Cat Ballou

Western parody, tinged with melancholy for the good old days, in which prim Fonda returns home from school to find her rancher father under threat of eviction or worse, and hires a once-famous gunfighter (Marvin) - who proves to be a drunken bum - as protection against the dreaded hired gunman with the tin nose (also Marvin). The film presents such a mixture of comedy styles that the more lumpen slapstick routines, and the cosy musical interludes from Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye, may lull you into overlooking some brilliant throwaways. Marvin is consistently brilliant, but the film is patchy.