The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Stranded in a sunburned desert after being betrayed, Cable Hogue stumbles onto a spring that becomes a natural rest stop along a busy stagecoach route. He builds a small, stubborn home, sets up a simple business, and starts profiting from weary travelers who need water, shelter, and a friendly ear. A nearby town keeps him company, and Hogue welcomes Hildy, a sharp, fearless woman who moves in and helps him run the place. For a while the plan works as the frontier shapes itself around his pragmatic hustle. Then a new era arrives with the automobile, and the old stagecoach world begins to fade, forcing Hogue to reckon with change, memory, and what he really wants from life and more.

Directed by Sam Peckinpah and released in 1970, the film rests on an original screenplay credited to Edmund Penney, John Crawford and Gordon T. Dawson. It's not an adaptation, but a standalone modern Western shaped by Peckinpah's distinctive, uncompromising approach.

Budgeted at about 3.72 million dollars, The Ballad of Cable Hogue grossed roughly 5 million worldwide. For a late 1960s style Western, it performed solidly, earning a modest return while establishing Peckinpah's reputation for offbeat genre entertainments at that time.

As a late era Peckinpah Western, Cable Hogue blends laconic humor with rugged realism. Jason Robards gives a low key performance as the stubborn survivor and Stella Stevens supplies a sharp counterpoint as Hildy. The film earned a cult following and influenced later road oriented frontier dramas that still resonate.

Critics at the time noted the film's unusual tone for a Western, combining light humor with reflection. Its themes center on independence, survival, and aging, alongside the clash between old frontier values and the encroaching modern economy symbolized by new transport. The result feels atypical yet resonant for curious viewers.