The Ballad of Cable Hogue **** (1970, Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, David Warner, Strother Martin, Slim Pickens, R G Armstrong, L Q Jones) – Classic Movie Review 10,291

Sam Peckinpah’s 1970 The Ballad of Cable Hogue is an entertaining lighter-hearted Western from the director of The Wild Bunch, in which prospector Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) sets out for revenge on the bad guys who stole his gold. 

Director Sam Peckinpah’s 1970 The Ballad of Cable Hogue is an entertaining, more lighthearted-than-usual Western from the director of The Wild Bunch, in which worn-out prospector Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) sets out to avenge on the greedy bad guys who stole his gold.

James Stewart made the mistake of rejecting the lead role, thinking it would be bad for his image. It was a gift to Jason Robards, who grabs it eagerly.

The delightful Stella Stevens also scores as Hildy, a prostitute who tags along with Cable, and so does the unexpectedly cast David Warner as the Reverend Joshua Douglas Sloan, a disturbed preacher.

The revenge theme, the elegy to the West and the downbeat ending are all typical Peckinpah, even if the fun quota is not, with its elements of comedy, drama and romance.

And, even if the film is a little too rambling and over-extended at 121 minutes, it is still a very likeable movie, well made and well shot (in Technicolor by Lucien Ballard). It did not catch on with The Wild Bunch crowd but it is a must for fans of Westerns and Peckinpah.

The songwriter and song performer is Richard Gillis, who died at 80 in August 2020.

The fine cast also include Strother Martin, Slim Pickens, R G Armstrong, L Q Jones, Peter Whitney, Gene Evans, William Mims, Kathleen Freeman, Susan O’Connell, Vaughn Taylor, Max Evans, James Anderson and Felix Nelson.

The writers are John Crawford and Edmund Penney.

Peckinpah started work on this film just after finishing work on The Wild Bunch, and he cast L Q Jones and Strother Martin again, and in similar roles.

The filming went 19 days over schedule and $3 million over budget, ending Peckinpah’s arrangement with Warner Bros and damaging his career.

Despite positive audience reactions of 70 per cent at its previews in January-February 1970, Warner released the film with hardly any promotion. According to Stella Stevens: ‘Warner Bros didn’t release it, they flushed it.’

The production was based at Echo Bay, Nevada.

Stella Stevens recalled: ‘Sam Peckinpah is probably one of the greatest characters whom I ever worked with. It was like working with a wounded rattlesnake. He was a very volatile personality. You never knew if he was going to love or hate you. He hid behind dark glasses or mirrored sunglasses and mumbled when he spoke on the set, so you’d have to go right up to his face to hear what he was directing you to do. He did everything he could to drive everybody crazy.’

She added: ‘I finally said, “Sam, this is not a comedy. This is a love story. It may have some funny stuff in it, but it is not a comedy.” He, however, always called it a comedy.’

She said fired Peckinpah around 35 of the crew until the union stopped him.

It was Peckinpah’s favourite of his films.

Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938) died from Alzheimer’s disease in Los Angeles on 17 February 2023, age 84. She starred in such popular films as Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), The Nutty Professor (1963), The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1963), The Silencers (1966), Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,291

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