McCabe and Mrs Miller ***** (1971, Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois) – Classic Movie Review 2276

Director Robert Altman’s 1971 revisionist view of the Western is atypical of the genre annoyed and so alienated many action fans back in the day and, despite its obvious qualities, was greeted with faint praise. Indeed Altman referred to it as an ‘anti-Western film’ because the film ignores or subverts a number of Western conventions. But, nevertheless, the film’s reputation has grown in stature over the years and it has turned out to be a greatly admired classic of the genre.

As so often, Altman brings out the best in his players in McCabe and Mrs Miller. Warren Beatty and Oscar nominated Christie shine luminously as the gambler and the madam he takes as his partner and falls for.

Like Beatty’s gangster character Bugsy Siegel in the 1991 movie Bugsy who dreams of building a town in the desert with Las Vegas, McCabe wants to do the same in a different, earlier era with the mud-infested frontier settlement.

In the story set in 1902 in Washington state, gambler John McCabe (Beatty) arrives mysteriously in the town of Presbyterian Church and quickly dominates the town’s simple-minded, lethargic miners. McCabe establishes a makeshift brothel, consisting of three prostitutes purchased from a pimp in the nearby town of Bearpaw for $200. Then Cockney woman Constance Miller (Christie) arrives in town and tells him she could run a brothel for him more profitably and they become partners, then lovers.

Besides the stars’ stellar performances and Altman’s endlessly imaginative direction, the movie can boast many other assets: Leonard Cohen’s wonderfully melancholic songs, Vilmos Zsigmond’s masterly, deliciously warm Technicolor cinematography and Altman’s appealing, all-comprehending, empathetic screenplay (written with Brian McKay) with its finely honed sympathy for underdogs, visionaries and failures. Their screenplay is based on Edmund Naughton’s 1959 novel McCabe.

In one of his finest achievements, the director films with his trademark customary over-lapping dialogue and improvised performance by the actors. Though there was controversy over the quality of the soundtrack. Editor Lou Lombardo complained it was too muddy and suggested Altman fix it. But Altman refused and later claimed the soundtrack problem was Lombardo’s fault.

Also in the iconic cast are René Auberjonois, Shelley Duvall, John Schuck, Keith Carradine, William Devane, Michael Murphy, Corey Fischer, Bert Remsen, Antony Holland, Hugh Millais, Manfred Schulz, Jace Van Der Veen and Jackie Crossland.

McCabe and Mrs Miller was shot in West Vancouver and in Squamish, unusually almost in sequential order. The crew found a suitable location for the filming and built up the set, just as McCabe built up the town in the film.

It runs 120 minutes and is made by David Foster Productions and Warner Bros.

The three Cohen songs used in the film are ‘The Stranger Song’, ‘Sisters of Mercy’ and ‘Winter Lady’, released together on a seven-inch single in 1971.

Legendary Canadian singer Leonard Cohen died on 10 November 2016, aged 82.

RIP Rene Auberjonois, who died on 8 December 2019, aged 79.

RIP veteran Hollywood publicist and producer David Foster, who died on 22 December 2019, aged 90. His career spanned 60 years and he produced McCabe and Mrs Miller, The Getaway and The Thing.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2276

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com