One-Eyed Jacks (1961)

One-Eyed Jacks (1961)

starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Katy Jurado

directed by Marlon Brando

141 minutes

In 1880, three men rob a bank in Sonora, Mexico. One of them is killed during the robbery. The two surviving bank robbers, Dad Longworth (Karl Malden) and Rio (Marlon Brando), escape into the desert but they only have one horse and Rurales (mounted police) are on their tail. Dad takes the one horse, after they talk about it, and goes to get a couple fresh horses while Rio stays behind to hold off the Rurales.

Dad gets the horses but then changes his mind and doesn't go back. He takes off with the money he has on a fresh horse. Rio gets arrested by the Rurales and spends the next five years in prison in Mexico.

Rio eventually escapes from prison. He joins up with a couple other bank robbers (Bob and Harvey) and together with Modesto (with whom Rio escaped from prison) they head north to Monterey, California in the hopes of robbing another bank. Rio wasn't interested in the job until he learned that the sheriff of Monterey was Dad Longworth.

Things get complicated in Monterey. Rio goes to see Dad. The two men lie to one another. Dad tells Rio that he tried to go back but got there to late. Rio says nothing about the time he spent in prison. Dad is married now to Maria (Katy Jurado) who has a daughter, Louisa, from a previous relationship.

Dad is happy where he's at now. He doesn't want anything to jeopardize what he's got. Rio is still thinking about revenge but seems to be willing to play the long game. Things come apart between Dad and Rio after Dad finds out that Louisa spent the night on the beach with him.

Rio uses his power in Monterey to punish Rio and then kick him out of town. Rio holes up and recovers but things start to come apart between himself and Bob and Harvey. They decide to go ahead with the bank robbery, Bob gets killed, Harvey escapes, and the blame gets put on Rio who wasn't anywhere near the bank.

Dad arrests Rio and promises him that he will hang. Louisa helps Rio to escape but Dad shows up in time for a final showdown between sheriff and bank robber.

Thoughts

I've seen this movie once before, I think it was during the mid to late 1990s. I remember enjoying it very much then but I didn't remember much about it other than Dad and Rio had been pals, there was falling out, and now Dad was a lawman and Rio was an outlaw.

This is the only film that Marlon Brando directed.

There are a few familiar faces in the supporting cast. Slim Pickens played Dad Longworth's number one deputy. His character was about as slimy as can be. The only thing I've seen in recent years that he's been in was Dr. Strangelone (1964) but there are a number of other films he's been in that I've seen. 

Timothy Carey played a nasty human being named Howard Tatley who tries to kill Rio after getting into a fight with him in a bar. I've seen him in a couple movies in recent years: The Killing (1956) and The Outfit (1973).

Elisha Cook, Jr. played the part of a bank teller. I've seen him in several films in recent years including The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Phantom Lady (1944).

I was very impressed with One-Eyed Jacks this time around. The movie consists of lots of little moments that are woven together quite well. The cinematography is gorgeous. Cinematographer Charles Lang was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematogrphy for One-Eyed Jacks. It was one of 18 times that he was nominated for the award. There are lots of beautiful shots of the scenery. All the acting performances are good to excellent.