Review of McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) by Timothy M — 07 Sep 2010

Though Robert Altman never won an Academy award as a Director, I have found his films to be very well made and entertaining. McCabe and Mrs. Miller is no exception. Ranked #8 on the American Film Institute?s list of the 10 greatest westerns ever, it does not disappoint. Altman?s attention to detail visually draws the viewer into the story as well as places the viewer into the period he is trying to recreate. And it is clear from the beginning that life in an Old West mining town in the Pacific Northwest is not easy.

John McCabe (Warren Beatty), a reputed gambler and gunfighter (though the gunfighter part is vague), arrives in the old mining town with the thought of setting up his own tavern/brothel. He comes to an agreement with the other saloon owner Sheehan (Rene Auberjonois) about his impending venture but since the town is growing there is no animosity. McCabe flounders around in the business world until the day Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie) arrives on the scene. A professional madam, Miller knows all the ropes about running the business. Her business sense puts McCabe to shame and he has a difficult time dealing with it until he sees the money that starts flowing in immediately. A friendship is born @ $5 a night ? Mrs. Miller never gives the inventory away for free.

All seems well until a large mining company decides that the assets in the town are worth buying in order to create a company town. Sheehan gets what is happening and sells out immediately. McCabe?s lack of business sense now proves problematic. His attempts at ?negotiating? are met with disdain by the company and Mrs. Miller even tries to tell him to cease negotiating since the company only asks twice. His failure to listen leads the company to call in the man who ?closes? the deal by removing the obstacle. The conflict escalates until the inevitable violence occurs that will settle the issue.

Though not a fan of Beatty, he does a real good job of being the magnanimous but dumb saloon owner. And he?s not the complete incompetent Mrs. Miller would have you believe as he proves towards the end of the film. In reading about this film, it seems Beatty loved to perform multiple takes of his scenes. Once, after Altman wrapped for the day, Beatty insisted on more takes. Altman left his assistant to work with him and Beatty did 30 more takes of the scene. Altman got the last laugh however, as he later made Beatty do 25 takes of a scene that was filmed in the heavy snow. Christie was wonderful as Mrs. Miller bringing a sense of class to the establishment. She even insisted on baths for the patrons ? something they originally resisted. Christie was nominated for best actress for her performance.

Beatty and Christie?s relationship carried the story while Altman?s direction created the atmosphere that made you feel you were experiencing this old mining town. The supporting characters are believable especially Auberjonois? Sheehan. Altman apparently let the minor characters and extras develop their own personas. It was an interesting concept that worked well. There is a reason that this ranks in the top ten of all time westerns and now having watched this film, I would have to agree with them?..