The Ballad of Cable Hogue

The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a 1970 feature film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Jason Robards, Stella Stevens and David Warner. Set in the desert of Arizona during the transitional period when the frontier was closing, the movie follows three years in the life of Cable Hogue, a failed prospector. While unmistakably a Western, the movie is quite unconventional for the genre and for the director. It contains only a few brief scenes of viole... more

The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a 1970 feature film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Jason Robards, Stella Stevens and David Warner. Set in the desert of Arizona during the transitional period when the frontier was closing, the movie follows three years in the life of Cable Hogue, a failed prospector. While unmistakably a Western, the movie is quite unconventional for the genre and for the director. It contains only a few brief scenes of violence and gunplay, relying more on a subtly crafted story that could better be characterized as comedic in nature. Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) is isolated in the desert, awaiting his partners, Taggart (L.Q. Jones) and Bowen (Strother Martin), who are scouting for water. The two plot to seize what little water remains to save themselves. Hogue, who hesitates to defend himself, is disarmed and abandoned to almost certain death. Confronted with sandstorms and other desert elements, Hogue bargains with God. Four days later, about to perish, he... less