Lovesusti
The Worst Film Ever
Colibel
Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Jonathon Dabell
I must admit that even though I usually don't pre-judge a film, I'd already decided that The Great Scout And Cathouse Thursday was going to be pretty terrible. Surprisingly, it isn't. Not that it's particularly good either, but at least it doesn't fall horribly flat as it could so easily have done. It must have taken a mighty brave studio to have the nerve to cast hellraisers Lee Marvin and Oliver Reed in the same movie… but here they are, mugging away something rotten in this slapstick western – clearly having a good time, some of which occasionally transmits across to the audience. Oddball western character-actor Strother Martin is in there too, essaying another of his effortlessly watchable performances as a lovable eccentric.In the latter-day Wild West, oddball partners Sam Longwood (Lee Marvin), Joe Knox (Oliver Reed) and Billy (Strother Martin) spend their time drifting from one town to another getting into various misadventures. In one town, they spot their old pal Jack Colby (Robert Culp) who stole a fortune from them when they struck gold some fifteen years earlier. Since then Colby has gone on to become a pampered playboy, dipping his toes into political campaigning and promoting big sports events. Meanwhile, Sam and the boys have struggled by, making a few dollars by whatever means they can. The luckless trio decide to confront Colby and claim back their rightful money, leading to a series of increasingly madcap events in which they try to recover it. They are joined in their adventures by young prostitute Thursday (Kay Lenz), who finds herself craving an unlikely love affair with the grizzled old-timer Sam.Directed economically by workmanlike veteran Don Taylor, The Great Scout And Cathouse Thursday is amusing fun. Marvin hams things up unashamedly but is enjoyable to watch, while Reed as an educated half-breed with long hair is in full-on pantomime mode. There's a rambling shapelessness to the story which sometimes creates tedium, but these dull stretches are counterbalanced with several funny sequences and good-natured hijinks. John Cameron's score is jaunty and high-spirited throughout and adds to the general air of barnstorming light-heartedness. No-one will ever claim this film is their no.1 favourite of all-time, but it's a brisk and goofy time-filler which whiles away a couple of hours inoffensively enough. It certainly isn't the total pile of garbage that I was afraid it might be when I sat down to watch it.
ma-cortes
Entertaining Western/comedy in which follows the misadventures of a misfit group of rogues and hustlers involving them into multiple antics . This eccentric funny Western set in Colorado of 1908 deals with Sam Longwood (Lee Marvin) , a scout who has liven better days , passing through aware his former gold-mine colleague named Jack Colby (Robert Culp) , now is a politically ambitious magnate , who ran off with all the gold from a mine they were prospecting several years earlier . Sam revives his old feud being helped by his other pals from that time , a wacky half-breed named Joe Knox (an improbable Indian Oliver Reed) and a roguish old man named Billy (Strother Martin) . Very funny Western about some helpless adventurers who hatch a plan and attempt to rob a fortune to a former swindler who now supports Taft presidential election . As they confront Jack Colby asking him the thousand dollars he previously took . After being thwarted in this attempt , they, and a likable young prostitute with rambunctious temperance named Thursday (Kay Lenz) scheme a variety of get-rich , well-concocted plans , as robbery of proceeds from big boxing match for raising funds to President Taft campaign . They also abduct Colby's spouse , Nancy Sue (Elizabeth Ashley) , who is coincidently Sam's old flame , but they learn that she is not the sweet woman that Sam had known .Delightful Western parody with considerable silliness in which the grifter frontiersman Lee Marvin and the American Indian Oliver Reed steal the show using his wits , breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants , as they relentlessly rob , run , and make jokes ; furthermore adds sparkle other actors . It is developed up and down with not much plot , some grotesque moments and in other side contains bemusing and funny scenes . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise . Seemingly endless list of character players includes a good support cast as Elizabeth Ashley as an adulterous wife , Strother Martin as an inept botcher old man whose double-crosses habitually misfire , Kay Lenz as a wanna-be young whore and Sylvia Miles as a stubborn Madame . The film follows in the wake of ¨ Hallelujah trail (65) ¨ by John Sturges ¨ Support your local sheriff ¨ and ¨ Support your local gunfighter ¨ by Burt Kennedy ¨Waterhole¨ by William A Graham and of course ¨ Blazing saddles (74) ¨ by Mel Brooks , all of them are engaging Western satire and pretty amusing . Colorful cinematography by the Mexican Alex Phillips and lively , jolly musical score by John Cameron , full of mirth and amusement .The film is well produced by AIP's Samuel Z. Arkoff and professionally directed by Don Taylor . None of Don Taylor's later movies have topped this one for sheer belly laughters . Don was an actor and director as TV as cinema , he played one of the leads in the Army-Air Force production of Hart's play, "Winged Victory¨ . Returning to civilian life , Taylor resumed his work in pictures with a top role in the trend-setting crime drama ¨The naked city (1948)¨ and played successful films as ¨Destination Gobi¨ , ¨Battleground¨ and ¨Stalag 17¨. In later years Taylor became a film and TV director , being nominated for an Emmy for his direction of an episode of "Night Gallery" (1969). Don met his wife Hazel Court when he directed her in a 1958 episode of "Alfred Hitchcock presents" (1955). Taylor was an expert filmmaker on adventures genre as ¨Adventures of Tom Sawyer¨ , Terror as ¨Damien : Omen 2¨ , and science fiction as ¨Island of Dr. Moreau¨, ¨Escape from Planet of Apes¨ and ¨The final of countdown¨. Rating : Good , 6,5 . Acceptable and passable Western/broad comedy fare although could have been funnier and better viewed in big screen . The movie will appeal to Lee Marvin and Oliver Reed devotees who will want to check out their excessive and comical performances .
tahart27
This movie I'm fairly certain was rated PG, not R. A previous poster stated here that this was his first R-rated movie. I'm pretty sure this is inaccurate. I remember seeing this movie at the theater when it first came out; I was five years old at the time. I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that my parents would not have taken me to see it if it was rated R. This movie represents one of my earliest childhood memories of going to the theater to see a movie on the big screen(which obviously was the only way you could see movies in those days!), so it will always have a sentimental place in my heart because of that. But I really did love the movie itself; I had forgotten how much so until I saw it for the first time in ages recently on cable TV. I had forgotten how much of an absolute riot Oliver Reed's character was, and Lee Marvin and Strother Martin are particularly outstanding in this as well. I actually thought the musical score for this was excellent as well!
edmustng
I was 11 when I saw this in the theater...it was my first R-rated movie. (Thanks Mom!) I remember laughing to the point of tears.Years later I saw it again on TV, and part of it on cable, and it was as funny as ever. Watching it as an adult I can recognize its silliness and dated comedy, but it was still fun.Rent the un-cut version, as the swearing by some of the characters is pretty important to their personalities.
