Great Movie!

It was filmed in my home state of Mississippi during the summer of '74 at a time when there were frequent rains (it isn't usually this wet in high summer). Altman seems amazed in his commentary at the very slow rhythms of the film: scenes play out much slower than in ordinary films, yet Altman also recognizes that the pace seems to be in keeping with the surroundings and these particular characters, so it works. Altman had paired Duvall with Julie Christie on the set of McCabe & Mrs. Miller and instructed Duvall to observe and learn from the distinguished actress. The work pays off in McCabe. Duvall and Keith Carradine have such natural chemistry with each other in the courtship scenes. John Schuck does some of the best acting work of his career in it. It also gave birth ultimately to Nashville: while in Mississippi, Altman dispatched Joan Tewkesbury (who is in Thieves in a small role at the end) to go to Nashville and start recording her observations of the city and country music scene. Louise Fletcher's role was initially much smaller but she was so good in it that Altman kept adding more things for her character to do to the extent that she becomes crucial to the climax. Pauline Kael raved about Thieves in her essay "Love & Coca-Cola". She felt that Altman had no need to adapt a William Faulkner novel to screen--she felt with Thieves, he already had achieved it.