Considering what one usually thinks of in being associated with Sam Peckinpah, Cable Hogue is perhaps the oddest film of his career. A director primarily known for violence; and with The Wild Bunch still fresh on audience’s minds at the time, this film represents almost a complete 180 in tone from almost every other film he’s made, aiming for (to paraphrase that Monty Python sketch) the calmer, more lyrical waters of folklore...though with the ruggedness of the world and the mind remaining ever present. Just look at the way in which Peckinpah shows Hogue’s mind wandering between Hildy’s breasts and the business at hand; a moment of lust treated with such affection on their first encounter. It’s a far different use of Peckinpah’s signature montage than in prior films. Of course, Hildy is a prostitute, and equally “of course”, she is probably the strongest female character in the Peckinpah canon, probably the best lady performance in them, and just maybe the ladiest damn lady ever.
This is among many of the film’s great contrasts. Peckinpah’s films are loaded with ideas and characters whose components and attitudes; and audience expectations thereof, clash. This one is no different, but the result of Cable Hogue’s twists is a kind of alternative folktale; albeit a lighthearted one, which is really what makes the film so unique for Peckinpah. The film has the air of a tall tale to it, but the way so many of its characters wind up contradicting first impressions; and indeed grow, is special, and of course it’s the kind of folk tale meant for adults. It’s a western film for sure, but few of the usual ‘action’ pleasures we asociate with the genre are indulged in.
The film’s ability to see Cable, Hildy and Joshua so fully, and love them regardless of their more obvious shortcomings (perhaps best expressed in each of their theme songs; songs which I feel perfectly capture their individual spirits and give the film a quality that is both dated yet ageless) that makes it such a strong film even to this day, despite ‘indulging’ in a lot of things that are particular to late 60s and early 70s popular films. Its a film of far greater passion and light pathos than most of its contemporaries, especially Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a film I’ve always found grating. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I think its wonderful that the film gives such unconditional affection to Joshua, our itinerant rascal preacher, even as he seduces a grieving woman (Peckinpah probably never loved a psychotic rascal more than Joshua).
And of course how it so lovingly hangs onto his lengthy and beautifully honest sermon at the end of the film. Its that honesty that really does it. There’s no glitz or glamour at all to the film, and the characters are constantly dirty and smelly, covered in dust, glugging down the same ochre liquor, sleeping in stained mattresses, watering their mules and eating rattlesnakes and jackrabbits; all of which is photographed with dirty splendor. The theme songs used for eah of the three characters; anachronistic as they are, perfectly . Hogue’s theme is first given over a wonderful four-split screen opening credits; and its nakedly, optimistic. , Joshua actually sings his tune at one point; a perfectly whistful ballad for the wanderer. Hogue joins Hildy in singing hers. All of them are so much made of elemental things...time, butterflies, sunflowers, and the sunrise. Frankly, Butterfly Mornings and Wildflower Afternoons is my favorite...it makes me think of pancakes.
The film’s performances certainly help this honesty...Jason Robards, in particular, embodies the desert sage of the film’s title so perfectly, that its hard to imagine him as anything else. David Warner’s performance as the Reverend Joshua Sloane is remarkable. One review mentioned this, and I can’t help but repeat it, but his Bible quoting love machine character relishes every spoken word of the good book like a Shakespearean actor. To say nothing of the rest of the cast. And then there’s Stellla Stevens...who I’ve already said a word or two about. The supporting cast is equally blessed...Slim Pickens is underused if anything; some of the film’s great belly laughs come from his various exchanges with passengers and Cable Hogue. And, of course, L..Q. Jones and Strother Martin as Hogue’s nemeses are wonderful and rich. Peckinpah obviously had a way with actors all his own.
Like everything else in the film, its primary themes are handled so lightly that its hard to feel the weight of them...and its one of the few things that really seem to drag the film down a bit for me; only just a bit. I guess that the film’s primary theme would indeed be the encroachment of technology...though, if you’re so caught up in enjoying the film’s numerous pleasures, the introduction of this theme (nigh at the end) and the narrative disruption it offers, will likely catch you by surprise. To be completely honest, I still don’t know what I feel about this ending, though its implications are pretty obvious. And still, leave it to this film to have one of its most memorable and resonant moments in such a confounding, perhaps convoluted conclusion.
Flaws aside (frankly, its hard to find any, and I can only say that I don’t consider it a masterpiece because I feel bad about tossing the term around), I have to say that this is, for me, that rarest of things: a wholly American fable that that dispenses sentimentality in favor of genuine sentiment (something nearly impossible to find after the 40s, let alone the early 70s), moralizing and “religion” in favor of genuine amity and, well, a more human kind of faith. It’s a wonderful ballad of saints, sinners, rascals and ladies, a film whose strengths more than make up for its discrepancies. I wouldn’t say this is one of Peckinpah’s masterpieces, but it’s the kind of movie you might love a little anyway. It was Peckinpah’s personal favorite.
88 / 100
Like Ride the High Country, this film is available individually, or as part of Warner’s Peckinpag Legendary Westerns collection. A fine transfer, and extras, though I haven’t bitten into them for ages.
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