The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) review

In the early 20th century, hapless Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) is robbed by "associates" Bowen (Strother Martin) and Taggart (L. Q. Jones) of his belongings and left to die in the desert, so he prays to the heavens for assistance, miraculously "discovers" water and turns the location into a business, buddies up with a less-than-holy preacher man (David Warner) and falls in love with Hildy (Stella Stevens), a prostitute from a nearby town (after a rough first encounter).  This finds the typically gruff and violent Peckinpah in lighter-hearted territory (with the slightest spiritual component) as Hogue bumbles around, causes trouble and secretly seeks revenge: sure, some of the stylistic choices are a little suspect (I could have done without the "sped up" sequences) and the conclusion is a complete let-down ("modern technology" actually kills off an "old timer"), but this is about as close to a "comedy" the filmmaker was ever going to get.  The entire cast is splendid and Robards excels as the lead - he's brash and a bit foolish although you'll probably want him to succeed - and Stevens is his match as a self-confident lady who just wants to see the parts of America not covered in sand.