The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1969)

[Scott]

THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (1969) - Thanks to the person on this board who suggested this film that was totally unknown to me till a couple months ago. This is a delightfully great film directed by Sam Pekinpah and starring Jason Robards and Stella Stevens. Its about a man who finds water in the desert after being left to die and builds a business around it while falling in love. Fun and hilarious moments in the end of the West, Western.

I seen a couple other films that might run along the lines of the above film THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN and McCABE AND MRS MILLER. Both seem to of the same type. Anyone seen these two?

[The Burgomaster]

I saw this movie about 18 years ago and I thought it was great. I'd love to see it again.

[yaddo42]

Glad someone else likes this film as well. It's a nice contrast from the grittier, violent fare Peckinpah was known for especially during this time like "The Wild Bunch" and "Straw Dogs". This film and "Junior Bonner" show how good Peckinpah could be even without his trademark amoral violence and explosive action sequences. That he could even be tender in a way at times.

I still crack up at the seduction scene with David Warner's crooked preacher and the lady in town. The shot of his arms snaking into her blouse is so funny and seems almost dirty even though nothing is really shown. A mark of a clever filmmaker.

I've seen both of the other films you mentioned. "McCabe And Mrs. Miller" I'm on the fence on, I like it's unique and realistic take on life in the old west, but it's not a film I'm personally fond of. But I tend to either really like Robert Altman films or really hate them.

I love the satiric tone of "Judge Roy Bean", the history of the west playing out in the town that develops around the judge, and "can't fight progress" ending. Lots of fun performances (Anthony Perkins as the preacher, Stacy Keach as the albino gunfighter, etc.); and the scene where Roy comes back for revenge on the bar denizens who tried to lynch him is a spectacular unconventional gunfight, intense, and an unusual and great moment for Paul Newman to express that kind of fury in his acting. That choked scream he lets out as he chases out the survivors in unnerving.

[Scott]

Well Yaddo I just finished McCABE AND MRS. MILLER (1971) and THE LIFE AND  TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN (1972).

Your right about McCabe and Miller. It's alittle bleak and mumbled the a realistic look at the Pacific Northwest at the time and I like the end gunfight and the human look into the brothel. The film style also reminded me of the film NED KELLY starring Mick Jagger.

Judge Roy Bean was also an ok film. Not the best of Newmans films. Alot of stars in this film. This film follows about 40 years of a character named Judge Roy Bean.

Out of my double feature tonight I feel Cable Hogue was better. All three films had feeling that makes them enjoyable. Notice the type of film being made during these years of 1969-1972. Here are my favorite in order.

1)THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE
2)LITTLE BIG MAN
3)McCABE AND MRS. MILLER
4)THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN.