Weekend Buff
One-Eyed Jacks
Marlon Brando is one of America’s most iconic actors. His acting in movies such as On the Waterfront and The Godfather secured his place as a film legend.
Brando only directed one film in his storied career, with the western, One-Eyed Jacks, which is our recommendation for this week’s installment of Weekend Buff.
He directed and starred in this lesser-known film, giving a fine performance both behind and in front of the camera. One-Eyed Jacks is a loose take on the novel, The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones by Charles Neider.
Paramount Pictures was initially set be directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick, but he left to direct Lolita just before filming began. Brando, already cast in the lead, stepped up to direct.
The results were fantastic, but Brando, ever the perfectionist, rewrote many of the scenes himself (he fired two screenwriters during production including Sam Peckinpah). He also completely ignored finances, going way over budget. A novice director, he shot and printed over 5 hours of additional film, making editing a nightmare and delaying the film’s release by years. Despite a solid movie for a first-time director, Brando’s idiosyncrasies, perfectionist tendencies, and complete lack of regard for time and budget likely ended his career behind the camera.
Brando stars as troubled bank robber Rico. Karl Malden co-stars as Sheriff Dad Longworth. In 1880, Rico and Longworth rob a bank in Mexico and are on the run from the law. Longworth betrays Rico, allowing him to be captured while escaping with the money.
After serving five years in a Mexican jail, Rico makes it his mission to locate Longworth and get revenge. He finds Longworth reformed and serving as the Sheriff of Monterey California. Rico meets and falls in love with Longworth’s stepdaughter, Louisa, complicating his plans for vengeance. Nevertheless, Rico and Longworth are clearly on a collision course throughout the film.
The story is simple, but the characters complex. Rico is a hardened criminal prone to fits of rage, but at the same time moral and compassionate. Dad Longworth starts the film as a Judas but has turned his life around. The story shows that his personal reforms are, to a degree, superficial. He does what is best for Dad Longwood no matter what side of the law he is on.
The other characters are there to highlight the flaws in Rico and Longworth. Rico blatantly lies and misleads Louisa but later shows such care and compassion – renouncing his lies and misdeeds. He stands up for the powerless but threatens and kills people. Longworth seems like an upstanding family man but throws racial slurs and his Mexican wife and stepdaughter.
Brando is excellent, as expected, in this film. Malden didn’t seem like the logical choice for Sheriff Longworth, but he is pretty convincing as the Machiavellian outlaw turned lawman. They are supported by Pina Pellicer as Louisa, Katy Jurado as the Sheriff’s wife, Maria, and Slim Pickens as deputy sheriff, Lon Dedrick. All do a great job, but I can’t look at Slim Pickens in any western role without thinking of Taggert from Blazing Saddles. It’s hard for me take him seriously.
One-Eyed Jacks was one of only two westerns that Marlon Brando made in his career. It’s a shame. He seems like the perfect actor to portray the duality of good and bad that characterized the rough and tumble old west. Brando proves that here. One-Eyed Jacks runs a little over two hours. It can be slow in spots, but the great performances make up for it. You can catch the movie for free on YouTube. Enjoy this lost classic western as Marlon Brando seeks love and revenge in the American West.
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