3 Women (1977)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Robert Altman

Writer:

Robert Altman (written by)

Release Date:

25 May 1977 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

1 woman became 2/2 women became 3/3 women became 1

Plot:

Shy, reclusive girl Pinky starts work at a sanitarium and becomes emotionally attached to her fellow worker...

Plot Keywords:

Cafeteria | Hospital | Giving Birth | Pregnancy | Microwave Oven

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Shelley Duvall	...	Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux
Sissy Spacek	...	Pinky Rose
Janice Rule	...	Willie Hart
Robert Fortier	...	Edgar Hart
Ruth Nelson	...	Mrs. Rose
John Cromwell	...	Mr. Rose
Sierra Pecheur	...	Ms. Bunweil
Craig Richard Nelson	...	Dr. Maas
Maysie Hoy	...	Doris
Belita Moreno	...	Alcira
Leslie Ann Hudson	...	Polly
Patricia Ann Hudson	...	Peggy
Beverly Ross	...	Deidre
John Davey	...	Dr. Norton

Also Known As:

Robert Altman's 3 Women (USA) (complete title)
Three Women (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

USA:124 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:AA (original rating) (1977) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2006) | Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Desert Hot Springs, California, USA

Company:

Lions Gate Films

Trivia:

Shelley Duvall's skirt getting stuck in the car door was initially accidental. Robert Altman found it amusing and asked her to intentionally do it throughout the rest of the filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Millie and Pinkie prepare for dinner party, the time line is way out of whack. Scene begins in early morning, as Millie wakes Pinkie and tells her she is going grocery shopping for the dinner. Millie returns from store (presumably within an hour or so), Pinkie carries out garbage after spilling shrimp cocktail on herself and, en route to trash cans, meets dinner guests who say they can't come because they're on way to a beer joint instead - a scene that would have occurred no later than mid-morning and means that seven or more hours are unaccounted for.

Quotes:

Willie Hart: I had the most wonderful dream...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

Altman's best movie

Put together a top-shelf Raymond Carver story and the last two reels of 2001 and you have a dim idea of the unique genius of Altman's 1977 masterpiece, probably the most original movie ever made within the studio system. Shelley Duvall is a practiced flirt and would-be social butterfly, oblivious to the total failure of her Donna Reed mystique, and Sissy Spacek is the childlike tag-along who idolizes her. That's all I'll say about the story, which makes turns you couldn't have guessed at in ways that can't be summarized. Humane, funny, staggeringly strange and deeply creepy, THREE WOMEN defines certain social strata and modes of interaction that you've never seen in a movie before or since--and then goes out on a mystical limb that makes the last third of APOCALYPSE NOW look prosaic. With all due respect to NASHVILLE, MCCABE and many others, Altman never made a better film.