coy, and obvious, a self-consciously cute movie," adding that "mainly it is full of sort-of-funny and trying-to-be-funny ideas and a movie is not just ideas."[13] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "I'm in the minority, apparently. Cat Ballou, which is being hailed as a cowboy Tom Jones or something of the sort, seems to me about as funny as a soundtrack burp."[14]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "The jokes in Cat Ballou are uneven, but the mood behind the film is happily consistent."[15]
The film holds a score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews, with an average grade of 7.4 out of 10.[16]
In his Oscar acceptance speech, Lee Marvin concluded by saying, "I think, though, that half of this belongs to a horse somewhere out in San Fernando Valley," a reference to the horse Kid Shelleen rode, which appeared to be as drunk as Shelleen was.[25]
Cat Ballou is the favorite film of comedy directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly, as stated in The AFI100 Years, 100 Laughs television special. The Balladeers from their film, There's Something About Mary, are inspired by similar characters in Cat Ballou.
In a 2014 interview on NPR, actor Bryan Cranston called Cat Ballou the "movie that had the most impact" on him when he was growing up.[33]
Part of the opening animation of the Columbia logo featuring Jane Fonda was incorporated in the beginning of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).[34]
In episode 69 of the popular fiction podcast Welcome to Night Vale, Cecil Palmer mentions that he watched this movie with his boyfriend Carlos the Scientist repeatedly. Later episodes confirm that Cecil is a fan of the film, and episode 192, "It Doesn't Hold Up" features Cecil discussing the film.
