“Still Robert Altman's best moment, this 1971 anti-western murmurs softly of love, death, and capitalism.” - Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
“MCCABE & MRS. MILLER is like no other Western ever made, and with it, Robert Altman earns his place as one of the best contemporary directors.” - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Wednesday, June 18, 6:00 p.m. & Saturday, June 21, 2:00 p.m. | Altman’s revisionist Western stars Warren Beaty as gambler John McCabe and Julie Christie as madam Constance Miller, two newcomers to the town of Presbyterian Church, Washington, in the early 1900s. After they partner up to run a saloon and brothel, their business is threatened by a corporation interested in buying the property. Altman’s layered dialogue style and unorthodox, fluid cinematography radically upended the Western genre. The stakes are high, of course—prosperity, love, death—but here Altman swaps the dusty frontier for the muddy and snowy Pacific Northwest, and trades American patriotism for melancholic isolation. Set to the songs of Leonard Cohen, the film earned Julie Christie an Academy Award nomination and was praised by The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael as being so affecting “it leaves one rather dazed.” Of its director, The Chicago Tribune’s Gene Siskel declared, “Altman is clearly a master.” 35mm print courtesy The Chicago Film Society.
Awards & Nominations
Nominee - Best Actress (Julie Christie), Academy Awards
Nominee - Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium, Writers Guild of America
Robert Altman Centennial | June–August 2025
Robert Altman (1925–2006) is one of the rare directors whose name alone conjures his style. Say a film is “Altmanesque” and you’ll get nods of understanding—most cinephiles know the auteur’s calling cards: large ensemble casts; overlapping dialogue; a roving camera, and a subtle critique of the American Dream. Altman was prolific (a hardworking midwesterner), directing 36 feature films, and well over 100 episodes of television. Nominated for five Best Director Academy Awards, Altman was presented with an Honorary Academy Award in 2006—and he passed away nine months later, at the age of 81. When asked by Playboy Magazine in 1976, “When you look into your future, what do you want to have accomplished?” Altman answered, “All I want is to do what I'm doing. What else would I do?”
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu