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3 Women

Screening on Film
Directed by Robert Altman.
With Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Janice Rule.
US, 1977, 35mm, color, 124 min.
Print source: HFA

One of the more unusual of the many unique films in director Robert Altman’s canon, Three Women originated for Altman in a dream, which may go a long way in explaining the strange, enigmatic tenor of the film. The result is an audacious, richly textured film about two vapid roommates in a Palm Springs, California, motel who are coworkers in an old-age convalescent home. The third woman is a mute painter, who fashions her fears and fantasies into mythic murals. Shelley Duvall highlights the ensemble in a mesmerizing performance as Millie Lammoreaux, a self-assured physical therapist who models her life on the inspirations she finds in Good Housekeeping. Love it or hate it, Three Women is a true original.

Part of film series

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Treasures from the Harvard Film Archive: S–T

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The Complete Robert Altman

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