One-Eyed Jacks.

Review #1405: One-Eyed Jacks.

Cast: 
Marlon Brando ("Kid" Rio), Karl Malden (Dad Longworth), Ben Johnson (Bob Emory), Katy Jurado (Maria Longworth), Pina Pellicer (Louisa), Slim Pickens (Lon Dedrick), Larry Duran (Chico Modesto), Sam Gilman (Harvey Johnson), Timothy Carey (Howard Tetley), Míriam Colón (Eedhead), and Elisha Cook, Jr. (Carvey) Directed by Marlon Brando.

Review: 
"You work yourself to death. You're the first one up in the morning... I mean, we shot that thing on the run, you know, you make up the dialogue the scene before, improvising, and your brain is going crazy"

Being an outsider can prove interesting when it comes to cinema, whether you are an actor or director. Marlon Brando certainly proved himself in cultivating a career in the former category with characters on the outside with a great deal of naturalization in acting that made him a presence to behold on screen for several decades, from the highest of highs to lowest of lows, and the 1960s were certainly an interesting one for him in his life and career. He appeared in thirteen films in this decade, which is considerable since it was the most he did in one decade in a 39 film career that spanned over five decades. He grew a reputation as demanding and troublesome on set in this decade with films that audiences felt where inconsistent in quality, ranging from Mutiny on the Bounty (1962, where he had conflicts with director Lewis Milestone), A Countess from Hong Kong (1967, where initial joy to work with Charlie Chaplin turned to disappointment over his directorial style) to Burn! (1969, which he felt was some of his best acting). In any case, this film proved to be a unique experience for Brando, who would direct for the first and only time in his career. He stepped into this because of massive turnover when it came to writing and directing for a film under his production company Pennebaker Productions. For example, the first draft of the script (an adaptation of the 1956 novel The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones by Charles Neider) was done by Rod Serling. Then the plan shifted to having re-writes by Sam Peckinpah with direction from Stanley Kubrick. Calder Willingham and Guy Trosper both contributed to further re-writes, and they ultimately became the writers credited on-screen in the final product. A disagreement between Kubrick and Brando resulted in the former leaving the production weeks before it was slated to began, and the latter volunteered to serve as director.

Perhaps it should prove unsurprising that the film ran for 141 minutes, since Brando had apparently did a first cut that ran for over four hours, since he shot hours and hours of footage that amplified a budget from under two million to six, and it did not return well at the box offices. It certainly is an interesting Western, one that sets a trail of clichés about revenge with attempts to make complex characters with intensity and realism that make a curious movie in Brando's filmography. In a role that seems to pull from historical figures like Billy the Kid, Brando pulls off a tremendous performance, a contradiction of reserved intensity that certainly threads a different needle than the usual "main hero" present in Westerns (fitting in a decade with plenty to offer in that department) that seems fitting of psychoanalysis more than adulation. Malden, noted in his career for his versatility as a character actor with everyman qualities of intensity and authenticity, accompanies him as a father figure with his own complexity as adversary and authority figure filled with half-truths. Johnson and Pickens accompany the film at times with composed grime, while Jurado (who carved an image for herself in both Mexican and American cinema) makes for a calming presence and Pellicer (who appeared in five films before committing suicide at the age of 30) makes for quiet chemistry with Brando. This is a film that soaks with paradoxes of moralities and myths, packing a swift climax that makes a fitting end for such nihilism, even if Brando felt a bit disappointment in how the characters seemed to be "black and white, not gray and human as I planned them." It meanders at times, but at least the cinematography by Charles Lang is nice to look at to make things palpable. On the whole, this is a film with plenty of intensity and ego on display in it its star and director, a fitting curiosity that any actor/director would surely be proud to have done, warts and all.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.