The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a 1970 American Technicolor Western comedy film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Jason Robards, Stella Stevens and David Warner.
Cable, who hasn’t bathed since his desert wanderings, decides to treat himself to a night with Hildy, a prostitute in the town saloon.
They quickly develop a jovial understanding but before they can consummate the transaction, Cable remembers that he has still not set up his boundary markers and rushes out, much to Hildy's chagrin.
Cable makes up with Hildy and spends the night with her, leaving Joshua to pursue his passion: the seduction of emotionally vulnerable women.
Cable and Joshua continue to run the robust business, delighting in shocking the often genteel travelers with the realities of frontier life.
Hildy arrives at Cable Springs having been "asked" to leave by the modernizing townfolk, who can no longer abide open prostitution in their midst.
Joshua eventually wanders back to Cable Springs, having gotten into trouble with a married woman in Dead Dog, but leaves a few days after Hildy decides to continue on way to San Francisco.
Cable lets them believe that he bears them no ill will, and he alludes to a huge stash of cash that he has hoarded, knowing that the two men will return to steal it.
The critical and box office hits Deliverance (1972) and Jeremiah Johnson (1972) were in development at the time and Peckinpah was considered the first choice to direct them.
Peckinpah was forced to do a 180-degree turn from The Ballad of Cable Hogue and traveled to England to direct Straw Dogs (1971), one of his darkest and most psychologically disturbing films.
The Ballad of Cable Hogue has an original score by Jerry Goldsmith and songs by Richard Gillis, whom Peckinpah supposedly hired after hearing him sing in a local bar.
[7] Each of the main characters has a theme: Hogue's "Tomorrow is the Song I Sing", Hildy's "Butterfly Mornin's", and Joshua's "Wait for Me, Sunrise".
"[10] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that there were "many things to cherish in 'Cable Hogue,' especially Jason Robards' flawless performance.
"[11] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "a Damon Runyon-esque oater" that was "[l]oaded with bawdy, lusty and gritty elements, plus genuine tenderness and feeling, as well as too much length ...
The trail, I'm afraid, winds down from there, but even at his most heavy-handed, simplistic and protracted, Peckinpah remains just about the most genuinely individualistic American director of his generation.
Critics have called The Ballad of Cable Hogue a "Death of the West" film, depicting the transition from old to modern civilization.
Welsh musician John Cale wrote and recorded a song titled "Cable Hogue" for his 1975 album Helen of Troy.
Tucson band Calexico wrote a song called "Ballad Of Cable Hogue" on their 2000 album Hot Rail, which shares similar lyrical themes to the plot of the film.
Cable Hogue is the name chosen by the super-intelligent artificial intelligence that is a moon-sized star ship in Neal Asher's Polity series of books.