The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday

I do not know enough about Director Don Taylor but I can assure you that after watching THE GREAT SCOUT & CATHOUSE THURSDAY I hope I do not have to suffer the torture of watching another mindless piece like this.

Taylor completely misuses an ageing Lee Marvin apparently trying to revive the role of Kid Shelleen in CAT BALLOU - without the booze; a statuesque and lively young Kay Lenz as Thursday, who for no discernible reason seems to be in love with old and frail looking Marvin, by then clearly affected by all the heavy drinking; Sylvia Miles having lesbian designs on Lenz seven years after servicing strapping John Voight in MIDNIGHT COWBOY; and Robert Culp in tow looking for $60,000 which Marvin does not care for - he wants Lenz, unfit though he seems for the part of making her happy. Throw in a few great looking jallopies competing with horses for space on the road in the late 19th century. Oh progress - why do you spoil everything?

It used to be just gunslingers, innocent souls getting in the crossfire and hookers livening things up but this bad old West has snakes in glass jars, Strothers Martin ready to pull the rug, Ollie Reed running around making faces and bulbous bulging eyes in the best tradition of no known Indian tribe...

Does it make any sense to you? Me neither.

Cinematography is sloppy, script nonsensical throughout, supposedly looking to recapture Marvin's glory day in screwball Western CAT BALLOU (1965) with expletives modernizing it to match 1976 lingo.

Single worst sin: a completely miscast Reed as an Indian with a Harvard background who just runs around with women's scalps in his inside pockets (wow, a novelty - I had never noticed those in Indian clothing before!)

Hysterical throughout. Everyone gets to shout, holler, yell, at various points in the flick... but definitely NOT hysterically funny!

Overlong, too. Despite superior cast, fair warning: best avoided. 5/10.

Lee Marvin dusted off the rapscallion character he played in both Cat Ballou and Paint Your Wagon to star in The Great Scout&Cathouse Thursday. Marvin is the great scout at least by his lights and Cathouse Thursday is Kay Lenz.

It's 1908 and the scout's seen his best days gone by. But the sight of his old prospecting partner Robert Culp who is now running for governor of the state on a fortune that was started with the money that they prospected and Culp stole sends Marvin into action. Marvin contacts Oliver Reed and Strother Martin the other two partners and they formulate several plans for revenge.

The plan they eventually settle on is to kidnap Culp's wife Elizabeth Ashley who used to be with Marvin and hold her for ransom. Along in all of this is Lenz who is left over from a raid on a bordello she works at when Oliver Reed decides to keep her after he rescues the others. Lenz isn't crazy to go back there and be the special favorite of lesbian madam Sylvia Miles. In fact she comes in quite handy in dealing with Culp.

The Great Scout&Cathouse Thursday is a rollicking western with Marvin, Reed, and Martin all competing to see who can ham it up the most. I think Reed's scene in which he gets cured of the clap after being led down a garden path by Marvin is the best. Let's just say that Marvin was years ahead of his time in predicting the treatment.

The final fight scene between Marvin and Culp was borrowed from the John Wayne classic, McLintock. It still works in this film and provides a fitting climax.

Set against the backdrop of the William Howard Taft presidential campaign, "The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday" is a bright, lively, appealing Western-comedy. Lee Marvin is fun as always as renowned Indian scout Sam Longwood, and fiery, wisecracking half-breed Joe Knox (Oliver Reed, of all people), and feisty old codger Billy (Strother Martin) are his accomplices in various shenanigans. What they really want is for their nemesis, Jack Colby (Robert Culp) is to pay them the money he's owed them for a long time. The trio find that they have their hands full when "Thursday" (ever-lovely Kay Lenz), a purloined prostitute, insists on tagging along for most of the ride.

This is a fun movie. It's not a comedy classic, but it's pleasant enough, with some amusing lines of dialogue along the way. There's action, beautiful scenery, and even a bit of slapstick. Everybody involved seemed to have had a good time, with actor-turned-director Don Taylor ("Escape from the Planet of the Apes") leading this circus in style. And for those who are interested, there is some partial nudity from some of the female co-stars.

The main value of "The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday" is in the assemblage of talent. Marvin is wonderful (and has some very goofy facial expressions here and there), and Martin of course remains a real gem of a character actor. Culp is a smooth, unflappable villain. Elizabeth Ashley adds to the sex appeal playing Culps' unloved wife, and in an odd turn of events, she ends up joining the Marvin-Martin-Reed-Lenz gang. Lenz is as adorable as she's ever been, and the viewer does enjoy seeing her assert herself, endear herself to the rest of the gang, and try to escape the clutches of her maniacal madam (Sylvia Miles). But the real star of this picture has to be Reed, who's hilarious, despite what looks to be egregious miscasting. It's just too funny when he's misled about the cure for the clap.

John Cameron composed the jaunty score and Alex Phillips Jr. was in charge of the gorgeous cinematography for this amiable romp, which was written by Richard Alan Shapiro, whose numerous credits include the TV series 'Dynasty' and 'The Colbys'.

All in all, this does show its audience a good time, and knows how to leave them with a smile.

Seven out of 10.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I thought it would be pretty stupid but instead it was quite clever. This movie gave me the impression that everyone must have had a good time making it. Lee Marvin, Strother Martin and Englishman Oliver Reed, as half-breed Joe Knox(!), meshed perfectly. The women were lovely and not very dainty and Robert Culp was as usual, Robert Culp (it must be in his contract). Believe it or not, the story, convoluted as it is, makes sense and there is even an elaborate caper pulled near the end. A movie that should offend many people but is so good natured that it charms them instead.

An outstanding and irreverent comedy. Lots of belly laughs! Cannot understand why it is not available on DVD yet? Even though that pretty well sums up what I have to say, more is necessary if I want this to appear, so here goes.

Marvin, Reed, Crenna and Lenz all have a gift for comedy that was not always appreciated. Lenz is at her most fetching and can light up the screen and steal scenes, even from such veteran actors. Amazing also the way the old West stuff is still so applicable to modern life. Guess the dynamics of human nature and the relationship between men and women never change much. People a hundred years from now could watch this film and get the same laughs as the same absurdity in human situations will still exist then.