ONE EYED JACKS (1961)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Western

Director: Marlon Brando

Cast: Marlon Brando / Karl Malden / Pina Pellicer

 

Plot

After being betrayed by his partner and spending five years in a Mexican jail, bankrobber Kid Rio arrives in Monterey, California looking for revenge, only to learn that the man he intends to kill is now town sheriff.

What I Liked

The most striking thing about “One Eyed Jacks” is the cinematography.  Granted, a lot of westerns make use of panoramic shots of vast landscapes and there’s a fair amount of that here too (particularly moody is the early scene where Kid Rio finds himself trapped atop a cliff in a sandstorm with a party of Mexican lawmen closing in).  But I actually found the interior shots most interesting here.  The positioning of different characters on the screen, their relationship to the doorways, windows, and furniture in the rooms, and of course the many close-ups of Marlon Brando’s Rio as he struggles to contain his hatred and bloodlust.

Speaking of Brando, he does bring an extra psychological depth essential to his complicated character.  His brooding obsessiveness is really the thing which keeps the viewer watching, making up for his unconvincing Elvis Presley accent.  Brando just has that natural charisma, that star power quality that some call “It,” undefinable and uncoachable.  However, even if it is Brando who is responsible for the soulfulness of the movie, Karl Malden (in the role of his nemesis Dad Longworth) is able to compete with him on fairly even ground.  Longworth is a character who can be sadistic, respectful, jovial, refined, or venomous, depending on the circumstances, and Malden plays each of these various personalities with equal genuineness and personality.  Where Brando sometimes seems awkward in his role, particularly for the scenes requiring a macho brutality, Malden is constantly believable and fascinating.

With its morally dubious hero, many close-up shots, and portrayal of a more natural feeling West than was common in most American genre films of the day, “One Eyed Jacks” sometimes feels more like it belongs among Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western oeuvre than it does to the traditions common to the American Western.  It’s a movie ahead of its time, but not without its flaws.

What I Disliked

With a whole lot more talking and facial expressions than action, “One Eyed Jacks” won’t satisfy those who are looking for the shoot-outs, cowboys vs. Indians, and fist fights that fill up the standard American western.  Once Rio gets to Monterey, the plot moves along at a snail’s pace and every time it seems the film is approaching a climactic showdown between Rio and Longworth the plot takes a decidedly anticlimactic turn back to conversation and delay.  Sure there’s a gunfight or two, and Rio uses his fists on a couple of guys, but those moments come few and far between.  In a film that is nearly two and a half hours long, this process can be quite daunting even for those who respect the film’s more subtle qualities.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

Once Rio arrives in Monterey to find Longworth a respected man with a wife and step-daughter, he sets about playing the role of the long-lost friend, looking to lull Longworth into lowering his guard.  During these scenes, Brando is magnificent, switching from kindly to spiteful. In a particularly nasty move, Rio seduces Longworth’s beautiful step-daughter (played by Pina Pellicer) and after a night of Oceanside lovemaking, basically reveals to her that he lied to her and took her virginity simply out of hatred for her stepfather – and because he can’t resist his own duplicitous nature.  Pellicer plays her role with such innocence and fragility that the viewer’s heart breaks with hers as her dreams of love and living happily ever after vanish immediately.  Until this moment, the audience is wholeheartedly rooting for Rio.  This moment sticks with the audience for the rest of the film and we can’t help but despise even him, the film’s hero.  You don't just come to town to kill a guy after five years, you also seduce and impregnate his daughter only to break her heart?  Now that's just mean.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5