One-Eyed Jacks (1961): Marlon Brando's Directorial Debut

I had hopes to watch more Marlon Brando movies, but only two were legally available that I haven't seen yet.  However, I can appreciate the symmetry of watching his first ever movie and his first ever directorial movie.  (He only directed one movie)  One-Eyed Jacks is about a criminal outlaw in Mexico who is betrayed by his partner.  He goes to jail while his partner becomes a respected sheriff of a town in California.

Perhaps the most curious thing about this movie is that it was originally slated to be directed by Stanley Kubrick and to be written by Sam Peckinpah.  It's hard to know how good Peckinpah was as a writer, because his credits include TV episodes and combined efforts on movies he directed (Which could have easily been very minimal contribution).  As a director, I haven't seen any of his movies, but he has a fairly solid list of films.  I would be interested in seeing this directed by Kubrick - and I say that as someone who has been severely underwhelmed by the majority of his movies.

Anyway, One-Eyed Jacks is a solid Western, if a bit long.  My problem was that almost all of the action occurs in the first half hour.  In that half hour, the entire premise is set and the only thing left to do is for Brando to get revenge on Karl Malden's character.  He meets him about 20 minutes later and then there's still an hour and a half of movie left.  I have no idea how Brando's original cut for this movie was FIVE hours long.

The other problem was that the central love story, between Rio (Brando) and Louisa is entirely unconvincing.  I think it was Brando's fault, because while he nailed the tough exterior shell of a person, I didn't really buy that this woman changed him.  Most of the problem is that they knew each other for like a couple days.

This has a strong supporting cast.  I surprisingly liked Karl Malden in this more than Brando.  Slim Pickens is memorable in a somewhat minor part.  Katy Jurado doesn't get a whole lot to do, but she's effective as Malden's wife.  And Iiked Larry Duran as Chico, Rio's partner.  This movie makes me think Brando would have been a good director if he had made more or if he was willing to cut more scenes.

3/4 Stars