From what I've read, Brando and Kubrick disagreed on script contents, and Brando, being the heavyweight at the time, gave Kubrick the ol' heave-ho. Whatever Kubrick's version was to be, it had to be superior to the film's final product which can be summed: Love conquers all. All the characters are exaggerated almost to the point of absurdity. This is most likely the product of Brando's inexperience as a director. The film lacks any genuine sense of realism and so, there is no amount of intensity to Brando's (Rio) plight. When he's jailed, a day way from being hung, you know it's not going to happen. Great supporting actors of the Western genre such as Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens and Kathy Jurado are essentially wasted. What's good about it? The cinematography is excellent. Cowboys riding horses against the backdrop of the California coastline is an unusual setting, and camera man Charles Lang uses it to maximum effect. I read that the musical score is considered great, but I just didn't notice it. When you compare this Western to the works of John Ford, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone, it's just not in that class. Yes, it's a pretty good movie, but not in the same ballpark as the works of the aforementioned masters of the cowboy movie.
Review of One-Eyed Jacks
