Film Forum

U.S., 1961
Directed by Marlon Brando
Based on Charles Neider’s The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones
Starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Katie Jurado
Approx. 141 min. DCP.

“You may be a one-eyed jack around here, but I’ve seen the other side of your face.” Left holding the bag by fellow bank robber Karl Malden when trapped by a posse, Marlon Brando’s Rio emerges from five years of rat-counting in the Sonoma pen, only to find his old buddy now a respected lawman, complete with wife Katy Jurado (HIGH NOON) and step-daughter Pina Pellicer (the Mexican actress Macario in a heartbreaking debut performance as Rio’s love interest, underlined by her suicide within four years). Brando’s only directorial effort was the HEAVEN’S GATE of its day, complete with firing of initial director Stanley Kubrick and co-scenarist Sam Peckinpah, millions of dollars in cost overruns, and a first cut running to five hours. Away from the hoopla, it can now be seen as a fresh approach to genre clichés; with perfectly understandable scene played in un-subtitled Spanish; numerous on-set improvisations (Brando’s spit and Malden’s “a nice start, kid” were instant ad-libs); one of the great screen insults  (“You scum-sucking pig!”); and rare for a Western: seaside scenes, shot near Monterey.

New digital restoration by Universal Studios in collaboration with The Film Foundation. Special thanks to Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg for their consultation on this restoration.

Reviews

“Brando creates a character of substance, of its own identity. It is an instinctively right and illuminating performance. Another rich, vivid variable portrayal is the one by Malden. Katy Jurado is especially fine as Malden’s wife. Outstanding in support is Ben Johnson as the bad sort who leads Brando to his prey.”
– Variety