In the American Northwest of the late nineteenth century, an insecure, romantic con man (Beatty) and an ambitious British prostitute (Christie) try to make a go of it in business but run up against spreading corporate powers who are invading the lucrative frontier. One of the era’s most memorable “anti-Westerns,” McCabe and Mrs. Miller manages to combine trenchant political satire with the pleasures of classical cinema. Altman built an entire town in Canada, exposed his cast and crew to snow and rain, and worked closely with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond to achieve this eerily beautiful film, a lyrical act of mourning for America’s little people and their hopes.