MAGNET contributing writer Jud Cost is sharing some of the wealth of classic films he’s been lucky enough to see over the past 40 years. Trolling the backwaters of cinema, he has worked up a list of more than 100 titles—from the ’20s through the ’80s—that you may have missed. A new selection, all currently available on DVD, appears every week.
One-Eyed Jacks (1961, 141 minutes)
It’s 1880, and Rio (Marlon Brando) calmly eats a banana as he covers a Mexican bank’s customers with a pistol while his partner, Dad Longworth (Karl Malden), fills a saddle bag with gold coins. Later that day, Rio courts a local senora, giving her a ring he claims belonged to his mother. When she asks what he does, he replies, “I transport money for the banks.” But a posse of about 20 rurales is chasing the robbers. “Hey kid, on your horse! Rurales!” shouts Longworth, galloping out of town. Rio yanks the ring from the senora’s finger, saying, “Sorry sweetheart. Maybe next time.”
The pair is pinned down by the lawmen on top of a steep hill. Down to only one horse, the outlaws cast lots to see who rides for replacement mounts, and Dad wins. “I’ll see ya, right quick. Don’t go away, now,” he says. “Wasn’t thinkin’ of it,” Rio answers. But Dad never returns, hightailing it across the U.S. border, instead.
Five years later, after escaping from a Mexican prison, Rio rides into Monterey, Calif., where Longworth is now the sheriff. “Lookin’ for somebody?” asks deputy Lon Dedrick (Slim Pickens), picking his teeth. “Lookin’ for Dad Longworth,” says Rio. “Who wants to see him? I’m the deputy.” “I don’t believe you could handle it. I asked you polite,” says Rio. “I got a lotta funny things to do today, but lippin’ with you ain’t one of ’em,” says Lon. “I’d say you’re shy a few manners, mister,” says Rio. “You’re lookin’ to get yore back busted, sonny,” replies Lon. “Could be you get your chance to try it,” says Rio.
Longworth is napping on his porch when Rio dismounts and says, “Hello, Dad.” “Hello, kid,” says Longworth. “I knew you’d be comin’ sooner or later. There’s somethin’ I’ve been wantin’ to tell you for a long time. I guess you wondered why I never showed up with the horses.”
“Yeah, I thought about it,” grins Rio. Dad lies to him: “There was nothin’ I could do, kid. When I got to that little rancho, there were no horses. But if that’s what you want, I’ll stand up to ya.” Rio answers, “No need for that, Dad, cuz nothin’ happened to me. I went down the hill after dark and stole the captain’s horse. You know me. If I didn’t feel right, we’d be splattering each other all over that front yard.”
Next morning, Rio talks with two hired killers he’s enlisted to help take the bank in Monterey. “I didn’t ride 900 miles to come up empty,” says Bob Amory (Ben Johnson). “Bank don’t open till day after tomorrow,” says Rio, rolling a cigarette. “What about Longworth?” asks Harvey Johnson (Sam Gilman). “Nothin’ about him,” says Rio. “When the bank opens, I’m gonna kill him.”
