Marlon Brando

One-Eyed Jacks

One-Eyed Jacks

This is a western like no other, combining the mythological scope of that most American of genres with the searing naturalism of a performance by Marlon Brando—all suffused with Freudian overtones and masculine anxiety. In his only directing stint, Brando captures rugged coastal and desert landscapes in gorgeous widescreen, Technicolor images, and elicits from his fellow actors (including Karl Malden and Pina Pellicer) nuanced depictions of conflicted characters. Though the production was overwhelmed by its director’s perfectionism and plagued by setbacks and studio reediting, One-Eyed Jacks stands as one of Brando’s great achievements, thanks above all to his tortured turn as Rio, a bank robber bent on revenge against his former partner in crime. Brooding and romantic, Rio is the last and perhaps the most tender of the iconic outsiders that the great actor imbued with such intensity throughout his career.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1961
  • 141 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • English
  • Spine #844

Special Features

  • New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by Universal Pictures in partnership with The Film Foundation and in consultation with filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New introduction by Scorsese
  • Excerpts from voice recordings director and star Marlon Brando made during the development of the film’s script
  • New video essays on the film’s production history and on its potent combination of the stage and screen icon Brando with the classic Hollywood western genre
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Howard Hampton

    New cover by Robert Hunt

Purchase Options

Special Features

  • New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by Universal Pictures in partnership with The Film Foundation and in consultation with filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New introduction by Scorsese
  • Excerpts from voice recordings director and star Marlon Brando made during the development of the film’s script
  • New video essays on the film’s production history and on its potent combination of the stage and screen icon Brando with the classic Hollywood western genre
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Howard Hampton

    New cover by Robert Hunt
One-Eyed Jacks
Cast
Marlon Brando
Rio
Karl Malden
Sheriff Dad Longworth
Katy Jurado
Maria Longworth
Ben Johnson
Bob Amory
Slim Pickens
Deputy Lon Dedrick
Pina Pellicer
Louisa
Larry Duran
Chico Modesto
Sam Gilman
Harvey Johnson
MÍriam Colón
Redhead
Timothy Carey
Howard Tetley
Margarita Cordova
Flamenco Dancer
Elisha Cook Jr.
Mr. Carvey, banker
Rodolfo Acosta
Rurale captain
Joan Petrone
Flower vendor
Joe Dominguez
Corral owner
Tom Webb
Corral owner’s son
Ray Teal
Barney
John Dierkes
Chet
Philip Ahn
Uncle, hostel owner
Hank Worden
Doc
Clem Harvey
Tim
William Forrest
Bartender
Mina Martinez
Margarita
Credits
Director
Marlon Brando
Producer
Frank P. Rosenberg
Executive producers
George Glass
Executive producers
Walter Seltzer
Assistant to the producer
Carlo Fiore
Screenplay by
Guy Trosper
Screenplay by
Calder Willingham
Based on the novel The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones by
Charles Neider
Director of photography
Charles Lang Jr.
Music by
Hugo Friedhofer
Art direction
Hal Pereira
Art direction
J. McMillan Johnson
Editor
Archie Marshek
Set decoration
Sam Comer
Set decoration
Robert Benton
Sound
Hugo Grenzbach
Sound
Charles Grenzbach
Special photographic effects
John P. Fulton
Technicolor consultant
Richard Mueller
Assistant directors
Francisco Day
Assistant directors
Harry Caplan
Costumes
Yvonne Wood
Makeup
Wally Westmore
Marlon Brando’s makeup
Phil Rhodes
Hair
Nellie Manley
Set photographer
Sam Shaw

Current

Brando’s Rebellious Western
Brando’s Rebellious Western
After years of cultivating his immortal on-screen persona as a handsome, brooding outsider, Marlon Brando expanded his creative ambitions when he both directed and starred in One-Eyed Jacks, his first and only time behind the camera. Boasting VistaVi…
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One-Eyed Jacks: Zen Nihilism

The result of a notoriously troubled production, Marlon Brando’s unorthodox western presents a brooding vision of human futility.

By Howard Hampton

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Noir on the Range

In her latest column, critic Imogen Sara Smith explores landmark moments in the intersection of noir and the western, including Marlon Brando’s One-Eyed Jacks.

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