Trivia for
3 Women (1977) More at IMDbPro »

• Director Robert Altman based the film's title, locations, and cast members on a series of dreams he had.
  
  
• The idiosyncrasies of the character "Millie Lammoreaux" were mostly conceived by Shelley Duvall.
  
  
• The girls who played the twins were not professional actors. 'Robert Altman' cast them after spotting both of them waitressing in California.
  
  
• While shooting the scene where Pinky drinks the beer in one gulp, Sissy Spacek threw up on the first take, but immediately tried again and succeeded on the second take.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• The murals had to be painted at night under studio lights because the intense desert heat made the paint boil.
  
  
• When Pinky spills the shrimp cocktail all over herself, originally filmed to scare Millie, she jokingly takes a knife and lays on the floor with it to make it appear as if she was stabbed. This scene was edited out but a segment was used in the dream sequence.
  
  
• Maysie Hoy who played the Chinese woman/spa employee was also an assistant editor on the film.
  
  
• Robert Altman received a green light from 20th Century Fox without a finished screenplay - and with Altman's express desire that he make the film without one.
  
  
• Even Altman admitted that he wasn't sure what the ending would be, although he did have a loose theory about it.
  
  
• Once he hatched the idea, Altman's first step was to develop a 50-page treatment with writer Patricia Resnick from his notes.
  
  
• Ingmar Bergman's Persona (1966) was a major influence on the project.
  
  
• Prior to its release on DVD in 2006, the film had never been released outside of its initial 1977 cinema run.
  
  
• Robert Altman had a believer in the head of production at 20th Century Fox, 'Alan Ladd Jr'. He felt that he could indulge Altman's offbeat projects, while the studio's more commercial films like Star Wars (1977) would make up for any financial loss. Peter Biskind, author of "Easy Riders," reports in his book that Altman and Tommy Thompson were driving to the airport, when Altman said, "Let's stop at 20th. I had a dream last night, I want to sell it to Laddie. Keep the engine running, it'll only take a minute." Altman darted into Ladd's office, made a deal for "3 Women," and was back in the car in time to make his flight.
  
  
• The film was shot in sequence and on location at a desert resort in Palm Springs. Each night Robert Altman would expand the scenes from his treatment; dialog would be improvised during rehearsals.
  
  
• The movie opened and closed in a matter of weeks. As it had only cost $1.6 million, there was a minuscule profit for Robert Altman and 'Alan Ladd Jr', although the studio lost money on the distribution costs.
  
  
• Sissy Spacek's and her character Pinky's hometown is Quitman, TX. Shelley Duvall's and her character Millie's hometown is Houston, TX.
  
  

• SPOILER: Robert Altman says that the ending is meant to be ambiguous and open to interpretation. However, his personal opinion was that Edgar was buried under the pile of spare tires shown in the final shot of the film.
  
  

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