One-Eyed Jacks
| One-Eyed Jacks | |
|---|---|
US film poster
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| Directed by | Marlon Brando |
| Produced by | Frank P. Rosenberg |
| Screenplay by |
Guy Trosper Calder Willingham Uncredited: Rod Serling Sam Peckinpah |
| Based on |
The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones by Charles Neider |
| Starring | Marlon Brando Karl Malden Katy Jurado Pina Pellicer Ben Johnson Slim Pickens |
| Music by | Hugo Friedhofer |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang |
| Edited by | Archie Marshek Jack H. Lippiatt |
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Production
company |
Pennebaker Productions
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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141 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $4.3 million (US/ Canada rentals) |
One-Eyed Jacks is a 1961 Western film directed by Marlon Brando; it was the first and only film directed by him. It was originally planned to be directed by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay by Sam Peckinpah, but studio disputes led to their replacement by Brando and Guy Trosper. Brando portrays the lead character Rio, and Karl Malden plays his partner, "Dad" Longworth. The supporting cast features Katy Jurado, Ben Johnson, and Slim Pickens.
Rio (Marlon Brando) (also called "The Kid"), his mentor Dad Longworth (Karl Malden), and a third man called Doc rob a bank of two saddlebags of gold in Sonora, Mexico. The robbery is successful, but Mexican rurales (mounted police) track them and catch them celebrating in a cantina, killing Doc. Dad and Rio manage to escape.
After getting cornered on a high ridge, with Rio's horse dead, Rio figures the rurales will be "swarming all over us inside an hour." Deciding that one partner might take the remaining pony, ride to a jacalito down the canyon about five miles and return with fresh mounts, they gamble for it, with Rio fixing the deal so his pal Dad can be the one to go.
Dad gets to a corral, strapping the swag bag onto a fresh pony, but he gets second thoughts. He casts one eye towards a point on the ridge sure to be taken by the rurales, and with the other he gazes off in the opposite direction out past a low-lying treeline towards the border and safety. One way leads to danger and a poor chance at surviving with half the booty, the other towards a virtual certainty with all of it. After a decidedly short moment of reflection, he leaves his friend to be taken by the rurales. Rio is arrested and transported to prison by way of the jacalito, where he learns firsthand of Dad's betrayal from the owner.
Rio spends five hard years in a Sonora prison, giving him ample time to mull over Dad's betrayal before escaping with new partner Chico Modesto (Larry Duran) and going hunting for him. When he locates him, Longworth has used his wealth to become the sheriff of Monterey, California. Instead of ambushing Dad, Rio gives him a chance to explain why he left him back in Mexico, pretending he had never been captured to put him off-guard. Longworth's awkward self-serving story is easily seen through.
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Wikipedia