History Film / McCabeAndMrsMiller

''[=McCabe=] & Mrs. Miller'' is a 1971 [[TheWestern Western]] film directed by Creator/RobertAltman. Altman himself called it an "anti-Western", as it ignored or outright [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] a number of the usual genre conventions. The film at heart is intended as a more realistic portrayal of life in the [[TheWildWest Old West]]; something which one reviewer remarked would be like what a documentary filmaker might make if he traveled back in time to the era and filmed people going about their daily lives. It's also based on the novel ''[=McCabe=]'' by Edmund Naughton.

* RareGuns: [=McCabe=]'s revolver, which someone believes to be a "Swedish gun", is a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasser_M1870 Montenegrin Gasser]], which was designed by the Gasser firm of the Austrian Empire.

* RareGuns: [=McCabe=]'s revolver, which someone believes to be a "Swedish gun", is an Austrian-Empire designed "Montenegrin Gasser" that was marketed to the Balkan nations, like Montenegro for one.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Miss Miller leaves McCabe speechless when she calls him out on his lack of planning on how he run his brothel when he first gets started.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Miss Miller leaves McCabe speechless and calls him out on his lack of planning on how he run his brothel when he first gets started.

''[=McCabe=] & Mrs. Miller'' is a 1971 [[TheWestern Western]] film directed by Creator/RobertAltman. Altman himself called it an "anti-Western", as it ignored or outright [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] a number of the usual genre conventions. The film at heart is intended as a more realistic portrayal of life in the [[TheWildWest Old West]]; something which one reviewer remarked would be like what a documentary filmaker might make if he traveled back in time to the era and filmed people going about their daily lives.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9f762487_483b_4d49_b7a0_a16c2df3ef5f.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Not your typical Western protagonists.]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Several white men discuss the old 19th century urban legend of Asian women's vaginas being sideways, though they speak around the subject.

* BrickJoke: In one scene, a man asks whether he should shave his beard and leave his mustache. In a later scene, he's only wearing a mustache and asks for approval.

* BewareTheQuietOnes: Alma, the quiet and shy prostitute, freaks out and attacks one of her clients with a knife.

%%* BlackAndGrayMorality

* DistinctionWithoutADifference: Butler isn't here to kill anybody. He's just here to hunt bear. (Guess who wears a big, shaggy bear coat?)
* DownerEnding: [=McCabe=] dies, cold, quiet and alone, whilst the rest of Presbyterian Church attends to other business. Things aren't exactly peachy for Miller, either.[[note]]Interestingly, the novel's ending is slightly less bleak. [=McCabe=] dies in Mrs. Miller's arms, and she avenges his death by killing Sheehan[[/note]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: Butler. Sure, he's an amoral killer, but he's so well-spoken!
* ForTheEvulz: The youngest assassin offers to help a kid with his gun, and then as soon as he reaches for it, draws his own and shoots him. Why? Because he was embarrassed for failing in shooting practice.
* FormerlyFat: Possibly. [=McCabe=]'s reputation asserts his former nickname was Pudgy [=McCabe=]. A townsperson notes "[[CaptainObvious He doesn't look so fat]]".

* TheGunslinger: There's a story circulating that John [=McCabe=] is one ("Pudgy [=McCabe=]"), and that he shot someone called Bill Roundtree. At first it seems like its untrue, but many people interpret [=McCabe=]'s actions in the final scene to be a subtle confirmation of the story.
* TheHeroDies: [=McCabe=] himself at the end.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: One of many subverted tropes. Miller and the prostitutes are out for themselves, and themselves only. While it seems like Miller might care for [=McCabe=] a bit more than she lets on, in the end she abandons him.
** And in the context of the film, she is ''justified'' since John made a dumb decision out of DelusionsOfEloquence and pissed off powerful people who could endanger not only [=McCabe=] but her and the prostitutes.
** As she explains herself to Shelley Duvall's character, a mail order bride whose husband was murdered in a petty fight, women in the west are at the mercy of stupid, alcoholic and AxCrazy men and it pays more to work as a prostitute than as a wife and mother, which is a major TakeThat to patriarchal macho society.
* InstantDeathBullet: Averted. After John shoots him, one assassin manages to shoot back twice (and hit him both times) before dying. Another manages to stagger quite a way through the snow before keeling over, and [=McCabe=] himself takes several minutes to die. The only one who dies instantly was shot in the forehead.

* LaserGuidedKarma: The blonde punk kills the unarmed Keith Carradine character in cold blood after catching him off guard just for kicks. In the film's climax, [=McCabe=] kills the blonde punk by shooting him in the back, catching him off guard. May count as a KarmicDeath. To make the parallel clear, the film shows each of them floating face-down in water after their respective shootings.
* MailOrderBride: Bart Coyle's wife, Ida.

* NameAndName

* ShootTheShaggyDog: Not only is [=McCabe=]'s death lonely and sad, but it's ultimately pointless and for a dubious cause. Did we mention this is a {{Deconstruction}} of [[TheWildWest The Western]]?
* SliceOfLife

* TwilightOfTheOldWest: A tombstone confirms that the film is set in 1902, well after what most would consider the classic "Wild West" era.
* YoungGun: One of the assassins hired to kill [=McCabe=].

* DrinkOrder: To the disgust of several, [=McCabe=] will have his usual whiskey with a raw egg in it.

Starting with being set in the relatively wooded northwestern United States as opposed to the orange deserts of the southwest as most westerns are; professional gambler John [=McCabe=] (Creator/WarrenBeatty) turns up in the tiny town of Presbyterian Church (named after its only substantial building) one day at the start of the twentieth century, and quickly has the entire town under his thumb. He establishes a brothel with three prostitutes purchased from the nearby town of Bearpaw. Not long afterwards, opium-addicted brothel madam Constance Miller (Julie Christie) turns up in town herself and convinces [=McCabe=] that she can do a better job running the brothel than he can, and that she will share the increased profits with him if he lets her do so. He accepts. The two flourish, but then a pair of agents from the Harrison Shaughnessy mining company in Bearpaw arrive seeking to buyout [=McCabe=]'s business. He refuses, trying to drive the price up, but they lose patience and leave town. Miller warns him that the company has a reputation for sending assassins to kill those who won't sell. Sure enough, three gunslingers arrive shortly after.

''[=McCabe=] & Mrs. Miller'' is a 1971 [[TheWestern Western]] film directed by Creator/RobertAltman. Altman himself called it an "anti-Western", as it ignored or outright [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] a number of usual western conventions. The film at heart is intended as a more realistic portrayal of life in the [[TheWildWest Old West]]; something which one reviewer remarked would be like what a documentary filmaker might make if he traveled back in time to the era and filmed people going about their daily lives.

''[=McCabe=] & Mrs. Miller'' is a 1971 [[TheWestern Western]] film directed by Creator/RobertAltman. Altman himself called it an "anti-Western", as it ignored or outright [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] a number of the usual genre conventions. The film at heart is intended as a more realistic portrayal of life in the [[TheWildWest old west]]; something which one reviewer remarked would be like what a documentary filmaker might make if he traveled back in time to the era and filmed people going about their daily lives.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/McCabe_and_Mrs__Miller_5696.jpg]]

''[=McCabe=] & Mrs. Miller'' is a 1971 [[TheWestern Western]] film directed by Creator/RobertAltman. Altman himself called it an "anti-Western", as it ignored or outright [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] a number of usual western conventions. The film at heart is intended as a more realistic portrayal of life in the [[TheWildWest old west]]; something which one reviewer remarked would be like what a documentary filmaker might make if he traveled back in time to the era and filmed people going about their daily lives.

* TheOtherRainforest: One of the few Westerns set in the Pacific Northwest.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Filmed in suburban Vancouver, with the town entirely built from scratch.

* ForTheEvulz: The youngest assassin offers to help a kid with his gun, and then as soon as he reaches for it, draws his own and shoots him. Why? Because he was bored.

* BlackAndGrayMorality

* FormerlyFat: Possibly. [=McCabe=]'s reputation asserts his former nickname was Pudgy [=McCabe=]. A townsperson notes "[[CaptainObvious He doesn't look so fat.]]"

* LaserGuidedKarma: The blonde punk kills the unarmed Keith Carradine character in cold blood after catching him off guard just for kicks. In the film's climax, [=McCabe=] kills the blonde punk by shooting him in the back, catching him off guard. May count as a KarmicDeath.
** To make the parallel clear, the film shows each of them floating face-down in water after their respective shootings.

* NoExceptYes: Butler isn't here to kill anybody. He's just here to hunt bear. (Guess who wears a big, shaggy bear coat?)

* SubvertedTrope: Too many to list.

* [[CaliforniaDoubling Vancouver Doubling]]: Filmed in suburban Vancouver, with the town entirely built from scratch.

* TheGhost: As mentioned above, [=McCabe=] is hounded by rumors that he killed Bill Roundtree, but no one's quite sure who Bill Roundtree was. Butler later taunts [=McCabe=] by (falsely) claiming "my best friend's best friend was Bill Roundtree."

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: As mentioned above, [=McCabe=] is hounded by rumors that he killed Bill Roundtree, but no one's quite sure who Bill Roundtree was. Butler later taunts [=McCabe=] by (falsely) claiming "my best friend's best friend was Bill Roundtree."