Released in the summer of 1965 , '' Cat Ballou '' was a huge success and earned over $ 20,000,000 at the box-office . It was one of the top-ten films of the year and was nominated and won a ton of awards . At the 38th Academy Awards ceremony in 1966 it was nominated for five Oscars including one for Lee Marvin who won for Best Actor in a Leading Role . Other nominated categories included Best Writing , Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium , Best Editing , Best Music , Original Song and Best Music , Scoring of Music , Adaptation or Treatment . At the Golden Globe Awards , Marvin won for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy , Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy , Most Promising Newcomer – Male and for Best Original Song . The British Academy Film Awards too rewarded Marvin for Best Foreign Actor and nominated Nardini for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles . The Laurel Awards was another big supporter of the film , with four Golden Laurels ; one for Best Comedy , one for Top Male Comedy Performance , one for Top Female Comedy Performance and another for Top Song . The Directors Guild of America nominated Silverstein for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures and the Writers Guild of America nominated Newman and Pierson for Best Written American Comedy . The New York Film Critics Circle gave Marvin an award for Best Actor . The Berlin International Film Festival Awarded the film in three categories ; the Silver Berlin Bear Award for Best Actor , the Award of Special Mention and the Award for Best Feature Film Suitable for Young People and nominated Silverstein for a Golden Berlin Bear Award for Best Director
38th Academy Awards
38th Academy Awards
Harold Hecht