February 5th: McCABE AND MRS. MILLER (Robert Altman, 1971)

In a developing frontier town, a gambler enters into a business relationship with a local madame.

Robert Altman was a former director of industrial films, documentaries, and various television productions (including Alfred Hitchcock Presents) before moving into narrative features in the late-1960's. He quickly became known for his off-beat humor and became a favorite of the counterculture after his breakout anti-war comedy M*A*S*H in 1970, a commercial success that also earned Altman the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and Academy Award nominations including Best Picture.

McCabe And Mrs. Miller was brought to Altman by the film's producer, though the director's practice was to rewrite his scripts and continue revising them through improvisations with his actors. The production took place on location in Vancouver and was shot mostly in chronological order, and in a unique process, the carpenters who built the small town set were dressed in costume and appear on camera as part of the story.

Staring in the film are actor-turned-produce Warren Beatty (who recently had his own major success with Bonnie & Clyde), and Julie Christie, already an Oscar-winner and star of David Lean's Doctor Zhivago. Joining them are various actors, some of whom would become part of Altman's "stock" company, including Keith Carradine, Shelly Duvall, Rene Auberjonois, and Michael Murphy.

Behind the camera, Altman worked with innovative cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, who came up with the idea of "flashing" the film negative before shooting, which gave the entire film a hazy, dreamy quality. Altman was a big fan of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen's first album, and asked the artist to contribute songs and music to the production. Altman continued to refine his experimentations with overlapping dialogue and usage of larger ensemble casts, both of which would become trademarks of his work.

The film did not make much of a splash at the box office, but it did receive positive notices from critics, and counted director Stanley Kubrick among its admirers. Julie Christie received an Academy Award nomination for her performance, and the film is now regarded as one of Altman's best works, as one of the best Westerns of the era, despite subverting many tropes of the genre.

Running time is approx. 2 hours.