One-Eyed Jacks [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Overview

Western bandit Kid Rio (Marlon Brando) is betrayed by his partner, Dad Longworth (Karl Malden). Escaping from prison, Rio learns that Longworth has become a wealthy and influential lawman. Rio thirsts for revenge, but bides his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. In the meantime, Rio spitefully seduces Longworth's adopted daughter, Louisa (Pina Pellicer). After killing a man in self-defense, Rio is publicly whipped by the powerful Longworth. When Rio's old gang accidentally kills a child during another holdup, Longworth has the perfect excuse to eliminate the troublesome Rio once and for all by hanging him. But that's not what happens at all. Stripped to its fundamentals, One-Eyed Jacks is a workable Western, worthy of perhaps 90 minutes' running time. But when Marlon Brando succeeded Stanley Kubrick in the director's chair, he allowed the film's 60-day shooting schedule to stretch into six months, and delivered a finished product running in excess of four hours. The current 141-minute version of One-Eyed Jacks isn't as ponderous as some critics have claimed, but it's still too much of a good thing. While Brando the director isn't precisely in the Kubrick class, Brando the actor delivers one of his finest and most focused performances (though he is upstaged throughout by Karl Malden).

Product Details

Release Date:	11/22/2016
UPC:	0715515189316
Original Release:	1961
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:21:00
Sales rank:	1,724

Special Features

New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by Universal Pictures in partnership with The Film Foundation and in consultation with filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg; New introduction by Scorsese; Excerpts from voice recordings director and star Marlon Brando made during the development of the film's script; New video essays on the film's production history and on its potent combination of the stage and screen icon Brando with the classic Hollywood western genre; Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Marlon Brando	Rio
Karl Malden	Sheriff Dad Longworth
Pina Pellicer	Louisa
Katy Jurado	Maria Longworth
Slim Pickens	Lon
Ben Johnson	Bob Amory
Sam Gilman	Harvey
Larry Duran	Modesto
Timothy Carey	Howard Tetley
Miriam Colon	Redhead
Elisha Cook Jr.	Bank Teller
Rodolfo Acosta	Rurales Officer,Rurales Officer
Ray Teal	Bartender
John Dierkes	Barber/Photographer
Margarita Cordova	Nika Flamenco Dancer
Hank Worden	Doc
Nina Martinez	Margarita Castilian Girl,Margarita
Philip Ahn	Uncle
Clem Harvey	Tim
William Forrest	Banker
Shichizo Takeda	Owner of Cantina
Henry Wills	Posseman
Mickey Finn	Blacksmith
Fenton Jones	Squaredance Caller
Joe Dominguez	Corral Keeper
Margarita Martin	Mexican Vendor
John Michael Quijada	Rurales Sergeant
Francy Scott	Cantina Girl
Felipe Turich	Card Sharp
Nesdon Booth	Townsman
Nacho Galindo	Mexican Townsman
Jorge Moreno	Bouncer in Shack
Snub Pollard	Townsman,Townsman
Joan Petrone	Flower Girl
Tommy Webb	Farmer's Son
Hugo Friedhofer	Actor,Composer
Georges Glass	Actor
Guy Trosper	Actor
Farciot Edouart	Actor
Frank P. Rosenberg	Actor
Charles Neider	Actor
Walter Seltzer	Actor
Calder Willingham	Actor
Eric Alden	Townsman
Sam Bagley	Townsman
Ray Beltram	Townsman
Audrey Betz	Townswoman
Eumenio Blanco	Townsman
Chet Brandenburg	Townsman
James J. Casino	Townsman

Technical Credits

Guy Trosper

Calder Willingham

Charles Neider

Sam Peckinpah

Rod Serling

Carlo Fiore

Guy Troper

Marlon Brando	Director
Guy Trosper	Screenwriter
Calder Willingham	Screenwriter
Farciot Edouart	Special Effects
John P. Fulton	Special Effects
George Glass	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
Frank P. Rosenberg	Producer
Walter Seltzer	Executive Producer
Charles Neider	Screenwriter
Sam Peckinpah	Screenwriter
Rod Serling	Screenwriter
Carlo Fiore	Screenwriter
Guy Troper	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Often described by director Martin Scorsese as his favorite Western, Marlon Brando's only foray into directing resulted in one of the most interesting films in the genre. Brando plays an outlaw abandoned on a Mexican mountainside by his partner Karl Malden, while escaping from a posse. After doing a five-year hitch in a Mexican prison, Brando goes looking for revenge. A film whose troubled production history included contributions by Sam Peckinpah and Stanley Kubrick, in many ways it's a precursor to the operatic, slow-motion oaters of Sergio Leone. Basically a standard Western, it's raised a few notches by a great performance from Brando, who is given all he can handle by a memorably sadistic Malden. The pace of the scenes is undeniably slow, and one's enjoyment of the film probably depends on the extent to which viewers find Brando's myriad expressions of slow-burning rage compelling. Either Brando has an excellent eye or he was lucky in his choice of cinematographer Charles Lang, because the photography of Monterey, the Sierras, and the Mexican coastline is spectacular. Katy Jurado, Slim Pickens, Ben Johnson, and the always disturbed Timothy Carey round out the colorful cast.

All Movie Guide - Michael Costello