The Ballad of Cable Hogue
1970
***
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, David Warner, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens, Peter Whitney, R. G. Armstrong
Cable Hogue, a prospector abandoned in the desert, discovers water in an unexpected place. He sets up a stagecoach station and hopes to share its success with a good-hearted prostitute. Sam Peckinpah's follow-up to The Wild Bunch is a mellow and sympathetic but tonally messy Western, which alternates between grim drama and silly slapstick. The contrived ending comes out of nowhere. Nevertheless, Jason Robards gives a nice lead performance.
