3 Women (1977)

leading from

 Dreams That Become Films

Shelley Duvall, Cissy Spacek and Robert Altman

a) Problem solving with the subconsious
When Robert Altman made the 1970 movie M*A*S*H, he got to a stage where he would consciously go to sleep with a problem and say "OK, the answer is somewhere in the information that is in my head; it's just a matter of getting it out - and it will occur to me"" Rarely did he had a specific dream that would answer a question, but sometimes in the next day or week, the answer would disclose itself, because as he understood, that it was there trapped in his head

b) A State of desperation
At the time, Robert had lost a project, a broad comedy that he was working on called Easy And Hard Ways Out, with Peter Falk and Sterling Hayden, and he wanted to set it at the time of Six Day War, but the Geffen Company told him that he couldn't so he passed on it

He took his wife to the emergency hospital at four in the morning and it seemed very serious at the time and then it turned out to be fine in the end. But he came home from seeing his wife while she was there during the first or second day she was in and he was very anxious and knew that he had to get a film

He returned to his house along the Malibu beach at the time and went to bed feeling quite desperate
His son Matthew was sleeping in the bed with him, and so there was sand coming out of his ears into the bed

c) The Dream
Robert had a dream, and in the dream, he experienced the title of 3 Women, he knew that  the two actresses Shelly Duval and Sissy Spacek were in the film, both people that he knew, that it was about personality theft. He would say to himself "This is really great" and he would wake up, get up and take the yellow pad from the side of his bed to make notes and he would write down all of the details.

He would call his two production people Bob Eggenweiler and Tommy Thompson into his bedroom and they would come and he would say to them "We want to shoot this thing in the desert, so why don't you guys go down and look for a location like this?" He would describe the set to them, with the sand and the desert heat, and send them off the check out Palm Springs.

And then he would go back to sleep and into the dream work and then come out of that state and write down notes, and finally when morning come, he would realise that all the notes he took and the visits from Bob Eggenweiler and Tommy Thompson were all part of the dream. And so he took no notes at all and there was no note pad at the side of the bed

d) Return to the waking world

He realised that he was having dreams within dreams and so was terribly depressed because he thought "Oh God, that would be such a good movie and I don't know what it's about. "

His son Matthew would already be up and out of bed, and in the ocean where he spent all of his time, and the bed would be full of sand and perhaps this sand led to the idea of the desert.

He called Scotty Bushnell who worked with him and said "Listen, I read this short story last night, and I thought it was pretty good. It's called 3 Women, and it's about this woman, living in Palm Springs or someplace like that, who advertises for a roommate, and a girl moves in. It's all about personality theft. These are perfect parts for Sissey Spacek and Shelley Duvall.  How does this sound to you? "

And he told the story in a vamped up fashion and then she asked "Can you get the rights to it?"

He replied, "You bet."

e) Making the deal and the film

He only dreamt the exterior of the story but not its content, So he had no story at that point, but just an ambiance , an atmosphere and knew there would be identity theft or personality theft. And then he just sat down and wrote it as a thirty page outline, Patricia Resnick did a treatment, but he was essentially the author. Then he went out to Fox with it, told Alan Ladd Jr about it , walked out with a deal within nine days of the dream and was on his way to Palm Springs. He knew every scene that was going to take place, but those scenes weren't written until the day he shot them.

f) The painting that was the genesis
That's how 3 Women was born, although years before, around 1959, when he was painting a lot, he painted a picture called three women, it just showed their faces. Each one was skinny necked and ethnically each one was different. However he lost the painting because he gave it to a friend, and when the friend died, his estate said it was listed as being worth $600 and they were willing to sell it to him for that, but his response was 'It isn't work $600, I can tell you that.'  But that painting was probably the genesis of 3 Women and it seemed that it led to all of this stuff that spewed itself out had been in his head all this time.

Source quotes

1. Robert Altman: I dreamed it. I dreamed of the desert, and these three women, and I remember every once in a while I'd dream that I was waking up and sending out people to scout locations and cast the thing. And when I woke up in the morning, it was like I'd done the picture. What's more, I liked it. So, what the hell, I decided to do it. (http://www.rogerebert.com)
2. Rober Altman: Well, 3 Women was a dream, literally. I didn't dream the movie, but I dreamed  was making it. It was during the time I was going to make Easy and Hard Ways out, with Peter Falk. (Robert Altman: Interviews)
3. Robert Altman: I went to bed. My wife was in hospital - an emergency operation. My son, Matthew, came and got into bed with me, and I had this dream. I dreamed the title for 3 Women. I dreamed all the people: Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek. I dreamed that it was a film about personality theft, and I would wake up in the middle of the night, and I'd take a pad from the side of my bed and I'd write down this thing. Then Bob Eggenweiler and Tommy Thompson would come into my bedroom, and I'd say, " We want to shoot this thing in the desert, so why don't you guys go down and look for a location like this?" Then I would got back to sleep, and I would come back up and write down the notes, and then finally in the morning I woke up. Of course, i didn't write anything in the middle of the night. There's no note pad at my bed. But my bed was full of sand from Matthew sleeping in the bed because it came out of his ears. And I dreamed that I was just making this film, and I got up and I became very depressed. So I called Scotty Bushnell, who worked with me, still. I said, "Listen, I read this short story last night, and I thought it was pretty good. How does this sound to you? " And I kind of vamped this thing. They said, "Can you get the rights to it?" And I said, "You bet." And I really developed it. Nine days later we had a deal, and we were on our way to Palm Springs. That's how 3 Women was born. (Robert Altman: Interviews)  
4. Robert Altman: About the time I was making MASH, I got to a stage where I would consciously go to sleep with a problem and say, "OK, the answer is somewhere in the information that is in my head; it's just a matter of getting it out - and it will occur to me" Rarely dd I have a specific dream that would answer a question, but sometimes in  the next day or week, that answer would disclose itself, because it was there, - trapped in my head
5. Robert Altman: I did dream the exterior of 3 Women, though not its content. I was living in another house down the beach in those days, and my wife got very sick - I was worried she would not survive. Also, I was not in desperate financial shape at that time, as I find I usually am. I'd just lot project, a broad comedy I was working on called Easy And Hard Ways Out, with Peter Falk and Sterling Hayden - I wanted to set it at the time of the Six Day War, but Geffen Company told me I couldn't do it, so I passed on it.  I came home from seeing my wife in hospital the first or second day she was in, and I was really anxious. I knew I had to get a film. I went to bed and my youngest son, Matthew, came and slept there. I had this dream that I was making a film called 3 Women. I said to myself, "This is really great." I'd get up and take the yellow bad next to my bed and I'd write down something, then go back to sleep.  Then I dream the 3 Women cast  Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall, though Janice Rule wasn't in that dream — and would wake up again and make some more notes, and go back to sleep. At one point I called Tommy Thompson and Bob Eggenweiler, who was my location guy, into the bedroom, and said " Now, we go look for locations for this film in the desert," and I described the set - sand and desert heat. Of course, I woke up in the morning, and Matthew was already up and out of bed and in the ocean, where he spent all of his time, - and the bed was full of sand. There was no yellow pad next to my bed. So I was having dreams within dreams. I got terribly depressed because I thought, "Oh God, that would be such a good movie and I don't know what it's about." But I went down and fixed some breakfast, and called Scottie Bushnell, who has worked very closely with me for years. I said to her, "Listen, I read a short story last night that's pretty interesting, " and I vamped on the telephone. I said "I't called 3 Women, and it's about this woman, living in Palm Springs or someplace like that, who advertises for a roommate, and a girl moves in. It's all about personality theft. These are perfect parts for Sissey Spacek and Shelley Duvall." Scottie said, "Gee, can you get the rights to this story?" And I said, "Oh, yeah." That's how 3 women started, thought years before, around 1959, when i was painting a lot, I had painted a picture called 3 Women. All this stuff that spewed itself out had been inside my head, of couse, all this time. So I didn't dream the story or the plot. I dreamed the results of it  (Robert Altman: Interviews)
6. Interviewer: You've always said 3 Women was a film you dreamed before you made it.
   Altman: It's true I dreamed it up, but it was not the content of the film of the film or any emotion in it, just that it was about personality theft. I had a film cancelled on my at Warner Brothers. I needed to make a film badly, and then my wife Kathryn got very sick. We took her to the emergency hospital at four in the morning, and it seemed very serious at the time, though it turned out to be fine in the end. But I returned to my house on the beach in Malibu and went to bed feeling kind of desperate, and I dreamed I was making this film. I dreamed the title, the location, and that there were three women, and I knew two of the cast, Shelly Duvall and Sissy Spacek. Part of the dream was that I kept waking up and writing these things down on a notepad. And then i told two of my production people, Tommy Thompson and Bob Eggenweiler, to check out Palm Springs. When i really woke up, there was sand in the bed, because of my son Michael, who was eleven then, had joined me, and he was spending all his time on the beach. So that's probably where the desert location came from.
   
   I had done a painting in the late 1950s or early 1960s and it showed three woman, just their faces. Each one was skinny necked and ethnically each one was different. I lost that painting because I gave it to a friend, and when he died his estate said it was listed as being worth $600. They were willing to sell it to me for that, but I said, 'It isn't work $600, I can tell you that.' But that painting was probably the genesis of 3 Women.
   The next morning I called my associate Scott Bushnell and I said I had a terrific idea for a film: I'd read this short story - which was a lie- and briefly outlined what it was. She thought it would be great for Fox. So I went out to Fox, told Alan Ladd Jr about it and walked out with a deal. I had no story at that point, just an ambiance and an atmosphere. I knew it would be about identity theft, or personality theft, so I just sat down and wrote it. Patricia Resnick did a treatment, but I was essentially the author. I started with a thirty-page outline. I knew every scene that was going to take place, but those scenes weren't written until the day we shot them (Altman on Altman. p104)