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| The well-drawn, sexually suggestive poster for Sam Peckinpah's The Deadly Companions |
QUICK REVIEW:
We follow a Yankee soldier, who for five years has hunted the man who nearly scalped him in the war. When he finally tracks him down, he accidentally comes to shoot a 9 year-old boy instead of the culprit, and a kind of pilgrimage through Apache land with the boy's coffin, his prostitute mother and two additional, deadly companions begins.
Deadly Companions is the eminently written western suspense story by Albert Sidney Fleischman (Hell Bent for Glory (1958)), who also novelized his script, which became the proficient feature debut for great American director Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch (1969)), who had previously directed episodes of 5 TV-series.
The script contains poignant lines and two great lead characters, who are both very strong and very vulnerable at the same time, played by Maureen O'Hara (Rio Grande (1950)) and Brian Keith (Centennial (1978-79)).
The Deadly Companions is a very fine debut indeed.
Related review:
Sam Peckinpah: The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) - A manly respite with Robards and Peckinpah
Watch a preview for the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertainty
[Deadly Companions was shot in Arizona on a low budget, although how low is not possible to say. - Peckinpah, who was hired based on Keith's recommendation of him, got a lot out of it in any case. He worked without script control or editing rights, and he vowed after the film to never work without script control again, (a little strange, since Fleishman's script is pretty great.) Unfortunately, no box office figures are out online either. The film was in public domain for a while, but seems to be copyrighted today. - Any western and/or Peckinpah aficionado should do themselves the favor of buying a copy!]
What do you think of The Deadly Companions?
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