When Sam Peckinpah allowed some comedy to infuse his otherwise dramatic films, he displayed a subversive and very funny sense of humor. But if "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" is any indication, he was much less adept at staging an all-out comedy.
This farcical western starring Jason Robards as a man who discovers a water spring in the desert and proceeds to make a business out of it is an ungainly, even slightly ponderous affair. Its attempts at humor are mostly obvious and lead footed -- like speeding up the camera so that characters run around like they're in a Benny Hill skit. And the movie is far too long for the bare bones plot supporting it. I really like Peckinpah, but I thought this one was a struggle to sit through.
Two things I unequivocally did like about it -- the scene where Cable Hogue meets the character played by Stella Stevens and can't focus on anything but her cleavage; and the film's theme song, which I still can't get out of my head.
Grade: B-
This farcical western starring Jason Robards as a man who discovers a water spring in the desert and proceeds to make a business out of it is an ungainly, even slightly ponderous affair. Its attempts at humor are mostly obvious and lead footed -- like speeding up the camera so that characters run around like they're in a Benny Hill skit. And the movie is far too long for the bare bones plot supporting it. I really like Peckinpah, but I thought this one was a struggle to sit through.
Two things I unequivocally did like about it -- the scene where Cable Hogue meets the character played by Stella Stevens and can't focus on anything but her cleavage; and the film's theme song, which I still can't get out of my head.
Grade: B-