The Sunday Morning Movie Presents: One Eyed Jacks (1961) Run Time: 2H 21M And A Bonus Documentary!

Good morning gentle readers and welcome to another installment of the Sunday Morning Movie. Today it’s a Western, One Eyed Jacks, starring and directed by Marlon Brando.

and here is next week’s film Ballad of Orin:

Hanare goze Orin (1977)

Reviews of One Eyed Jacks:

The Genre Junky says:

The film’s intriguing aspect is how the plot evolves depending on the characters’ actions in response to the situations before them. This is evident in Bob’s U-turn on Rio due to impatience, the accidental love Rio develops for Louisa that accounts for Rio’s character transformation, and Dad’s shift in attitude towards Rio motivated by his desire to erase everything from his past. This film distinguishes itself from its contemporaries by depicting characters who are complex and gray human beings rather than the stereotypical, one-note heroes and villains that characterized most of the genre’s predecessors. Take Rio’s example. He has spent his entire life as a bandit and knows nothing better; he is also a compulsive liar who lies to women about everything to get into bed with them (on their first meeting, he tells Louisa that he is a covert government agent). After Dad betrays him, the only purpose in his life is to get retribution because he has nothing else to live for. However, this perspective shifts once he develops feelings for Louisa, and his grounded and endearing love story with her allows him to prioritize her above all else. As a result, he now has something to live for, and vengeance ceases to be his primary impetus. The theme of revenge is expertly handled in this film, with love triumphing over vengeance—and justifiably so.

filmsgraded.com says:

One-Eyed Jacks is famous for being Marlon Brando’s sole effort as director. At first, Stanley Kubrick was the director, but a clash of egos led to his abandoning the project. Brando extended the shooting schedule from sixty days to six months, and turned in a four hour film. Studio executives had the film cut to 141 minutes, and the expensive film lost money when finally released.

Who knows whether Kubrick’s version would have been much better. Certainly Brando’s character would have been less heroic, and his various romances would likely have been downplayed. The good news is that Brando’s version of One-Eyed Jacks is entertaining, interesting and original. It is also clearly better than Spartacus, the 1960 Kubrick-directed epic.

Brando is stone-faced and tight-lipped throughout, but he remains charismatic and likeable. Slim Pickens has a great supporting role as Malden’s malevolent deputy. Malden also gives a fine performance.

letterboxd says:

An unevenly directed and edited film, One-Eyed Jacks shows Marlon Brando at both his best and worst. A lovely unsung performance by Karl Malden and solid cinematography from Charles Lang are the highlights. Supporting cast, including Slim Pickens and Ben Johnson, are also solid. No one takes a beating onscreen like Brando. David Webb Peoples clearly saw this film before writing Unforgiven. Not too many projects can claim to have canned talent the likes of Stanley Kubrick, Calder Willingham and Sam Peckinpah.

My take:
A good yarn but not my favorite Western by a, um, long shot. Brando is excellent as the moody outlaw who learns to love. The cinematography is top notch, and it was a stroke of genius to use California as the backdrop instead of the usual Western deserts one expects from the genre. It’s definitely worth a look but only one: ⭐.

Director: Marlon Brando

Writers: Guy Trosper, Calder Willingham

Notable Actors: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden

Plot (Spoilers!):

Rio (Brando) and two other men rob a Mexican bank and make off with two sacks of gold. Flush with their success, they decide to live it up at a cantina. Not long afterwards the Mexican police arrive and kill one of them. Rio and Dad (Malden) escape but, after being abandoned by Dad, Rio is captured. He spends a harsh five years in a Mexican prison.

He eventually escapes and begins to look for Dad, intent on revenge. He finds him but things have changed. Dad is now the sheriff of Monterey. Rio plans to kill him and to rob the bank as well.

But love intercedes. Rio falls for Dad’s beautiful stepdaughter and spends the night with her on the beach. Dad finds out and whips Rio as well as smashing his gun-hand. Rio decides to drop his revenge and head out of town with the girl. But some thugs that he has partnered up with rob the bank and Dad blames him for it.

Now imprisoned, Rio is facing the gallows. His girl manages to sneak a gun into the prison, and he uses it to escape. Dad spots him and a gunfight ensues in which Rio shoots Dad dead. Now on the run again, Rio tells his now pregnant lover that he will return for her in the spring.

Bonus Documentary:

Behind the Scenes: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly