One-Eyed Jacks

Five years in a squalid prison!  Is he back for revenge?

This is the question Dad Longworth (Karl Malden) asks himself when Rio (Marlon Brando) shows up at his home one day.  They have a past.  When they robbed a bank together in Mexico, Longworth was supposed to get another horse and come back and help his friend Rio.  But with all that gold and a chance to save himself, Longworth leaves Rio to be caught by the Mexican police.

Five years later Rio escapes from the prison with his new friend, Chico Modesto (Larry Duran).  He finds out that Longworth has become sheriff of a town in Monterey, California. The two men want to rob the Longworth town bank and ask Rio to join them.  Rio agrees to help them rob the bank because he wants to "reconnect" with his friend who left him to die in prison.
 
However, things take a twist when Rio gets involved with Longworth’s stepdaughter, Louisa (Pina Pellicer). 

• “One-Eyed Jacks” is the only film that Marlon Brando ever directed.  He replaced the original director of the film, Stanley Kubrick.  There is speculation that there were personality differences between Stanley Kubrick and Marlon Brando which is why Kubrick stopped working on the project.

• “One-Eyed Jacks” is based on the novel “The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones” by Charles Neider that was originally published in 1956.

• “One-Eyed Jacks” was filmed on location in Monterey, California and Death Valley, California. The Monterey location is why there are so many beautiful seaside shots in the movie which is highly unsual for a western. Westerns are normally shown in desert locations.

•  Marlon Brando starred in and directed  “One-Eyed Jacks.” .  However, this was Brando’s first and last film that he ever directed. The reason is because Brando spent three times the budgeted amount  and took three times the amount of time allotted for the film. The movie was supposed to be shot in 60 days for less than $2 million. Brando took six months and spent $6 million.  This did not go over well with the studio and gave Brando a bad reputation as a director. He was never offered to direct a film again.

•  “One-Eyed Jacks” was nominated for a 1962 Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Charles Lang)

• Marlon Brando was nominated for an Outstanding Directorial Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America.