I always liked Burt Reynolds, but have generally seen him in self effacing roles that allow his humorous and devilish side come through; that's probably why "The Longest Yard" is my favorite Reynolds film. I think he handles his movie Western roles well enough, but it's not the genre I prefer seeing him in. In "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing", Reynolds' character is a driven man on the trail to retrieve his two children from a Shoshone tribe, left behind we come to learn, after he killed the man who raped his wife, the 'Cat Dancing' character of the film's title. That he also killed his Indian bride in a jealous rage is a point that seems to be glossed over in the story, and doesn't square with the sense of honor and justice that Indian tribes maintain for their own personal conduct. I was left wondering why Jay Wesley Grobard (Reynolds) was even allowed to return to the Shoshone camp, and once there, why he wasn't called on to atone for his past. In fact, Grobard wasn't even an honorable character at the start of the movie, but a train robber who's gang is disrupted by the intrusion of a woman on the run from her husband. The story's twist is that her own name is Catherine/Cat, thereby completing the connection with the title character.
Of course, Catherine's (Sarah Miles) husband hires on a tracker (Lee J. Cobb) to find his wife who he believes is kidnapped. You never get the impression that Crocker (George Hamilton) isn't a decent enough guy in his own right, only that his wife doesn't love him enough to want to stay married. With Grobard's gang, Catherine gets more than she's bargained for, having to fend off the lecherous likes of Bo Hopkins' Billy, and Jack Warden's Dawes. Dawes in particular turns out to be the vile snake of the bunch, just check how many kidney shots he gives to old Billy Boy. Reflecting back on that now, the arrival of Catherine turns out to be the undoing of just about everyone in the picture.
It was cool to see Jay Silverheels in one of his last movie roles, but gee, they went kind of heavy on the old warrior makeup to portray him as Shoshone Chief Washaki. The Chief had one of the better lines in the picture as he parleyed with Grobard - "The cigar was one of the white man's good ideas" - an interesting observation. But probably the best was Billy's description of Catherine after she cleaned herself up on the trail - "Well, if she don't look as fresh as a daisy next to an outhouse"! What wonderful imagery.
Of course, Catherine's (Sarah Miles) husband hires on a tracker (Lee J. Cobb) to find his wife who he believes is kidnapped. You never get the impression that Crocker (George Hamilton) isn't a decent enough guy in his own right, only that his wife doesn't love him enough to want to stay married. With Grobard's gang, Catherine gets more than she's bargained for, having to fend off the lecherous likes of Bo Hopkins' Billy, and Jack Warden's Dawes. Dawes in particular turns out to be the vile snake of the bunch, just check how many kidney shots he gives to old Billy Boy. Reflecting back on that now, the arrival of Catherine turns out to be the undoing of just about everyone in the picture.
It was cool to see Jay Silverheels in one of his last movie roles, but gee, they went kind of heavy on the old warrior makeup to portray him as Shoshone Chief Washaki. The Chief had one of the better lines in the picture as he parleyed with Grobard - "The cigar was one of the white man's good ideas" - an interesting observation. But probably the best was Billy's description of Catherine after she cleaned herself up on the trail - "Well, if she don't look as fresh as a daisy next to an outhouse"! What wonderful imagery.