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McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Alternate Title: John McCabe Director: Robert Altman (Dir) Release Date: Jul 1971 Premiere Information: New York opening: 24 Jun 1971 Production Date: mid-Oct 1970--late Jan 1971 Duration (in mins): 120-121			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:		Warren Beatty	(John McCabe)
		Julie Christie	(Constance Miller)
		Rene Auberjonois	([Patrick] Sheehan)
		William Devane	(The Lawyer)
		John Schuck	(Smalley)
		Corey Fischer	(Mr. Elliott)
		Bert Remsen	(Bart Coyle)
		Shelley Duvall	(Ida Coyle)
		Keith Carradine	(Cowboy)
		Michael Murphy	([Eugene] Sears)
		Antony Holland	([Ernest] Hollander)
	The killers:	Hugh Millais	(Butler)
		Manfred Schulz	(Kid)
		Jace Vander Veen	(Breed)
	Bearpaw whores:	Jackie Crossland	(Lily )
		Elizabeth Murphy	(Kate)
		Carey Lee McKenzie	(Alma)
		Tom Hill	(Archer)
	Seattle whores:	Linda Sorensen	(Blanche)
		Elisabeth Knight	(Birdie)
		Janet Wright	(Eunice)
		Maysie Hoy	(Maisie)
		Linda Kupecek	(Ruth)
	McCabe's people:	Jeremy Newsom	(Jeremy Berg)
		Wayne Robson	(Bartender)
		Jack Riley	(Riley Quinn)
	Sheehan's people:	Robert Fortier	(Town drunk)
		Wayne Grace	(Bartender)
		Wesley Taylor	(Shorty Dunn)
		Anne Cameron	(Mrs. Dunn)
		Graeme Campbell	(Bill Cubbs)
		J. S. Johnson	(J. J.)
		Joe Clarke	(Joe Shortreed)
		Harry Frazier	(Andy Anderson)
		Edwin Collier	(Gilchrist)
		Terence Kelly	(Quigley)
		Brantley F. Kearns	(Fiddler)
		Don Francks	(Buffalo)
		Rodney Gage	(Sumner Washington)
		Lili Francks	(Mrs. Washington)
	Townspeople:	Joan McGuire
		Harvey Lowe
		Eric Schneider
		Milos Zatovic
		Claudine Melgrave
		Derek Deurvorst
		Alexander Diakun
		Gordon Robertson
		John Tuck
		Jon Bankson
		Alan Davis
		Barry Fowlie
		Terence Hill
		Robert W. Hamelin
		Anthony Holland
		Joan Maguire
		Dale Wilson
	Chinese workers:	Jimmy Eng
		Bill Yui Seto
		Po Lam Lau
		Anne C. W. Luk
		William Chu
		Barry Tam
		Louanne Hong-Louie
		Thomas Ho
		Paul Lam
		Ed Hong-Louie
		Beulah Quo	(Voice)
		Mina Martinez	(Voice)

Summary:

In the autumn of 1902, brash, small-time gambler John McCabe arrives in the rough-hewn northwest mining town of Presbyterian Church and at Patrick Sheehan’s saloon asks about buying property. Sheehan, Reverend Elliott, Mr. Smalley and several of the townsmen speculate that the overconfident McCabe might be a gunfighter, but McCabe insists he is a businessman and announces his intention to open the town’s first bordello. After purchasing a partially finished building with his gambling winnings, McCabe visits the neighboring town of Bearpaw where he negotiates for three whores. In a pouring rainstorm, McCabe returns with the women to Presbyterian Church where over the next couple of days, he struggles to maintain harmony between the loutish miners and the distrustful whores. Some days later, McCabe is startled by the arrival of British cockney Constance Miller who proposes that he back her in establishing a professional brothel. When McCabe points out that he already has a whorehouse, Constance responds that as a whore, she is in a unique position to understand the business of managing women and their customers, along with questions of hygiene and health issues that lie behind a truly successful business. Taken aback by Constance’s assertive attitude, McCabe nevertheless agrees to the deal and is surprised when Constance insists upon improving the crude accommodations for the women, including erecting a separate bathhouse and providing the women with new linens and toiletries. Although the miners initially resent and resist the requirements to bathe before visiting Constance and McCabe’s facility, they are soon tempted by the variety of women Constance has engaged from Seattle and settle into regular visits. Although outwardly querulous over Constance’s brisk and efficient business manner, McCabe nevertheless is attracted to her and annoyed when she occasionally services customers for the extravagant sum of five dollars per visit. One night several weeks after the opening of the brothel, Constance joins McCabe in the bar with proceeds from their venture. McCabe is delighted by their success but Constance chastises him for his sloppy, inaccurate accounting and accuses him of losing money. Although several of the Seattle women know that Constance uses her proceeds to pay for her opium addiction, McCabe remains unaware of her habit, which she guards scrupulously. Just before Christmas, miner Bart Coyle is killed while defending his new, mail-order wife Ida from slander that she is a whore. The day after Bart’s death, Eugene Sears and Ernest Hollander, representatives for the Harrison and Shaunessy Mining Company, approach McCabe and explain the company would like to purchase McCabe’s holdings in Presbyterian Church. McCabe airily rejects the men’s offer of $5,500, then goes to the bathhouse before paying a call on Constance. When McCabe boasts about his rejection of the mining company representatives, Constance calls him a fool, but he insists they will make him a higher offer. That same evening, Sears and Hollander locate McCabe at the brothel and increase the offer to $6,250, but are amazed when he again turns them down and suggests he will only entertain an offer of $14,000 or more. Pleased with his financial acuity, McCabe returns to bed with a now stoned Constance. Later that same night, Sears and Hollander dine at Sheehan’s and Sears suggests they make McCabe a final offer of $7,000. Indignant over McCabe’s high-handed conduct and the shabbiness of the situation, Hollander refuses, declaring that the company’s hired gun, Butler, will handle McCabe. The next morning, McCabe is mystified to learn of Sears’s and Hollander’s departure. As the townspeople gather for Bart’s funeral, Constance and several miners note the arrival of a lone rider, who proves to be a cowboy in search of women. As the funeral breaks up, Constance offers Ida a place in the brothel. Word soon spreads through town of the arrival of three strangers and Constance immediately deduces that they have been sent by the company. She pleads with McCabe to leave town, if only to protect their joint investment, but McCabe remains confident that the company representatives will return. Smalley reports to McCabe and Constance that the men, Butler, Breed and Kid, refuse to speak with McCabe, who nevertheless sets off to Sheehan’s to meet them. Although daunted by Butler’s enormous bulk, McCabe attempts to bargain with him, admitting his exorbitant demand was a joke. Declaring he will settle for $6,550, McCabe is bewildered when Butler states that he does not make deals. Having learned from Sheehan that the miners originally considered McCabe a gunslinger, Butler tries to provoke McCabe by accusing him of shooting an acquaintance. McCabe does not refute the claim, but nervously departs, prompting Butler to observe that McCabe has never killed anyone. That evening, an increasingly anxious McCabe frets about Constance’s inability to appreciate his romantic nature, then early the next morning departs for Bearpaw, where he asks for Sears and Hollander at the mining company’s main office. Learning they have departed, McCabe visits a lawyer to inquire about obtaining legal protection from the company. Although the lawyer agrees to help McCabe fight against the might of big business, McCabe returns to Presbyterian Church convinced that he must face Butler and the others on his own. That afternoon Kid confronts the affable cowboy and shoots him down in cold blood as Sheehan and the others watch helplessly. That night, McCabe struggles to apologize to Constance and she sadly reassures him that all is well. Early the following morning as snow blankets the mountains, Constance takes a long walk. Armed with a rifle, McCabe goes to the partially constructed church where, from the tower, he spots the killers splitting up to search for him. Elliott discovers McCabe and, after confiscating the rifle, throws him out of the church. McCabe hides nearby and witnesses Butler kill Elliott, mistaking the gun-carrying minister for McCabe. McCabe then sneaks to his bar where he retrieves a pistol. Upon creeping away to a neighboring building, he is confronted by Kid who wounds him in the stomach before McCabe kills him. Meanwhile, the newly wakened townspeople are alarmed to discover the church has caught fire and rush to fight the flames, allowing Butler and Breed to search for McCabe more openly. Although bleeding heavily, McCabe kills Breed then heads to the forest at the edge of town. Butler follows and shoots at McCabe through a cascade of snow and when McCabe feigns death, Butler approaches to investigate, after which McCabe shoots him between the eyes. As the townspeople rejoice over saving the church, a snowstorm builds and everyone returns inside. McCabe struggles to reach the brothel, but collapses in the snow and dies slowly as Constance settles into an opium daze.

Production Company:	Lion's Head
	David Foster Productions
Production Text:	Robert Altman & David Foster Productions
Distribution Company:	Warner Bros., Inc.	(Kinney Leisure Service)
Director:	Robert Altman	(Dir)
	Tommy Thompson	(Asst dir)
	Irby Smith	(2d asst dir)
	Graeme Clifford	(2d asst dir)
	Louis Lombardo	(2d unit dir)
Producer:	David Foster	(Prod)
	Mitchell Brower	(Prod)
	Robert Eggenweiler	(Assoc prod)
Writer:	Robert Altman	(Scr)
	Brian McKay	(Scr)
Photography:	Vilmos Zsigmond	(Dir of photog)
	Rod Parkhurst	(2d unit photog)
	Gundar Lipsburg	(Asst cam)
	Jim Blair	(Gaffer)
	Fred Ransom	(Grip)
	Dave Humphries	(Grip)
	Fred Wharton	(Grip)
Art Direction:	Leon Ericksen	(Prod des)
	Philip Thomas	(Art dir)
	Al Locatelli	(Art dir)
Film Editor:	Louis Lombardo	(Film ed)
	Robbe Roberts	(Asst ed)
	Scott Miller	(Asst ed)
Set Decoration:	Syd Greenwood	(Prop master)
Costumes:	Ilse Richter	(Ward)
	Leon Ericksen	(Cost supv)
	Maureen Robinson	(Ward asst)
	Nancy Pattiz	(Ward asst)
Sound:	Barry P. Jones	(Sd mixer)
	John W. Gusselle	(Sd)
	William A. Thompson	(Sd)
Special Effects:	Marcel Vercoutere	(Spec eff)
	Paul Neanover	(Spec eff)
	Anthony Goldschmidt	(Title des)
Make Up:	Robert Jiras	(Makeup)
	Ed Butterworth	(Makeup)
	Phyllis Newman	(Makeup)
	Barry Richardson	(Hairdresser)
	Sally Bailey	(Hairdresser)
Production Misc:	James Margellos	(Unit prod mgr)
	Ross Levy	(Asst to the prod)
	Anne Sidaris	(Research)
	Joan Maguire	(Cont)
	Graeme Clifford	(Casting)
	Lamar Criss	(Auditor)
MPAA Rating:	R
Country:	United States
Language:	English

Music:
Songs:	"Winter Lady," "Stranger Song" and "Sisters of Mercy," music and lyrics by Leonard Cohen.
Composer:	Leonard Cohen
Source Text:	Based on the novel McCabe by Edmund Naughton (New York, 1959).
Authors:	Edmund Naughton

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
Warner Bros., Inc.	24/6/1971 dd/mm/yyyy	LP41631

PCA NO:	22818
Physical Properties:	Sd:
	col:	Alpha Cine
	Widescreen/ratio:	Panavision
	Lenses/Prints:	Print by Technicolor


Genre:	Western
Sub-Genre:	with songs

Subjects (Major):	Brothels
	Gamblers
	Mining towns
	Partnership
	Women in business

Subjects (Minor):	Bathhouses
	Churches
	Death and dying
	Fires
	Funerals
	Gunfights
	Hired killers
	Hotels
	Mail order brides
	Murder
	Opium
	Prostitution
	Saloons
	Snow storms
	Wounds and injuries

Note:	Working titles for the film were The Presbyterian Church Wager , McCabe and John McCabe . Louis Lombardo's onscreen credit reads: "film editor and 2nd unit director." An Oct 1968 HR news item noted that producer David Foster, who made his motion picture debut with McCabe & Mrs. Miller , originally intended to release the picture through Twentieth Century-Fox with a screenplay by Ben Maddow, but Maddow did not contribute to the completed picture. A biography of director Robert Altman states that Elliott Gould was originally considered for the role of “McCabe,” but that Warren Beatty was necessary to secure financing for the film. Julie Christie was already cast and had a romantic relationship with Beatty at the time. The biography also indicates that Altman re-wrote almost half of Brian McKay’s script and that writers Robert Towne and Joseph Calvelli also contributed. During filming, Altman encouraged both Beatty and Christie to rework their dialogue as well. The biography notes that shooting outdoors in constantly changing weather made it difficult to maintain consistent sound quality. Altman, who did not favor re-takes or dubbing, refused to make any other adjustments to the sound, contributing to a certain muffled quality compounded by the director’s preference for over-lapping dialogue. Several cast members in McCabe & Mrs. Miller either previously worked or would work in the future for Altman, among them Rene Auberjonois, John Schuck and Michael Murphy, who all appeared in the 1970 Twentieth Century-Fox release MASH* (see below) and the 1970 M-G-M release Brewster McCloud (see above). Keith Carradine, who made his feature film debut in McCabe & Mrs. Miller , and Shelley Duvall would also appear in Altman's 1974 United Artists' release Thieves Like Us and Paramount's 1975 release of Nashville (see below). The film was shot on location in Vancouver, Canada, according to contemporary sources. According to Filmfacts , upon its initial release, the first two major prints of McCabe & Mrs. Miller for critical screenings on the East and West Coasts were rushed from a Canadian laboratory with poor sound quality and color fidelity, resulting in a hostile critical reception. Upon viewing corrected prints later, two critics changed their negative reviews. Since its initial release, many critics have listed McCabe & Mrs. Miller as one of Altman’s finest films, made distinctive by its sound quality and evocative color tint. Julie Christie received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her work in the film.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Daily Variety	13 Nov 1970.
Filmfacts	1971	pp. 189-93.
Hollywood Reporter	11 Oct 1968.
Hollywood Reporter	16 Oct 1970	p. 11.
Hollywood Reporter	22 Jan 1971	p. 14.
Hollywood Reporter	25 Jun 1971	p. 3, 20.
Hollywood Reporter	5 Aug 1971.
Los Angeles Times	1 Aug 1971.
Motion Picture Herald	11 Aug 1971.
New York Times	25 Jun 1971	p. 17.
New York Times	20 Aug 1971.
New Yorker	3 Jul 1971.
Saturday Review	7 Aug 1971.
Saturday Review	14 Aug 1971.
Variety	30 Jun 1971	p. 22.
Variety	4 Aug 1971.

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