Daily Dialogue — December 14, 2018

“If you’d just give me a chance, I’ve got poetry in me.”

— McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), screenplay by Robert Altman and Brian McKay, novel by Edmund Naughton

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Profession of Love suggested by Mark Furney.

Trivia: The original title of this film was “The Presbyterian Church Wager”. It was rejected due to complaints by the church to Warner Bros.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Mark: “A different but interesting profession of love is found in two scenes in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, McCabe’s soliloquy to Mrs. Miller where he says “if you’d just give me a chance, I’ve got poetry in me” as he straps on his gun before he goes off for the final 19 minute showdown with the bad guys.

Here is the scene on You Tube, although it is very different from how it is written at page 122–123 in the script.

In the script, the scene is written where Mrs. Miller is present. The two are about to make love.

Altman decided to make the scene more solitary (I think I remember from an interview) because McCabe was screwing up the courage to go face, perhaps, his death.

However, earlier in the film Altman did include other parts of the scene as written at pg 122–123, as found in this clip:

I’ve typed the heart of the soliloquy as it was contained in the script:

McCabe: Listen to me, Constance. Listen to me. I got poetry in me if you would only listen to me. All my life I been walking around with a block of ice inside me. I’ve wanted to feel your body warm for me sometimes so bad that the ache for it nearly busts me. I never wanted to do nothing but put a smile on your face. Oh God, how I hate for them bastards to put their hands on you. Jesus, how I used to hate being over there when I knew some son-of-a-bitch was with you over here. Oh, God, Constance — you ain’t nothing but the best looker I ever seen…

You may download a PDF copy of the screenplay here.