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THE MISSOURI BREAKS
Arthur Penn, USA, 1976
Monday 14 April 2003 10pm-12.05am
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Any Western starring Hollywood legends Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando and directed by Arthur Penn, the man responsible for Bonnie and Clyde (1967), promises to be quite a ride. The Missouri Breaks does not disappoint.
In the opening scene three figures on horseback inch closer and closer into frame until their conversation becomes faintly audible. It appears to be a tranquil tableau, God's unspoilt land stretching as far as the eye can see. But Penn is simply firing his first warning shot, tipping off the viewer that everything from the environment to the relationships and way of life he depicts, are never as simple as they first appear. Within minutes one of the men is dead and we're plunged into the Wild West.
Set in the 1880s, Tom Logan (Jack Nicholson) is the head of a family of horse thieves whose successful existence on the Missouri river breaks have hit rocky times after the Civil War. Law and order are taking shape and following the public hanging of one of Logan's men, the outlaws decide to take stock - quite literally - and invest in a ranch to hold the stolen horses. While looking after the corral, Logan falls for the liberal minded Jane Braxton (Kathleen Lloyd), daughter of rancher David Braxton whose stock had proved rich pickings for the rustlers.
Her father hires the legendary 'regulator' Robert Lee Clayton (Marlon Brando) to deal with the thieves and before long this beguilingly eccentric man-hunter has lived up to his reputation for brutal efficiency.
Brando and Nicholson are ideally cast as warring opponents. Stripped of all mannerisms, Nicholson brilliantly portrays an outlaw who's truly met his equal and Brando once again proves he is the Godfather of character actors when depicting larger-than-life figures.
As in Bonnie and Clyde, Penn presents a compelling mix of action and elegy. Here is a way of life, a time in history which is moving on and characters like the barbaric Clayton and Logan - echoed in his ineptitude at robbing trains - increasingly have no place. Lively, quirky and poignant, Penn and his first-rate cast ensure it's one which won't be forgotten.
Clare Norton-Smith
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Marlon Brando was paid $1.5 million dollars to star in The Missouri Breaks.
