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.
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.