The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Richard C. Sarafian

Writers:

Marilyn Durham (novel)
Eleanor Perry (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 October 1973 (Sweden)

Genre:

Western

Plot Keywords:

Abduction | Train Robbery | Rape | Shot In The Back | Posse

Cast

Burt Reynolds	...	Jay
Sarah Miles	...	Catherine Crocker
Lee J. Cobb	...	Lapchance
Jack Warden	...	Dawes
George Hamilton	...	Crocker
Bo Hopkins	...	Billy
Robert Donner	...	Dub
Sandy Kevin	...	Ben
Larry Littlebird	...	Iron Knife
Nancy Malone	...	Sudie
Jay Silverheels	...	The Chief
Jay Varela	...	Charlie
Owen Bush	...	Conductor
Larry Finley	...	Bartender
Sutero García Jr.	...	Dream Speaker

Runtime:

114 min | USA:123 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1973) (theater release) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1989) (VHS) | West Germany:18 (cut) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce, Utah, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Michel Legrand was originally hired to compose the musical score for the film. He composed his score in Paris in May 1973 and recorded a little over twenty minutes of it in Hollywood the following month, whereupon director Richard C. Sarafian and studio executives James Aubrey and Daniel Melnick informed Legrand that his score was not what they felt the film needed and that he was being dismissed.

Quotes:

Jay: I told you I didn't want anybody killed back there!
Dawes: Yeah, well, I forgot.

Melodrama 'spoof'

It amazes me how many people see this movie as a B grade western! I found it to be an excellent adaptation of a decent western genre book that happened to have been written by a WOMAN. The casting could not have been more perfect in that each person played their character so well. And the characters were a 'spoof' at the cliché of melodrama types that most westerns portray anyway. This is a story about how people LIE to themselves and end up not only ruining their own lives, but harming those near them too. And how honesty comes hard and maybe late, but can come before one dies. The only flaw of the movie is that it didn't tell the full tale of Cat Dancing and the tragedy that befell her, Burt's character and their children's lives. On the other hand, I liked the movie ending better than the book's.