IMDb > McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
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McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3 NEW)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) -- Open-ended Trailer from Warner Bros.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) -- Moviesbox.us - Trailer (Flash)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) -- AllTrailers.net - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   6,646 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Robert Altman
Writers:
Edmund Naughton (novel)
Robert Altman (screenplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for McCabe & Mrs. Miller on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
24 June 1971 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Western more
Tagline:
Name Your Poison.
Plot:
A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
Robert Altman Dies
 (From WENN. 22 November 2006)

User Comments:
Greatest Western more (80 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Warren Beatty ... John McCabe

Julie Christie ... Constance Miller

Rene Auberjonois ... Sheehan

William Devane ... The Lawyer
John Schuck ... Smalley

Corey Fischer ... Mr. Elliot
Bert Remsen ... Bart Coyle

Shelley Duvall ... Ida Coyle

Keith Carradine ... Cowboy

Michael Murphy ... Eugene Sears
Antony Holland ... Ernie Hollander
Hugh Millais ... Butler
Manfred Schulz ... Kid
Jace Van Der Veen ... Breed (as Jace Vander Veen)
Jackie Crossland ... Lily
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Presbyterian Church Wager (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
120 min | Argentina:121 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Filming Locations:
British Columbia, Canada more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
'Robert Altman''s initial preference for the role of McCabe was Elliott Gould, whom the studio producing the film refused to accept. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When the young man in the tall hat is leaving, he hugs each of the girls in turn. In the shot from the front, he the one girl and Ida Coyle is stepping up for her hug. The shot changes to the view from the left, where the hug of the first girl is repeated and Ida Coyle again steps forward. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
John McCabe: [muttering to himself] I told you... Think I'm stupid?... S'exactly what I said. Six, six of 'em...
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Girl in Gold Boots (#11.2)" (1999) more
Soundtrack:
Winter Lady more

FAQ

How does the film compare to the Edmund Naughton novel "McCabe"
Was McCabe really a gunfighter?
more
49 out of 64 people found the following comment useful.
Greatest Western, 3 November 2004
Author: Jason Forestein (jay4stein79@yahoo.com) from somerville, ma

I spent the entirety of my final year in college reading western literature, reading about western literature, and watching western films. Although I had long been a fan of Altman's 1971 masterpiece, I would probably never have called it the greatest western film. Having sat through most of the Rios, the Searchers, Red River, Stage Coach, the Leone Spaghetti Westerns, and the more current incarnations of the genre (Unforgiven, Dances with Wolves, All the Pretty Horses, et al.), I will say without hesitation that McCabe is a superior film (and a superior western) to all those listed.

It is not, of course, a traditional western, nor does it hold true to traditional 'values' of the western. You will not find any rampaging indians, and the typical shots of vast prairies or a surreal Monument Valley. Your hero is a conniving gambler and the heroine is a whore (and one that quite distinctly lacks a heart of gold). They're sympathetic, but they're also quite real with all the faults and foibles humans typically have. The landscape is brown and green; trees are everywhere and it looks like it's wet most of the time (which is appropriate to a film taking place in the Northwest). One of the few "cowboys" in the film dies in his underwear.

By a long shot, then, this is not your typical western, but it is better.

The wooden characters of old are replaced with real people to whom we can relate and about whom we can care. Furthermore, the environment - dark, dirty, wet, and all around not terribly inviting - seems more in line with the historical west than the traditional western. The West was not the nicest place to live; it was dangerous and inhospitable as it is in McCabe.

I could go on and on about how Altman inverts the western film tradition throughout the movie (as well as how he dismantles the notion that capitalism is a good economic and social system), but I will not. There is no need to treat McCabe that academically. The film is simply wonderful and entertaining - terrific performances, wonderful cinematography, a fascinating story, and great (and very Altman-esque) direction with overlapping conversations and well-handled improvisations. The movie also has the most perfect soundtrack I have ever heard. The songs - by the one and only Leonard Cohen - perfectly match the mood and atmosphere of the film and moreover feel like artifacts of that bygone era depicted in the film. That they were not written or recorded specifically for McCabe is astounding, as they are such an integral and organic part of this film.

If you have not seen this film, please do so; it's well worth the time and, unlike Nashville and Short Cuts - Altman's other masterpieces - it's very accessible.

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