The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)

David Warner: Reverend Joshua Douglas Sloan

Photos 

Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : Lord, as the day draws towards evening, this life grows to the end of us all, we say "Adieu" to our friend. Take him, Lord, but knowing Cable, I suggest you do not take him lightly. Amen.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Did it ever occur to you, Cable, how wise and bountiful God was to put breasts on a woman? Just the right number in just the right place. Did you ever notice that, Cable?

  Cable Hogue : Well, where in the hell would he put 'em? On their backside?

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : It's a thought.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Since I cannot rouse heaven I intend to raise hell.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Funny thing... it doesn't matter how much or how little you've wandered around... how many women you've been with. Every once in awhile, one of them cuts right through. Right straight into you.

  Cable Hogue : What do you do about it?

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : I suppose maybe when you die you get over it.

• Cable Hogue : Josh, it's about time you earned your keep. Preach me a funeral sermon.

  Hildy : Oh, for heaven's sake!

  Cable Hogue : A good one. Don't make me out no saint but don't put me down to deep.

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : You mean now?

  Cable Hogue : Yeah. It's not knowing what they're going to say about you, that's all. Now all my life, I've been scared of this living. Now... got to do the other. Now come on now! I can't wait all day. I ain't got any time.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Come child, together we shall purge this grief from your soul and release your true spirit as we search a path to righteousness.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : "Vengeance is mine," sayeth the Lord.

  Cable Hogue : Well, that's fair enough with me - just as long as he don't take too long and I can watch.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : He charged too much. He was as stingy as they come. Yes, he might have cheated, but he was square about it. Rich or poor, he gouged them all the same.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : [observing a grave]  I see tragedy has already struck this cactus Eden.

  Cable Hogue : No, that's no tragedy. Shot the son of a bitch. With his own rifle. He tried to kill me. He was my first customer. You're my second.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Well done. Defend thyself with the jawbone of an ass if need be.

• Cable Hogue , Reverend Joshua Sloan : [singing]  And that's how the farmer's daughter, Went and lost her yellow garter, I can't go back to Memphis anymore, Anymore, anymore...

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : [singing]  Wait for me, sunrise, Bring me some new skies, Gonna stop all my wandering, When I'd see what tomorrow will bring...

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : She was a treasure waiting to be found. A dew-kissed flower sparkling in the sunrise. Her breath was that of a wanton angel upon my lips.

  Cable Hogue : She's a married woman.

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : I shall walk in her breezes, bask in the rays of her beauty, lie in the golden arches of her passions.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Come, child, take my hand. The Lord works in many ways. Sometimes, when he has dealt too much for one to bear he sends a messenger to comfort and love.

  Claudia : He does?

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : Yes. Such a messenger am I. Come, child, lay your head on my shoulder. This is a shoulder for the grieving, a hand to be gripped in despair, a vial to pour one's heart into. My only mission in life is that of comfort and love - which I humbly offer you now.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Weep your heart into mine, child, for it is weeping with you.

  [pulls Claudia closer] 

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : I will be the reservoir for your sorrow.

  [kisses Claudia] 

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : And your guide for a brighter tomorrow.

  Claudia : Oh, Reverend Sloane, it's so good to know that somebody cares.

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : Thank not me, I am but an emissary of the kingdom of heavenly love.

  [unbuttons the back buttons of Claudia's blouse] 

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : Out of the depth of your sorrow, we shall find the beauty of his love.

  [turns Claudia around, places his hands inside her shirt] 

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : Even now as we stand here in his shadow, feel your grief subside.

  [massages Claudia's breasts] 

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : ... as I absorb it through my palm and into my hand.

  Claudia : I do, Reverend.

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : Feel your pain - flowing freely - out of your heart - and into my hand.

  Claudia : I feel it.

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : Come, child. Together we shall purge this grief from your soul and release your true spirit as we search a path to righteousness.

• Cable Hogue : Burning with passion, huh, preacher?

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : What about yours, brother Hogue?

  Cable Hogue : Hell, I ain't never had a passion.

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : What do you call that vengeance that gnaws at your soul? That's the passion that'll nurture the dandelions above your grave.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Cable, I'm off into Deaddog. The call is upon me and cannot be ignored without endangering my soul.

  Cable Hogue : Your soul? Well, just be careful your ass don't get full of buckshot.

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Have you ever noticed a female person's legs?

  Cable Hogue : Of course I have. Some go all the way up to the lady's ass, others stop somewhat below.

  Reverend Joshua Sloan : The thigh, the soft abundance of the female thigh. Have you ever noticed?

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Every moment we argue death rides closer. We're in trouble.

  Cable Hogue : We? I never diddled nobody's wife!

• Reverend Joshua Sloan : Yea, little desert flower, I will protect you as a shepherd protects his flock.

  Hildy : Yeah, well, I heard about them sheepherders, Reverend Sloan, and you ain't stickin' my feet in your boots.