The Getaway (1972) - McQueen/Peckinpah hit the bank with unrefined thriller

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A hilarious poster for Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway, which signals two immortal qualities above all else: Sex and violence

Our anti-hero robber "Doc" McCoy is let out of the can for good behavior after a stint for armed robbery. On the outside he and his lady immediately begin plotting a new robbery. - Which goes completely awry...!

 

The Getaway is written by Walter Hill (The Warriors (1979)), adapting Jim Thompson's (The Kill-Off (1957)) same-titled 1958 novel, and directed by great Californian filmmaker Sam Peckinpah (The Deadly Companions (1961)).

Steve McQueen (The Reivers (1969)) kills at random and beats love interest Ali McGraw (Players (1979)), yet this is still a classic for many people. His character isn't very charismatic or exciting, although he does have a certain sex appeal, which is probably the reason for the celebration. Besides this Peckinpah utilizes his usual stylistic effects; slow-motion shoot-ups and focus on form over substance.

The car chase in The Getaway is surprisingly short. The film is a bit overlong and disappointing.

 

Related posts:

Sam Peckinpah: The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) - A manly respite with Robards and Peckinpah  

The Deadly Companions (1961) - Peckinpah's debut is a tough, great, suspense-filled western 

Watch a 3-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 3.3 mil. $

Box office: 18.9 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Huge hit (returned 5.72 times its cost domestically alone)

[The Getaway was released 16 December (Italy) and runs 122 minutes. Peter Bogdanovich was hired to direct the film, but McQueen fired him upon learning that he was more interested in comedy What's Up, Doc? (1972). Peckinpah was instead hired, fresh from his flop with McQueen, Junior Bonner (1972), as well as Paramount boss Robert Evans' wife, model-turned-actress McGraw. McQueen worked for 10 % of the gross, which accumulated to at least 1.8 mil. $. Shooting took place in Texas and Arizona from February - April 1972. McGraw and McQueen had an affair on the production, which led to McGraw leaving husband Evans and marrying McQueen. She later said she "hated" her performance in the film. Of McQueen's final-cut privilege, Peckinpah said that he was "playing it safe with these pretty-boy shots." McQueen was unhappy with Peckinpah's regular composer Jerry Fielding and instead got Quincy Jones hired to make a jazzy score, angering Peckinpah further. Sources say the film earned rentals of 18 mil. $ in North America and a 18.9 mil. $ gross domestically, becoming the year's 8th highest-grossing film in North America. The-Numbers have an unsupported claim that it made 36.7 mil. $ domestically. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. A flop remake was made with same title by Roger Donaldson in 1994 starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger. Peckinpah returned with Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). McQueen returned in Papillon (1973); MacGraw in Convoy (1978). The Getaway is fresh at 86 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Getaway?

The Deadly Companions (1961) - Peckinpah's debut is a tough, great, suspense-filled western

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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?

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) - Manly respite with Robards and Peckinpah

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French poster for Sam Peckinpah's The Ballad of Cable Hogue

QUICK REVIEW:

Typical Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch (1969)) story about a man, who is left to die in the dessert, until he finds water after a few days, buys the land and falls in love with a good whore. His partner is a horny priest.
Jason Robards (All the President's Men (1976)) is good as the doughty, simple man Hogue. I found myself dreaming myself away, despite, - or perhaps because, - Cable Hogue is a film where not much happens.
The film uses many foolish effects like 4-split screen, fast forwards, a comical motif and animation, which gives it an almost psychedelic feel as an untraditional romantic western-comedy, (and very typical of its time.) These effects are also a reason for its inclusion in the unflatteringly named 'Death of the West'-wave of westerns from the 60s and 70s.
The production was troubled: Taking a far step away from his preceding hit The Wild Bunch, which is a fiercely violent western, Peckinpah shot Cable Hogue with weather difficulties and severe drinking in Nevada and Arizona, going 19 days and 3 mil. $ over budget, with terrible stories of mass-firings and an alcoholic's lack of control attributed to him, Peckinpah was left by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts after the film and lost prestigious future directing jobs due to his wild ways on The Ballad of Cable Hogue.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue by Sam Peckinpah; a film that, like most of his films, will mostly appeal to men

Irreverence and male jargon spells fun in Sam Peckinpah's The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Budget: 3.7 mil. $
Box office: 5 mil. $
= Even

What do you think of Peckinpah and The Ballad of Cable Hogue?
What is your favorite Peckinpah-film and why?