One Eyed-Jacks (Marlon Brando, 1961)

[quote=“Romaine Fielding, post:20, topic:1240”]Hear hear. Great cast.

Chris, like Starblack, I’m jealous. But not just of WHO you know but of HOW MUCH you know…
:)[/quote]

Aw, shucks, fellas…it aint nothin’.

Well worth seeing. Some great acting by Malden, Pickens, and many others. A few great scenes with cult star Timothy Carey.

This one can be found on DVD cheap, but be careful. There are some dreadful full frame versions taken from bad old VHS tapes. But decent DVDs taken from the excellent laserdisc version can be found for the same low price.

This is the one I have (now out of print) and it’s pretty damn good for $5.00 USD.

Here in the states, Big Lots carries a line of triple features for a buck. The one with LVC’s CHAMELEON, ONE EYED JACKS and UNDER THE CALIFORNIA STARS features the widescreen rip as well.

Ah, yes. All great, but I think I like Slim Pickens the best after Brando and Malden in the film. What a great actor!

Having got myself a DVD of One Eyed Jacks yesterday to replace my old VHS of it, I was casually reading about it on IMDb and saw that there was talk of Brando’s four hour cut. I bet this would have fleshed out the film a lot more, especially the romantic subplot and was wondering if it is still around as there must have been more than one copy of the four hour cut.

Was a longer version ever shown anywhere? Never heard that one was actually prepared.

Four hours?!? That’s not a film, that’s a mini series.

Well there was also talk about 5 hours …

[quote=“Phil H, post:27, topic:1240”]Four hours?!? That’s not a film, that’s a mini series.[/quote]Not really. I’ve seen films that are three and a half hours long and I’m sure there are some that are four hours.

Unfortunatley, the extra scenes were destroyed so no hope for an uncut version. Apparently, there was a subplot with Brando having a romance with a chinese girl in the village.

With all the horrible DVDs of this one out there, does anyone know which is considered the best release of this?

It’s a shame there are only rubbish public domain versions are available - this Western really deserves a high quality release.

If you type it in on amazon you get loads of hits. I guess now it’s in the public domain, big companies are reluctant to release it due to all the, albeit poor, competition.

Just a guess, but I think they are all about the same. All of them are PD.

Forthcoming German Blu-ray:

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0051SUSXU/ref=nosim?tag=dvdbeaver0c-21&link_code=as2&creativeASIN=B0051SUSXU&creative=374929&camp=211189

Hope it’s good.

A new German DVD of One Eyed Jacks, which advertises itself as the best version worldwide. So far, as it ain’t has a very good picture.
But for only 6,99 € it is a pretty good DVD.

And the film is better than I remembered it. The acting is indeed great, and often surprisingly naturalistic. The film has also great sets and costumes and the photography and the directing is also very good. The atmosphere is often 10 years ahead of its time and the brutishness and the psychological complexity was pretty unusual for a late 50s western. Only some melodramatic aspects are a bit too soft, and the final image looks too optimistic.
One of the best western of the 50s. 9/10

9/10 from Stanton!?! Does that mean it’s as good as Quantum of Solace ;)? Joking aside, would you say this is the best DVD of it so far?

I don’t know. I never saw another one, but always read how bad they are.

It is at least in the correct aspect ratio 1,85:1 and anamorph. Colors are a bit pale, but maybe on purpose.

And yes, as good as Quantum of Solace and therefore much better than LotR 1 :wink:

I personally hate this film but if they have a longer, better version of it that would be nice.

Enjoyed this much more on my second viewing. It’d be nice if the ‘romantic’ scenes didn’t linger as long, and I could do without the scenes between the mother and daughter.