Catlow
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Catlow |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | |
| Date(s): | 1971 |
| Medium: | motion picture |
| Country of Origin: | |
| External Links: | the bathtub scene on YouTube |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Catlow was a 1971 Western, made in Spain, that starred Yul Brynner, Richard Crenna and Leonard Nimoy. It told the story of an outlaw trying to avoid interference as he journeys to pull off a $2-million gold robbery.
The Frontal Nudity Scene
It would be a movie largely forgotten and ignored by media fans if not for the presence of Leonard Nimoy, and specifically a very brief moment where Nimoy jumps up, naked, from a bathtub (and a much longer scene of him fighting Yul Bynner while Brynner is clothed and Nimoy is not).
The scene was censored in the US, causing many fans to plead with others for access to the uncut "Canadian" version which "shows more scenes." [1].
The uncensored movie was often shown at cons. A fan who went to Galileo Con in 1984 said:
'Catlow' was on offer Sunday afternoon, as it was the uncut version, there was no way I was going to miss it. [2]
From another fan at the 1984 The Leonard Nimoy Convention:
Yes, of course we watched "Catlow". Very closely, during one scene. [3]
Fans were still chasing the rump scene in 1999. A fan at FriscoN wrote:
Also viewed Alex T. Great, LN's butt in Catlow... [4]
Fan Comments
Nimoy's Tackle
Went to see 'Catlow" AGAIN! Why DID the lights have to go out at the crucial moment in the film? [5]
I luv 'im even more for that earth-shocking scene in Catlow. It takes a great deal of courage to show 'imself that way and I'm very, very proud of 'im for 'is courage. [6]
...it’s the sight of a nude Leonard Nimoy jumping out of a bathtub to fight Yul Brynner with his junk in relatively plain view for all to see... [7]
The Southern Cross tells us with a twinkle in her eye, “I usually used source material as a guide [for my fanart].[...]
After seeing the Nazi episode and Catlow, I was inspired to enhance Mr. Nimoy’s reality as well. This better suited my ‘mind’s eye’ of the fictional characters and kept my work from getting bogged down by what the real life actors actually look like.” [8]
Yul Brenner is fighting a completely naked Leonard Nimoy! THIS IS THE GREATEST MOMENT IN MOVIE HISTORY! [9]
bless you for this wonderful vid of Mirror Spock in his sacred threshold ;_; [10]
[The] best part about the showing of videos was Catlow with Leonard Nimoy in all his young naked glorious studlines. We kept rewinding just to be sure if that was the family jewels flapping in the wind and came to the inevitable conclusion that it was. Anna showed her tape that she did for T.V. Great show and even greater acting with the guy you have to work with. As I say, who needs sleep when you party with the best. It was definitely a con to remember.[11]
[A highlight at Shore Leave was] salivating over Leonard’s bare ass in Catlow (Trust me, when you play it in slow-mo it lasts a l-o-o-o-n-g time). [12]
The Movie in General
Altogether, Baffled! has got to be one of the all-time low points in Leonard Nimoy's career, going even lower than Catlow, which is undoubtedly one of the worst movies this writer has ever had the misfortune to see. [13]
[...]The best thing about this movie is its three leading men - Richard Crenna (Colonel Trautman from the Rambo movies) as the marshal, Yul Brynner (Ramses in the 1956 version of The Ten Commandments) as the title outlaw, and Leonard Nimoy (Spock from the original Star Trek series) as a bounty hunter out to kill the title character. These actors are clearly having fun with their roles, and playing them very well. A supporting cast of unknowns actually plays all their parts quite well, too. My only real complaint cast-wise is that, while Nimoy got top billing along with Crenna and Brynner, he just isn't in the film that much. If you're watching this movie to see Nimoy do something other than be Spock, you'll get that here - but not for a whole lot of time. Curiously, Nimoy stated in later years that making this movie was one of the best acting experiences he'd ever had, since it let him break away from Spock, the role that more-or-less typecast him (like so many other Star Trek stars.)
[...] [14]
....Catlow is my nomination for worst studio western of the seventies. [15]
Fanworks Inspired by the Movie
Fiction
- The Ballad of Orville Miller in Centre Stage #2
- The Tall Dark Stranger in CONTRAST #8
- The Orville Miller Story
- Miller in Wide Open Spaces #10
Non-Fiction
Fanart
"The Funny Side of CATLOW," by Mary Ellen Rabogliatti, from Leonard Nimoy Association of Fans Yearbook (1971)
Carol Sibbett & Nicola Barton, from CONTRAST #8 (1986)
Virginia Lee Smith, from Wide Open Spaces #10 (1986)
Ann Crouch, from Renaissance: A Study of His Art #1 (1983)
a fusion: "Spock Catlow" by Acidqueen, from Spiced Peaches #6 (2006)
References
- ^ from Forum #13 and Datazine #26
- ^ from Beta-Niobe November 1984
- ^ from Empathy Newsletter Spring 1985
- ^ report by Jungle Kitty, November 6, 1998 at alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated
- ^ from a UK fan in STAG #2
- ^ from a fan in Leonard's Pennsy & Otherwise Freaks v.2 n.2 (1973)
- ^ from Blog Critics
- ^ from Scribbling Women: Artists Talk Back: The Southern Cross (2007)
- ^ comments at Leonard Nimoy in His Birthday Suit (2013)
- ^ comments at Leonard Nimoy in His Birthday Suit (2020)
- ^ from The K/S Press #14 (October 1997), a con report for Shore Leave
- ^ from The K/S Press #1
- ^ from Tal Shaya #1 (1973)
- ^ from TTC at Amazon (May 22, 2009)
- ^ Quentin Tarantino at Coogan’s Bluff & The Beguiled & Catlow - (1968, 1971, 1971) (2020)