Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson together for this film that caused scandal at its release for its level of violence.

By the director of Bonnie and Clyde and Little Big Man, this is a surreal, unique experience, strangely influenced by the atmosphere of the 70’s.

INCREDIBLE CAST: JACK NICHOLSON, MARLON BRANDO

Featuring a frankly stellar cast (Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Harry Dean Stanton and, er, Randy Quaid), Arthur Penn brings the utter brutality of the West home to the viewer in no uncertain terms. The film itself is steeped in the excesses of the seventies, with a full on performance by the (literally) scenery-chewing Brando.

VIOLENT

The fact that the American Humane Society was outraged by the production should give you a hint as to just how harsh this film can be at times. A lot was expected of this movie on its release.

It was Brando's first film after Godfather, and Jack Nicholson's first film after Cuckoo’s Nest (pretty much), but the critics of the time weren’t prepared for the onslaught of bizarre madness and bloody violence that pours off the screen. The Missouri Breaks was vilified by the popular press before being re-discovered by the arthouse crowd in the years to come - much the same way that Peeping Tom took a while to find its audience.

You don’t watch The Missouri Breaks. You witness it.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY

“Time has worked wonders on The Missouri Breaks. On first release, Arthur Penn's 1976 western found itself derided as an addled, self-indulgent folly. Today, its quieter passages resonate more satisfyingly, while its lunatic take on a decadent, dying frontier seems oddly appropriate.” Guardian

“This appealingly eccentric revisionist western highlights the critical importance of violence in establishing 'civilized' society in the American wilderness... Brando's Clayton must be a strong candidate for the most bizarre leading character in a western ever.” BBCi film reviews

“Missouri Breaks begins as a ramshackle comedy and ends as a dour tragedy about the death of the old west with Brando serving as its singularly warped Angel of Death. In Missouri Breaks Brando is the future, baby. And it is murder.” Onion AV Club