The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)

“I heard about sheepherders. You’re not going to put my feet in your boots.” Hildy

Immediately following his epic The Wild Bunch, Sam Peckinpah switched gears and made The Ballad of Cable Hogue; another western, but one that looked at a more lyrical side of Peckinpah’s obsession with changing times and the death of the West.

According to the commentaries and features included as extra content, Peckinpah wanted this movie to be a tribute to his family, particularly his grandfather, who had been a pioneer much like Cable Hogue (Jason Robards, Jr.). However, once filming began, the famous Peckinpah foibles (drunkenness and meanness) emerged; he alienated everybody, and the film came in late and over budget.

In retaliation, Warner Bros released the film without much fanfare and it crashed and burned miserably. Peckinpah was stung, but according to all accounts he had hardly anybody in his corner. He was a miserable ____ to work with. Stella Stevens (Hildy) in her half hour featurette, comes across as a very credible and insightful person, as well as being knockout gorgeous still, did not give Peckinpah much praise, other than saying “people worshipped him,” which sounded to me more like geeky, film types than real people. She came across as extremely well adjusted and grounded and not full of herself at all, so I believed her. She mentioned that Sam said things like “people will respect me when I’m dead,” and then spent his time trying to drink himself to death as quickly as possible.

The story concerns revenge and redemption. Cable (Jason Robards, Jr.) is left to die by his two partners (Strother Martin and LQ Jones) in the middle of the desert. After four days wandering he finds water where none knew it was. Once he has recovered, he goes to the nearest town, Deaddog, and buys two acres surrounding his claim. He makes acquaintance of prostitute Hildy (Stella Stevens) who later comes out to join him once his claim is developed. He develops a way station for the stage line which had to go forty miles between waterholes before. All the while, he bides his time and waits for his former partners to come by...

Beautifully lit and shot by cinematographer Lucien Ballard, Cable Hogue is not your typical Peckinpah hard violence epic. It is a lyrical love story with Stella Stevens and the old pioneer Jason Robards. David Warner (The Cross of Iron) is a frequent guest, as a mock man of the cloth who takes advantage of gullible women, with considerable hilarity. Veteran western star Slim Pickens also has a prominent role, as the stage driver. LQ Jones and Strother Martin also provide important character performances. The movie alternates between light drama punctuated with comic relief and even slapstick, with speeded up action.

The Warner Bros DVD is presented in 1.85:1 theatrical format, in color, and runs 121 minutes. There is a full length commentary with Peckinpah biographers/historians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle that add some nice insights together with some geeky backslapping, but overall it adds value. The best extra feature is the newly made half hour of Stella Stevens’ reminiscences. That’s worth the price of the disk in itself. The disk also has trailers for several of Peckinpah’s other films.

Peckinpah fans, who can accept a movie from “Bloody Sam” that doesn’t overemphasize violence, as well as fans of romance or even just beautiful photography will be good candidates to see The Ballad of Cable Hogue. If you’re expecting a lot of shooting, don’t come here.

Thanks for reading!

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening