Overview
A man finds fortune in the desert, but progress threatens to take it all away.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- witty
- bawdy
- warm
- classic western night
- retro film viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly admire the film as a distinctive, affectionate, and unusually gentle comic western that reveals Peckinpah's range, despite uneven pacing and excessive length.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The stagecoach economy supporting Cable Hogue's way station is overtaken by automobiles.
The film is widely recognized as Peckinpah's unusually comic, compassionate, and nonviolent western.
Hogue builds a profitable rest stop around the spring he discovers in the desert.
After being left without water, Hogue turns the spring into a business and a new life.
Films like The Ballad of Cable Hogue, and why
The Wild Bunch
revisionist western setting, comic tone, and elegiac focus on a changing frontier
The Westerner
lyrical western comedy balancing rough characters, tenderness, and the end of an older social order
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
offbeat western humor, eccentric frontier personalities, and bittersweet modernization
Movie Details
- Director
- Sam Peckinpah
- Release Date
- 1970-03-18
- Runtime
- 121 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (232)
Cast
- Jason Robards
- Stella Stevens
- Slim Pickens
- David Warner
- L.Q. Jones
- Strother Martin
- R.G. Armstrong
- Peter Whitney
- Gene Evans
- William Mims
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Ballad of Cable Hogue about?
- A stranded prospector turns a desert spring into a thriving stagecoach stop, only to find love and progress reshaping his hard-won frontier haven.
- What is The Ballad of Cable Hogue like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Ballad of Cable Hogue as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Ballad of Cable Hogue violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Ballad of Cable Hogue as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Ballad of Cable Hogue?
- Critics broadly admire the film as a distinctive, affectionate, and unusually gentle comic western that reveals Peckinpah's range, despite uneven pacing and excessive length.
- Which films are like The Ballad of Cable Hogue?
- Films with a similar feel include The Wild Bunch, The Westerner, and McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
- How long is The Ballad of Cable Hogue?
- The Ballad of Cable Hogue runs 121 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Ballad of Cable Hogue?
- In United States, The Ballad of Cable Hogue is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
