The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
Burt
Reynolds is Jay Grobart, a former army captain who has spent some time in jail
for shooting the man who raped and murdered his wife, an Indian woman named Cat
Dancing (hence the odd title). After his release, he takes to robbing trains with
three of his friends, Dawes, Billy and Charlie. Sarah Miles is Catherine
Crocker, a highborn Lady who accidentaly witnesses their latest robbery. Jay wants to take her horse, but Dawes and Billy are also interested in the lady. When they flee into the mountains, they're
persecuted by Lapchance, a railway detective, and lady Catherine's husband William ...
I had
always avoided this movie, because of the negative reviews, so I was surprised
to see a genuinely enjoyable western. Okay, it runs for nearly two hours, at
least half an hour too long, and there are a few issues with the script, but
Reynolds and Miles are a nice, unlikely couple and Jack Warden and Bo Hopkins
are an interesting pair of sex-crazed baddies, both trying to get their filthy
hands on Mrs. Crocker. There's no too much action, but those sparse action
moments are remarkably cruel and violent, notably a protracted fistfight
between Reynolds and Warden.
Reynolds'
performance in Deliverance (1972) had brought him critical acclaim and a semi-nude
Cosmopolitan centerfold had turned him into a sex symbol. Expectations were
high but the film was not born under a lucky star. Screenwriter
Eleanor Perry, a well-known feminist, claimed that others (among them Robert
Bolt, Mrs. Miles' husband) had rewritten her script and ruined the character of
Catherine Crocker. The movie also got some negative publicity because of a
scandal: Miles' business manager (and possible lover) had been found dead in
his hotel room and both she and Reynolds had to testify in the ensuing
investigation (*1). "Talking about Cat Dancing brings me
pain," Reynolds later said. "So I'd rather not talk about it."
The movie
was praised for its breathtaking location photography and some critics liked
the romantic spin, but others thought the script too easily turned Catherine
Crocker from an independent woman who runs away from her abusive husband, into
a docile woman who falls for her kidnapper. The about face may be a bit too
sudden and smooth, but note that Catherine remains the dominant character: she
picks Groper to become the father of her child, he does not take her by force. Reynolds
bemused reticence in front of the rather talkative and resolute lady is
sympathetic. The storytelling is a bit sluggish at times, but the script keeps
you guessing how things will end. We only learn in the course of the movie
where Reynolds needs the money from the robberies for and there's at least one
- quite shocking - revelation in relation to his character that will surprise
most viewers.
Director:
Richard C. Sarafian - Cast: Burt Reynolds (Jay Grobart), Sarah Miles (Catherine Crocker), Jack Warden (Dawes), Lee J.
Cobb (Lapchance), Bo Hopkins (Billy), George Hamilton (William Crocker), Jay Varela (Charlie), James Hampton, Jay Silverheels -
Music: John Williams - Screenplay: Eleanor Perry, based on a novel by Marilyn
Durham
Miscellaneous:
* Jay
Silverheels, who appears in the film's finale, is best known for his role as
Tonto, the faithful companion of The Lone Ranger
* The
action scenes were coordinated by Hal Needham, a personal friend of Burt
Reynolds and his regular stunt double. The two struck a rich vein a couple of
years later when Reynolds offered Needham to direct his own screenplay called
Smokey and the Bandit. The rest is history
Notes:
(*1) A
contemporary newspaper article on the case: * http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1973/03/15/page/10/article/actress-at-whiting-inquest
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