Sam Peckinpah

2 Life

David Samuel Sam Peckinpah (/pknp/;[1]

February 21, 1925 December 28, 1984) was an American lm director and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild
Bunch (1969). He was known for the visually innovative
and explicit depiction of action and violence as well as his
revisionist approach to the Western genre.

David Samuel Sam Peckinpah was born February 21,

1925, in Fresno, California, where he attended both
grammar school and high school.[9] He spent much time
skipping classes with his brother to engage in cowboy activities on their grandfather Denver Church's ranch, including trapping, branding, and shooting. During the
1930s and 1940s, Coarsegold and Bass Lake were still
populated with descendants of the miners and ranchers
of the 19th century. Many of these descendants worked
on Churchs ranch. At that time, it was a rural area undergoing extreme change, and this exposure is believed to
have aected Peckinpahs Western lms later in life.[10]

Peckinpahs lms generally deal with the conict between

values and ideals, and the corruption of violence in human
society. He was given the nickname Bloody Sam owing
to the violence in his lms. His characters are often loners
or losers who desire to be honorable, but are forced to
compromise in order to survive in a world of nihilism and
brutality.
Peckinpahs combative personality, marked by years of
alcohol and drug abuse, aected his professional legacy.
Many of his lms were noted for behind-the-scenes battles with producers and crew members, damaging his reputation and career during his lifetime. Some of his lms,
including Straw Dogs (1971), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
(1973) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974),
remain controversial.

He played on the junior varsity football team while at

Fresno High School, but frequent ghting and discipline
problems caused his parents to enroll him in the San
Rafael Military Academy for his senior year.[11] In 1943,
he joined the United States Marine Corps. Within two
years, his battalion was sent to China with the task of disarming Japanese soldiers and repatriating them following
World War II. While his duty did not include combat, he
claims to have witnessed acts of war between Chinese and
Japanese soldiers. According to friends, these included
several acts of torture and the murder of a laborer by
sniper re. The American Marines were not permitted
to intervene. Peckinpah also claimed he was shot during an attack by Communist forces. Also during his nal
weeks as a Marine, he applied for discharge in Peking,
so he could marry a local woman, but was refused. His
experiences in China reportedly deeply aected Peckinpah, and may have inuenced his depictions of violence
in his lms.[12]

Family origins

The Peckinpahs originated from the Frisian Islands in the

northwest of Europe. Both sides of Peckinpahs family migrated to the American West by covered wagon
in the mid-19th century.[2] Peckinpah and several relatives often claimed Native American ancestry, but this
has been denied by surviving family members.[3] Peckinpahs great-grandfather, Rice Peckinpaugh, a merchant
and farmer in Indiana, moved to Humboldt County,
California, in the 1850s, working in the logging business, and changed the spelling of the family name to
Peckinpah.[4][5] Peckinpah Meadow and Peckinpah
Creek, where the family ran a lumber mill on a mountain in the High Sierra north of Coarsegold, California,
have been ocially named on U.S. geographical maps.[3]
Peckinpahs maternal grandfather was Denver S. Church,
a cattle rancher, Superior Court judge and United States
Congressman of a California district including Fresno
County.[6] Sam Peckinpahs nephew is David Peckinpah,
who was a television producer and director, as well as
a screenplay writer.[7] Peckinpahs parents were David
Edward Peckinpah and Fern Louise Church, and he is
a cousin of former New York Yankees shortstop Roger
Peckinpaugh.[8]

After being discharged in Los Angeles, he attended

California State University, Fresno, where he studied history. While a student, he met and married his rst wife,
Marie Selland, in 1947. A drama major, Selland introduced Peckinpah to the theater department and he became interested in directing for the rst time. During his
senior year, he adapted and directed a one-hour version
of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. After graduation in 1948, Peckinpah enrolled in graduate studies
in drama at University of Southern California. He spent
two seasons as the director in residence at Huntington
Park Civic Theatre near Los Angeles before obtaining his
masters degree. He was asked to stay another year, but
Peckinpah began working as a stagehand at KLAC-TV in
the belief that television experience would eventually lead
to work in lms. Even during this early stage of his ca1

2
reer, Peckinpah was developing a combative streak. Reportedly, he was kicked o the set of The Liberace Show
for not wearing a tie, and he refused to cue a car salesman during a live feed because of his attitude towards
stagehands.[13]
In 1954, Peckinpah was hired as a dialogue coach for the
lm Riot in Cell Block 11. His job entailed acting as an assistant for the movies director, Don Siegel. The lm was
shot on location at Folsom Prison. Reportedly, the warden was reluctant to allow the lmmakers to work at the
prison until he was introduced to Peckinpah. The warden knew his family from Fresno and was immediately
cooperative. Siegels location work and his use of actual
prisoners as extras in the lm made a lasting impression
on Peckinpah. He worked as a dialogue coach on four additional Siegel lms: Private Hell 36 (1954), An Annapolis Story, (1955, and co-starring L. Q. Jones), Invasion
of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Crime in the Streets
(1956).[14] Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in which Peckinpah appeared in a cameo as Charlie the meter reader,
starred Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. It became
one of the most critically praised science ction lms of
the 1950s. Peckinpah claimed to have done an extensive
rewrite on the lms screenplay, a statement which remains controversial.[15] Nevertheless, Peckinpahs association with Siegel established him as an emerging screenwriter and potential director.
Throughout much of his adult life, Peckinpah was affected by alcoholism, and, later, other forms of drug
addiction. According to some accounts, he also suffered from mental illness, possibly manic depression or
paranoia.[16] It is believed his drinking problems began during his service in the military while stationed in
China, when he would frequent the saloons of Tianjin
and Beijing.[17] After divorcing Selland, the mother of
his rst four children, in 1960, he married the Mexican actress Begoa Palacios in 1965. A stormy relationship developed, and over the years they married on three
separate occasions. They had one daughter together.[18]
His personality reportedly often swung between a sweet,
soft-spoken, artistic disposition, and bouts of rage and violence during which he verbally and physically abused
himself and others. An experienced hunter, Peckinpah
was fascinated with rearms and was known to shoot
the mirrors in his house while abusing alcohol, an image which occurs several times in his lms.[19] Peckinpahs reputation as a hard-living brute with a taste for violence, inspired by the content in his most popular lms
and in many ways perpetuated by himself, aected his
artistic legacy.[20] His friends and family have claimed
this does a disservice to a man who was actually more
complex than generally credited. Throughout his career,
Peckinpah seems to have inspired extraordinary loyalty
in certain friends and employees. He used the same actors (Warren Oates, L. Q. Jones, R. G. Armstrong, James
Coburn, Ben Johnson, and Kris Kristoerson), and collaborators (Jerry Fielding, Lucien Ballard, Gordon Daw-

TELEVISION CAREER

son, and Martin Baum) in many of his lms, and several

of his friends and assistants stuck by him to the end of his
life.
Peckinpah spent a great deal of his life in Mexico after
his marriage to Palacios, eventually buying property in
the country. He was reportedly fascinated by the Mexican lifestyle and culture, and he often portrayed it with
an unusual sentimentality and romanticism in his lms.
Four of his lms, Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch
(1969), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) and Bring Me
the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), were lmed entirely
on location within Mexico, while The Getaway (1972)
concludes with a couple escaping to freedom there.[21]

3 Death
Peckinpah was seriously ill during his nal years, as a
lifetime of hard living caught up with him. Regardless,
he continued to work until his last months. He died
of heart failure on December 28, 1984.[22] At the time,
he was in preparation for shooting an original script by
Stephen King entitled The Shotgunners, which later became a book called The Regulators.[23] He lived at the
Murray Hotel in Livingston, Montana, from 1979 until
his death in 1984.[24]

4 Television career
On the recommendation of Don Siegel, Peckinpah established himself during the late 1950s as a scriptwriter
of western series of the era, selling scripts to Gunsmoke,
Have Gun Will Travel, The Rieman, Broken Arrow,
Klondike, and Dick Powells Zane Grey Theatre.[21][25] He
wrote one episode The Town (December 13, 1957)
for the CBS series, Trackdown, starring Robert Culp as
the Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman. The script is about a
cowardly town afraid to resist the clutches of an outlaw
gang.[26]
Peckinpah wrote a screenplay from the novel The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones, a draft that evolved into the
1961 Marlon Brando lm One-Eyed Jacks.[27] His writing led to directing, and he directed a 1958 episode of
Broken Arrow (generally credited as his rst ocial directing job) and several 1960 episodes of Klondike, (costarring James Coburn, L. Q. Jones, Ralph Taeger, Joi
Lansing, and Mari Blanchard). He also directed the CBS
sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve, starring Howard Du and
Ida Lupino.[28][29]
In 1958, Peckinpah wrote a script for Gunsmoke that was
rejected due to content. He reworked the screenplay, titled The Sharpshooter, and sold it to Zane Grey Theater.
The episode received popular response and became the
television series The Rieman, starring Chuck Connors.
Peckinpah directed four episodes of the series (with guest

3
stars R. G. Armstrong and Warren Oates), but left af- an updated remake of The Westerner set in the present
ter the rst year. The Rieman ran for ve seasons and day with Lee Marvin as Dave Blassingame and Keenan
achieved enduring popularity in syndication.[30][31]
Wynn as Dehners character Bergundy Smith, he mixed
slow motion, fast motion and stills together to capture violence, a technique famously put to more sophisticated
use in 1969s The Wild Bunch.[36]
4.1 The Westerner
Main article: The Westerner (TV series)
During this time, he also created the television series The

5 Early lm career
5.1

The Deadly Companions

Main article: The Deadly Companions

After cancellation of The Westerner, Brian Keith was cast
as the male lead in the 1961 Western lm The Deadly
Companions. He suggested Peckinpah as director and
the projects producer Charles B. Fitzsimons accepted the
idea. By most accounts, the low-budget lm shot on location in Arizona was a learning process for Peckinpah,
who feuded with Fitzsimons (brother of the lms star
Maureen O'Hara) over the screenplay and staging of the
scenes. Reportedly, Fitzsimons refused to allow Peckinpah to give direction to O'Hara. Unable to rewrite
the screenplay or edit the picture, Peckinpah vowed to
never again direct a lm unless he had script control. The
Deadly Companions passed largely without notice and is
the least known of Peckinpahs lms.[37][38]

5.2

Ride the High Country

Main article: Ride the High Country

Brian Keith in The Westerner (1960)

Westerner, starring Brian Keith and in three episodes also

featuring John Dehner. Peckinpah wrote and directed a
pilot called Trouble at Tres Cruzes, which was aired in
March 1959 before the actual series was made in 1960.
Peckinpah acted as producer of the series, having a hand
in the writing of each episode and directing ve of them.
Critically praised, the show ran for only 13 episodes before cancellation mainly due to its gritty content detailing the drifting, laconic cowboy Dave Blassingame (Brian
Keith). Especially the episodes Je and Hand on the Gun
are in their depiction of violence and with their imaginative directing remarkable forerunners of his later feature
lms. Despite its short run, The Westerner and Peckinpah
were nominated by the Producers Guild of America for
Best Filmed Series. An episode of the series eventually
served as the basis for Tom Gries 1968 lm Will Penny
starring Charlton Heston. The Westerner, which has since
achieved cult status, further established Peckinpah as a
talent to be reckoned with.[32][33][34][35]
In 1962 Peckinpah direct two-hour-long episodes for The
Dick Powell Theater. In the second of these, The Losers,

His second lm, Ride the High Country (1962), was based
on the screenplay Guns in the Afternoon written by N.B.
Stone, Jr. Producer Richard Lyons admired Peckinpahs
work on The Westerner and oered him the directing
job. Peckinpah did an extensive rewrite of the screenplay, including personal references from his own childhood growing up on Denver Churchs ranch, and even
naming one of the mining towns Coarsegold. He based
the character of Steve Judd, a once-famous lawman fallen
on hard times, on his own father David Peckinpah. In the
screenplay, Judd and old friend Gil Westrum are hired
to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. Westrum hopes to talk Judd into taking
the gold for themselves. Along the way, following the
example of Judd, Westrum slowly realizes his own selfrespect is far more important than prot. During the nal shootout, when Judd and Westrum stand up to a trio
of men, Judd is fatally wounded and his death serves as
Westrums salvation a Catholic tragedy weaved from the
Western genre. It became a major theme in many Peckinpah lms to come. Starring aging Western stars Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott in their nal major screen roles,
the lm initially went unnoticed in the United States but

was an enormous success in Europe. Beating Federico

Fellini's 8 for rst prize at the Belgium Film Festival,
the lm was hailed by foreign critics as a brilliant reworking of the Western genre. New York critics also
discovered Peckinpahs unusual Western, with Newsweek
naming Ride the High Country the best lm of the year
and Time placing it on its best-ten list. By some critics, the lm is admired as one of Peckinpahs greatest
works.[39][40]

5.3

Major Dundee

Main article: Major Dundee

Peckinpahs next lm, Major Dundee (1965), was the rst
of Peckinpahs many unfortunate experiences with the
major studios that nanced his productions. Based on
a screenplay by Harry Julian Fink, the lm was to star
Charlton Heston. Peckinpah was hired as director after
Heston viewed producer Jerry Bresler's private screening of Ride the High Country. Heston liked the lm and
called Peckinpah, saying, I'd like to work with you.[41]
The sprawling screenplay told the story of Union cavalry ocer Major Dundee who commands a New Mexico
outpost of Confederate prisoners. When an Apache war
chief wipes out a company and kidnaps several children,
Dundee throws together a makeshift army, including unwilling Confederate veterans, black Federal soldiers, and
traditional Western types, and takes o after the Indians.
Dundee becomes obsessed with his quest and heads deep
into the wilderness of Mexico with his exhausted men in
tow. Peckinpahs rst big-budget lm had a large cast,
including Heston, Richard Harris, James Coburn, Senta
Berger, Jim Hutton, Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, R. G.
Armstrong and L. Q. Jones. Filming began without a
completed screenplay, and Peckinpah chose several remote locations in Mexico, causing the lm to go heavily
over budget. Intimidated by the size and scope of the
project, Peckinpah reportedly drank heavily each night
after shooting. He also red at least 15 crew members.
At one point, Peckinpahs mean streak and abusiveness
towards the actors so enraged Heston that the normally
even-tempered star threatened to run the director through
with his cavalry saber if he did not show more courtesy
to the cast. Shooting ended 15 days over schedule and
$1.5 million more than budgeted with Peckinpah and producer Bresler no longer on speaking terms. The movie,
detailing themes and sequences Peckinpah mastered later
in his career, was taken away from him and substantially
reedited. An incomplete mess which today exists in a variety of versions, Major Dundee performed poorly at the
box oce and was trashed by critics (though its standing has improved over the years). Peckinpah held for the
rest of his life that his original version of Major Dundee
was among his best lms, but his reputation was severely
damaged.[42][43][44]
Peckinpah was next signed to direct The Cincinnati Kid, a

INTERNATIONAL FAME

gambling drama about a young prodigy who takes on an

old master during a big New Orleans poker match. Before lming started, producer Martin Ransoho began to
receive phone calls about the Major Dundee ordeal and
was told Peckinpah was impossible to work with. In addition, Peckinpah decided to shoot in black and white and
was hoping to transform the screenplay into a social realist saga about a kid surviving the tough streets of the
Great Depression. After four days of lming, which reportedly included some nude scenes, Ransoho disliked
the rushes and immediately red him.[45] Eventually directed by Norman Jewison and starring Steve McQueen,
the lm went on to become a 1965 hit.[46][47]

5.4

Noon Wine

He caught a lucky break in 1966 when producer Daniel

Melnick needed a writer and director to adapt Katherine
Anne Porter's short novel Noon Wine for television. Melnick was a big fan of The Westerner and Ride the High
Country, and had heard Peckinpah had been unfairly red
from The Cincinnati Kid. Against the objections of many
within the industry, Melnick hired Peckinpah and gave
him free rein. Peckinpah completed the script, which
Miss Porter enthusiastically endorsed, and the project became an hour-long presentation for ABC Stage 67. Taking place in turn of the century West Texas, Noon Wine
was a dark tragedy about a farmers act of futile murder
which leads to suicide. Starring Jason Robards and Olivia
de Havilland, the lm was a critical hit, with Peckinpah
nominated by the Writers Guild for Best Television Adaptation and the Directors Guild of America for Best Television Direction. Robards kept a personal copy of the
lm in his private collection for years as he considered
the project to be one of his most satisfying professional
experiences. A rare lm which had no home video release until 2014, Noon Wine is today considered one of
Peckinpahs most intimate works, revealing his dramatic
potential and artistic depth.[48][49][50]

6 International fame
6.1

The Wild Bunch

Main article: The Wild Bunch

The surprising success of Noon Wine laid the groundwork
for one of the most explosive comebacks in lm history.
In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts producers Kenneth
Hyman and Phil Feldman were interested in having Peckinpah rewrite and direct an adventure lm, The Diamond
Story. An alternative screenplay written by Roy Sickner
and Walon Green was the western The Wild Bunch. At the
time, William Goldman's screenplay Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid had recently been purchased by 20th

6.3

Straw Dogs

Century Fox.
It was quickly decided that The Wild Bunch, which had
several similarities to Goldmans work, would be produced in order to beat Butch Cassidy to the theaters.[51]
By the fall of 1967, Peckinpah was rewriting the screenplay into what became The Wild Bunch. Filmed on location in Mexico, Peckinpahs epic work was inspired by
his hunger to return to lms, the violence seen in Arthur
Penn's Bonnie and Clyde, Americas growing frustration
with the Vietnam War, and what he perceived to be the utter lack of reality seen in Westerns up to that time. He set
out to make a lm which portrayed not only the vicious violence of the period, but the crude men attempting to survive the era. Starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine,
Robert Ryan, Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, Strother Martin, Jaime Snchez and Edmond O'Brien, the lm detailed
a gang of veteran outlaws on the Texas/Mexico border in
1913 trying to exist within a rapidly approaching modern world. The Wild Bunch is framed by two ferocious
and infamous gunghts, beginning with a failed robbery
of the railway company oce and concluding with the
outlaws battling the Mexican army in suicidal vengeance
prompted the death of one of their members.[52] Irreverent and unprecedented in its explicit detail, the 1969
lm was an instant success. Multiple scenes attempted in
Major Dundee, including slow motion action sequences,
characters leaving a village as if in a funeral procession
and the use of inexperienced locals as extras, were perfected in The Wild Bunch. Many critics denounced its violence as sadistic and exploitative. Other critics and lmmakers hailed the originality of its unique rapid editing
style, created for the rst time in this lm and ultimately
becoming a Peckinpah trademark, and praised the reworking of traditional Western themes. It was the beginning of Peckinpahs international fame, and he and his
work remained controversial for the rest of his life.[53]
The lm was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute's top 100 list of the greatest American lms ever
made and No. 69 as the most thrilling, but the controversy has not diminished.[54] When The Wild Bunch was
re-released for its 25th anniversary, it received an NC-17
rating from the MPAA, proving the lms continued impact after so many years.[55] Peckinpah received his only
Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay
for this lm.

6.2

The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Main article: The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Defying audience expectations, as he often did, Peckinpah immediately followed The Wild Bunch with the elegiac, funny and mostly non-violent 1970 Western The
Ballad of Cable Hogue. Utilizing many of the same cast
(L. Q. Jones, Strother Martin) and crew members of The
Wild Bunch, the lm covered three years in the life of
small-time entrepreneur Cable Hogue (Jason Robards)

5
who decides to make a fortune after discovering water
in the desert. He opens his business along a stagecoach
line, only to see his dreams end with the appearance of
the rst automobile on the horizon. Shot on location
in the Valley of Fire in Nevada, the lm was plagued
by poor weather, Peckinpahs renewed drinking and his
brusque ring of 36 crew members. The chaotic lming wrapped 19 days over schedule and $3 million over
budget, eectively terminating his tenure with Warner
Bros.-Seven Arts. In retrospect, it was a damaging career move as Deliverance and Jeremiah Johnson, critical
and enduring box oce hits, were in development at the
time and Peckinpah was considered the rst choice to direct both lms.[56] Largely ignored upon its initial release,
The Ballad of Cable Hogue has been rediscovered in recent years and is often held up by critics as exemplary of
the breadth of Peckinpahs talents. They claim that the
lm proves Peckinpahs ability to make unconventional
and original work without resorting to explicit violence.
Over the years, Peckinpah cited the lm as one of his
favorites.[57][58][59]

6.3

Straw Dogs

Main article: Straw Dogs (1971 lm)

His alienation of Warner Brothers once again left him
with a limited number of directing jobs. Peckinpah was
forced to do a 180-degree turn and traveled to England
to direct Straw Dogs (1971), one of his darkest and most
psychologically disturbing lms. Produced by Daniel
Melnick, who had previously worked with Peckinpah on
Noon Wine, the screenplay was based on the novel The
Siege of Trenchers Farm by Gordon Williams. It starred
Dustin Homan as David Sumner, a timid American
mathematician (his wife at one point attempts to erase
Einsteins eld equations from his blackboard) who leaves
the chaos of college anti-war protests to live with his
young wife Amy (Susan George) in her native village in
Cornwall, England. Resentment of Davids presence by
the locals slowly builds to a shocking climax when the
mild-mannered academic is forced to defend his home.
Peckinpah entirely rewrote the existing screenplay, inspired by the books African Genesis and The Territorial Imperative by Robert Ardrey, which argued that man
was essentially a carnivore who instinctively battled over
control of territory.[60] The character of David Sumner,
taunted and humiliated by the town locals, is eventually
cornered within his home where he loses control and kills
several of the men during the violent conclusion. Straw
Dogs deeply divided critics, some of whom praised its
artistry and its confrontation of human savagery, while
others attacked it as a misogynistic and fascistic celebration of violence.[61] Much of the criticism centered on
Amys complicated and lengthy rape scene, which Peckinpah reportedly attempted to base on his own personal
fears rooted in past failed marriages. To this day, the

scene is attacked by critics as an ugly male-chauvinist fantasy, claiming it serves as an example of Peckinpahs (and
Hollywoods) debasing of women.[62] The lm was for
many years banned on video in the UK, although some
critics have come to hail it as one of Peckinpahs greatest
lms.[63][64][65]

6.4

Junior Bonner

Main article: Junior Bonner

Despite his growing alcoholism and controversial reputation, Peckinpah was extremely prolic during this period of his life. In May 1971, weeks after completing
Straw Dogs, he returned to the United States to begin
work on Junior Bonner. The lyrical screenplay by Jeb
Rosenbrook, depicting the changing times of society and
binding family ties, appealed to Peckinpahs tastes. He
accepted the project, at the time concerned with being
typed as a director of violent action. The lm was his nal attempt to make a low-key, dramatic work in the vein
of Noon Wine and The Ballad of Cable Hogue. Filmed on
location in Prescott, Arizona, the story covered a week in
the life of aging rodeo rider Junior JR Bonner (Steve
McQueen) who returns to his hometown to compete in
an annual rodeo competition. In addition to McQueen,
the cast included Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Joe Don
Baker and Ben Johnson. Junior Bonner was marked by
sharp character development, colorful location detail and
unusually tender scenes between Preston and Lupino as
Bonners estranged parents. Promoted as a Steve McQueen action vehicle, reviews were mixed and the lm
performed poorly at the box oce. Peckinpah remarked,
I made a lm where nobody got shot and nobody went to
see it. The lms reputation has grown over the years as
many critics consider Junior Bonner to be one of Peckinpahs most sympathetic works, while also noting McQueens earnest performance.[66][67]

6.5

The Getaway

Main article: The Getaway (1972 lm)

Eager to work with Peckinpah again, Steve McQueen
presented him Walter Hill's screenplay to The Getaway.
Based on the Jim Thompson novel, the gritty crime
thriller detailed lovers on the run following a dangerous
robbery. Both Peckinpah and McQueen needed a hit, and
they immediately began working on the lm in February 1972.[68] Peckinpah had no pretensions about making The Getaway, as his only goal was to create a highly
polished thriller to boost his market value.[69] McQueen
played Doc McCoy, an imprisoned mastermind robber
whose wife Carol (Ali MacGraw) conspires for his release on the condition they rob a bank in Texas. A doublecross follows the crime, and the McCoys are forced

LATER CAREER

to ee for Mexico with both the police and criminals in

hot pursuit. Replete with explosions, car chases and intense shootouts, the lm became Peckinpahs biggest nancial success to date earning more than $25 million at
the box oce.[70] Though strictly a commercial product,
Peckinpahs creative touches abound throughout, most
notably during the intricately edited opening sequence
when McQueens character is suering from the pressures of prison life.[71] The lm remains popular and was
remade in 1994.[72][73][74] starring Alec Baldwin and Kim
Basinger.

7 Later career
The year 1973 marked the beginning of the most dicult
period of Peckinpahs life and career. While still lming
The Getaway in El Paso, Texas, Peckinpah sneaked across
the border into Juarez in April 1972 and married Joie
Gould. He had met Gould in England while lming Straw
Dogs, and she had since been his companion and a parttime crew member. Peckinpahs intake of alcohol had increased dramatically while making The Getaway, and he
became fond of saying, I can't direct when I'm sober.
He began to have violent mood swings and explosions of
rage, at one point assaulting Gould. After four months,
she returned to England and led for divorce. Devastated
by the breakup, Peckinpah fell into a self-destructive pattern of almost continuous alcohol consumption, and his
health was unstable for the remainder of his life.[75]

7.1

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Main article: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

It was in this state of mind that Peckinpah agreed to
make Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) for MetroGoldwyn-Mayer. Based on the screenplay by Rudolph
Wurlitzer (who had previously penned Two-Lane Blacktop, a lm admired by Peckinpah), the director was convinced that he was about to make his denitive statement
on the Western genre.[76] The script oered Peckinpah
the opportunity to explore themes that appealed to him:
two former partners forced by changing times onto opposite sides of the law, manipulated by corrupt economic
interests. Peckinpah rewrote the screenplay, establishing
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid as friends, and attempted to
weave an epic tragedy from the historical legend. Filmed
on location in the Mexican state of Durango, the lm
starred James Coburn and Kris Kristoerson in the title roles, with a huge supporting cast including Bob Dylan (who composed the lms music), Jason Robards, R.
G. Armstrong, Richard Jaeckel, Jack Elam, Chill Wills,
Katy Jurado, Matt Clark, L. Q. Jones, Rutanya Alda, Slim
Pickens and Harry Dean Stanton.[77] From the beginning,
Peckinpah began to have clashes with MGM and its pres-

7.3

The Killer Elite

ident James Aubrey, known for his stiing of creative

interests and eventual dismantling of the historic movie
company.[78] Numerous production diculties, including an outbreak of inuenza and malfunctioning cameras,
combined with Peckinpahs growing problems with alcohol, resulted in one of the most troubled productions of
his career. The lm nished 21 days behind schedule and
$1.6 million over budget. Enraged, Aubrey severely cut
Peckinpahs lm from 124 to 106 minutes, resulting in
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid being released in a truncated
version largely disowned by cast and crew members. Critics complained that the lm was incoherent, and the experience soured Peckinpah forever on Hollywood. In 1988,
however, Peckinpahs directors cut was released on video
and led to a reevaluation, with many critics hailing it as a
mistreated classic and one of the eras best lms. Filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, have praised the lm
as one of the greatest modern Westerns.[79][80]

7.2

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

7.3

The Killer Elite

Main article: The Killer Elite

His career now suering from consecutive box oce failures, Peckinpah once again was in need of a hit on the
level of The Getaway. For his next lm, he chose The
Killer Elite (1975), an action-lled espionage thriller starring James Caan and Robert Duvall as rival American
agents. Filmed on location in San Francisco, Peckinpah
allegedly discovered cocaine for the rst time thanks to
Caan and his entourage.[85] This led to increased paranoia
and his once legendary dedication to detail deteriorated.
Producers also refused to allow Peckinpah to rewrite the
screenplay (for the rst time since his debut lm The
Deadly Companions). Frustrated, the director spent large
amounts of time in his on-location trailer, allowing assistants to direct many scenes. At one point he overdosed
on cocaine, landing himself in a hospital and receiving a
second pacemaker. The lm was completed and was reasonably successful at box oce business, although critics
panned it. Today, the lm is considered one of Peckinpahs weakest lms, and an example of his decline as a
major director.[86][87]

Main article: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

7.4

Cross of Iron

In the eyes of his admirers, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo

Garcia (1974) was the last true Peckinpah lm. The
director himself claimed that it was the only one of his
lms to be released exactly as he intended it. A project
in development for many years and based on an idea by
Frank Kowalski, Peckinpah wrote the screenplay with the
assistance of Kowalski, Walter Kelley and Gordon Dawson. An alcohol-soaked fever dream involving revenge,
greed and murder in the Mexican countryside, the lm
featured Warren Oates as a thinly disguised self-portrait
of Peckinpah, and co-starred a leather bag containing the
severed head of a gigolo being sought by a Mexican patrone for one million dollars. The macabre drama was
part black comedy, action lm and tragedy, with a warped
edge rarely seen in Peckinpahs works. Most critics were
repulsed, and it was listed in the book The 50 Worst Films
of All Time by Harry Medved and Randy Dreyfuss.[81]
One of the few critics to praise the lm was Roger Ebert,
and in fact, the lms reputation has grown in recent years,
with many noting its uncompromising vision as well as its
anticipation of the violent black comedy which became
famous in the works of such directors as David Lynch
and Quentin Tarantino.[82] While a failure at the box ofce, the lm today has a devoted cult following. In 1991,
UCLA's lm school organized a festival of great but forgotten American lms, and included Bring Me the Head
of Alfredo Garcia in the program.[83][84] It is reportedly
Takeshi Kitano's favorite lm. It also led a lm critic to
paraphrase the lms title in an attack on the director, saying, Bring me the head of Sam Peckinpah.

Main article: Cross of Iron

Still renowned in 1975, Peckinpah was oered the opportunity to direct the eventual blockbusters King Kong
(1976) and Superman (1978). [88] He turned down both
oers and chose instead the bleak and vivid World War
II drama Cross of Iron (1977). The screenplay was based
on a novel about a platoon of German soldiers in 1943
on the verge of utter collapse on the Taman Peninsula.
The German production was lmed in Yugoslavia. Working with James Hamilton and Walter Kelley, Peckinpah
rewrote the screenplay and screened numerous Nazi documentaries in preparation. Almost immediately, Peckinpah realized he was working on a low-budget production,
as he had to spend $90,000 of his own money to hire
experienced crew members. While not suering from
the cocaine abuse which marked The Killer Elite, Peckinpah continued to drink heavily causing his direction to
become confused and erratic. The production abruptly
ran out of funds, and Peckinpah was forced to completely improvise the concluding sequence, lming the
scene in one day. Despite these obstacles, the lms war
footage was stunning and James Coburn, in the lead role
of Rolf Steiner, gave one of the nest performances of
his career. Co-starring James Mason, Maximilian Schell,
David Warner and Senta Berger, Cross of Iron was noted
for its opening montage utilizing documentary footage
as well as the visceral impact of the unusually intense
battle sequences. The lm was a huge box oce success in Europe, inspiring the sequel Breakthrough star-

8 THEMES

ring Richard Burton.[89] Cross of Iron was reportedly a favorite of Orson Welles, who said that after All Quiet on the
Western Front it was the nest anti-war lm he had ever
seen.[90] The lm performed poorly in the U.S., eclipsed
ultimately by Star Wars, though today it is highly regarded
and considered the last gasp of Peckinpahs once-great
talent.[91][92]

7.5

Convoy

Main article: Convoy (1978 lm)

Hoping to create the blockbuster, Peckinpah decided to
take on Convoy (1978). His associates were perplexed,
as they felt his choice to direct such substandard material
was a result of his renewed cocaine use and continued alcoholism. Based on the hit song by C. W. McCall, the
lm was an attempt to capitalize on the huge success of
Smokey and the Bandit (1977). Addictions or not, Peckinpah still felt compelled to turn the genre exercise into
something more signicant. Unhappy with the screenplay written by B.W.L. Norton, Peckinpah tried to encourage the actors to re-write, improvise and ad-lib their
dialogue. In another departure from the script, Peckinpah attempted to add a new dimension by casting a pair of
black actors as members of the convoy, Madge Sinclair
as Widow Woman and Franklyn Ajaye as Spider Mike.
Filmed in New Mexico and starring Kris Kristoerson,
Ali MacGraw and Ernest Borgnine, Convoy turned out to
be yet another troubled Peckinpah production, with the
directors health a continuing problem. Friend and actor
James Coburn was brought in to serve as second unit director, and he lmed many of the scenes while Peckinpah
remained in his on-location trailer. The lm wrapped in
September 1977, 11 days behind schedule and $5 million over budget. Surprisingly, Convoy was the highestgrossing picture of Peckinpahs career, notching $46.5
million at the box oce, but was panned by critics, leaving his reputation seriously damaged. For the rst time in
almost a decade, Peckinpah nished a picture and found
himself unemployed.[93][94]

7.6

The Osterman Weekend

Main article: The Osterman Weekend (lm)

By 1982, however, Peckinpahs health was in poor shape.
Producers Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer were
undaunted, as they felt that having Peckinpahs name
attached to The Osterman Weekend (1983) would lend
the suspense thriller an air of respectability. Peckinpah accepted the job but reportedly hated the convoluted
screenplay based upon Robert Ludlum's novel (which he
also disliked). Multiple actors in Hollywood auditioned
for the lm, intrigued by the opportunity. Many of those
who signed on, including John Hurt, Burt Lancaster and
Dennis Hopper, did so for less than their usual salaries for
a chance to work with the legendary director. By the time
shooting wrapped in January 1983 in Los Angeles, Peckinpah and the producers were hardly speaking. Nevertheless, Peckinpah brought in the lm on time and on budget,
delivering his directors cut to the producers. Davis and
Panzer were unhappy with Peckinpahs version, which included a grossly distorted opening sequence of two characters making love. The producers changed the opening and also deleted other scenes they deemed unnecessary. The Osterman Weekend had some eective action
sequences and some strong supporting performances, but
Peckinpahs nal lm was critically panned. It grossed $6
million in the United States and did well in Europe and
on the new home-video market.[97][98]
7.6.1 Julian Lennon music videos
Peckinpahs last work as a lmmaker was undertaken just
two months before his death. He was hired by producer
Martin Lewis to shoot two music videos featuring Julian
Lennon "Valotte" and "Too Late For Goodbyes". The
critically acclaimed videos led to Lennons nomination for
Best New Video Artist at the 1985 MTV Video Music
Awards.[99][100]

8 Themes

Peckinpahs lms generally deal with the conict between

values and ideals and the corruption and violence of human society. His characters are often loners or losers who
For the next three years, Peckinpah remained a profes- harbor the desire to be honorable and idealistic but are
sional outcast. But during the summer of 1981, his orig- forced to compromise themselves in order to survive in a
inal mentor Don Siegel gave him a chance to return to world of nihilism and brutality.
lmmaking. While shooting Jinxed!, a comedy drama The conicts of masculinity are also a major theme of
starring Bette Midler and Rip Torn, Siegel asked Peckin- his work, leading some critics to compare him to Ernest
pah if he would be interested in directing 12 days of sec- Hemingway. Peckinpahs world is a mans world, and
ond unit work. Peckinpah immediately accepted, and his feminists have castigated his lms as misogynistic and
earnest collaboration, while uncredited, was noted within sexist, especially concerning the shooting of a woman
the industry. For the nal time, Peckinpah found himself during the nal moments of The Wild Bunch, the rape sequence in Straw Dogs and Doc McCoys physical assault
back in the directing business.[95][96][97]
7.5.1

2nd unit work on Jinxed!

9
of his wife in The Getaway.
Many critics see his worldview as a misanthropic,
Hobbesian view of nature as essentially evil and savage.
Peckinpah himself stated the opposite. He saw violence
as the product of human society, and not of nature. It
is the result of mens competition with each other over
power and domination, and their inability to negotiate
this competition without resorting to brutality. Peckinpah also used violence as a means to achieve catharsis,
believing his audience would be purged of violence by
witnessing it explicitly on screen (one of the major inspirations for his violent sequences in The Wild Bunch).
Peckinpah later admitted that this idea was mistaken, and
that audiences had come to enjoy the violence in his lms
rather than be horried by it, something that deeply troubled him later in his career.
Peckinpah, who was born to a ranching family that included judges and lawyers, was also deeply concerned by
the conict between old-fashioned values and the corruption and materialism of the modern world. Many of
his characters are attempting to live up to their expectations of themselves even as the world they live in demands
that they compromise their values.
This theme is most evident in Peckinpahs Westerns. Unlike most Western directors, Peckinpah tended to concentrate on the early 20th century rather than the 19th, and
his lms portray characters who still believe in the values
of the Old West being swept away by the new, industrial
America.
This persistent theme has led many critics to view Peckinpahs lms as essentially tragic. That is, his characters
are portrayed as being prisoners of their fates and their
own failings who nonetheless seek redemption and meaning in an absurd and violent world. The theme of longing
for redemption, justication, and honor in a dishonorable
existence permeates almost all of Peckinpahs work.

Documentaries
Sam Peckinpah has been the subject of three documentaries including the BBC production Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron (1992), directed by Paul Joyce,
Sam Peckinpahs West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (1994) and The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage (1996) directed by Paul Seydor. The latter was
nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Short Subject.[101][102]
Over a 4-year period German lm maker Mike
Siegel produced and directed Passion & Poetry
The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah a two-hour long lm
about Sam Peckinpah which includes rare Peckinpah interviews and statements. In 2009 the 2
disc special edition with a running time of 270 minutes was released on DVD.

10 Parodies
John Belushi portrayed Peckinpah as a deranged
lunatic who directs his rst romantic comedy by
beating up his leading lady in the rst season, fth
episode of Saturday Night Live.[103]
Peckinpahs use of violence was parodied by Monty
Python in Sam Peckinpahs Salad Days, one of the
more controversial episodes of Monty Pythons Flying Circus, in which a lovely day out for an upperclass English family turns into a blood-soaked orgy
of severed limbs and gushing wounds.[104] Peckinpah reportedly loved this sketch and enjoyed showing it to friends and family.
Peckinpahs penchant for lming action scenes in
slow motion was satirized by Benny Hill in a Western skit called The Deputy that rst aired on his
March 29, 1973 special. In one scene, Hills titular
character shoots one of the villains (Bob Todd), who
then proceeds to pirouette in extremely slow motion
before collapsing.
In the lm Fletch (1985), the main character, imitating a doctor in order to examine medical records,
calls out, And bring me the head of Alfredo
Garcia!"[105]
In the 1973 Sergio Leone/Tonino Valerii spaghetti
western My Name is Nobody, the characters Jack
Beauregard (Henry Fonda) and Nobody (Terence
Hill) meet at a cemetery. Nobody walks past the
tombstones reading the names and comes across one
labeled Sam Peckimpah. He says Sam Peckimpah. Thats a beautiful name in Navajo. Leone
named the gang in the lm The Wild Bunch. Nobody has Beauregard face The Wild Bunch in order
to be known in history books.
Various Peckinpah lms are parodied in Jim Reardon's student lm Bring Me the Head of Charlie
Brown.
In the lm Deadfall (1993), when the character Eddie (Nicolas Cage) mortally wounds a would-be assassin, he asks the man Who sent you?" The killer
responds, Sam fuckin' Peckinpah. This lm was
later adapted into a song of the same name by Snot.
In the John Waters lm Cecil B. Demented (2000),
several characters have the name of a legendary lm
director tattooed on their body. One of the characters has Sam Peckinpah tattooed on their arm.[106]
In the 1986 horror lm Chopping Mall, a store in
the mall that survivors use to supply themselves with

10

14 NOTES
assault ries, ammunition and grenades is named
Peckinpahs Sporting Goods, a wry reference to the
directors lm violence.[107]

[15] Weddle, p. 120.

[16] Weddle, pp. 499500.
[17] Weddle, p. 56.

In the 2006 lm Hot Fuzz, one of the characters is

mentioned to be an extra in Straw Dogs, and a farm is
owned by the Treachers, making it Treacher Farm.
In the 1993 Denis Leary song "Asshole", Leary
states he is going to get the Duke (John Wayne),
John Cassavetes, Lee Marvin, Sam Peckinpah and
a case of whiskey then drive down to Texas before
being cut o by a bandmate and getting called an
asshole.

[18] Simmons, pp. 6364.

[19] Weddle, pp. 163,479.
[20] Weddle, p. 380.
[21] Sam Peckinpah IMDB.
[22] Weddle, p. 550.
[23] Biography: Sam Peckinpah IMDB.
[24] Cohen, pp. 7780.

In the BBC Radio 4 panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't [25] Weddle, p. 126.
a Clue, the Film Club round usually includes a lm
name based on Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. [26] Billy Hathorn, Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Long Kris Kristoerson recorded Sams Song (Ask Any
Working Girl)", a brief tribute to the director, for
his 1995 release A Moment of Forever.

11

Filmography

12

Television credits

ley, Ranald Mackenzie, Bualo Bill, Jr., and the Texas

Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television,
1955 to 1967, West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 89
(2013), p. 106

[27] Simmons, p. 28.

[28] Simmons, pp. 2829.
[29] Klondike IMDB.
[30] Simmons, pp. 2930.
[31] Rieman IMDB.

13

See also

[32] Simmons, pp. 3134.

[33] Westerner IMDB.

14

Notes

[1] Peckinpah, Random House Websters Unabridged Dictionary

[34] Westerner Trivia IMDB.

[35] Weddle, p. 168184.
[36] Simmons, p. 55-6.

[2] Current Biography 1973, p. 327.

[37] Weddle, pp. 197198.

[3] Simmons, p. 3.

[38] Simmons, pp. 3639.

[4] Weddle, p. 15.

[39] Weddle, pp. 198219.

[5] Fine, p. 12.

[40] Simmons, pp. 4154.

[6] Weddle, p. 16.

[41] Fine, p. 84.

[7] David E. Peckinpah IMDB.

[42] Weddle, pp. 229244.

[8] Simmons, p. 5.

[43] Simmons, pp. 5572.

[9] FilmReference.

[44] Major Dundee Trivia IMDB.

[10] Simmons, pp. 1011.

[45] Carroll.

[11] Simmons, p. 18.

[46] Weddle, pp. 257263.

[12] Weddle, pp. 5259.

[47] Simmons, pp. 7381.

[13] Weddle, pp. 104105.

[48] Weddle, pp. 280295.

[14] Weddle, pp. 116119.

[49] Simmons, pp. 7680.

11

[50] Noon Wine IMDB.

[88] Weddle, p. 504.

[51] Weddle, pp. 307309.

[89] Breakthrough IMDB.

[52] Weddle, pp. 310331.

[90] Simmons, p. 236.

[53] Weddle, pp. 376377.

[54] AFI 100.
[55] Wild Bunch Trivia IMDB.

[91] Weddle, pp. 504513.

[92] Simmons, pp. 225237.
[93] Weddle, pp. 514518.

[56] Weddle, pp. 391392.

[57] Weddle, p. 383389.
[58] Simmons, pp. 108120.
[59] Cable Hogue Trivia IMDB.

[94] Simmons, pp. 232236.

[95] Jinxed! IMDB.
[96] Weddle, pp. 534535.

[60] Weddle, p. 396.

[97] Simmons, p. 239.

[61] Weddle, p. 427.

[98] Weddle, pp. 535537.

[62] Weddle, pp. 399400.

[99] Weddle, pp. 541543.

[63] Weddle, pp. 393403.

[100] MTV.

[64] Simmons, pp. 121138.

[101] Man of Iron IMDB.

[65] Straw Dogs Trivia IMDB.

[66] Weddle, pp. 428434.
[67] Simmons, pp. 139153.

[102] Montage IMDB.

[103] SNL Episodes IMDB.
[104] Weddle, p. 428.

[68] Weddle, p. 434.

[69] Weddle, p. 436.
[70] Getaway Box Oce IMDB.
[71] Weddle, p. 439.

[105] Fletch Quotes IMDB.

[106] Cecil B. DeMented Trivia IMDB.
[107] Chopping Mall Connections IMDB.

[72] Getaway IMDB.

[73] Simmons, pp. 154168.
[74] Weddle, p. 442.
[75] Weddle, pp. 444450.
[76] Weddle, p. 453.
[77] Pat Garrett IMDB.
[78] Weddle, p. 463.
[79] Weddle, p. 483.
[80] Simmons, pp. 169188.
[81] Medved, pp. 5155.
[82] Ebert review.
[83] Weddle, pp. 492498.
[84] Simmons, pp. 189208.
[85] Weddle, p. 499.
[86] Weddle, pp. 498500.
[87] Simmons, pp. 209224.

15 References
Simmons, Garner (1982). Peckinpah, A Portrait in
Montage. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-29276493-6.
Weddle, David (1994). If They Move . . . Kill 'Em!
The Life and Times of Sam Peckipah. Grove Press.
ISBN 0-8021-1546-2.
Current Biography. H. W. Wilson. 1973. ISBN 08242-0543-X.
David E. Peckinpah. Internet Movie Database.
Retrieved July 23, 2007.
"(David) Sam Peckinpah Biography (1925)".
FilmReference.com. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
Sam Peckinpah. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Biography: Sam Peckinpah. Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved July 28, 2007.

12

16 FURTHER READING

Cohen, Stan (2004). The Murray Hotel. Montanas Grandest-Historic Hotels and Resorts of the
Treasure State. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. ISBN 1-57510-111-4.
Full cast and crew for Klondike". Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Episode list for The Rieman". Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
"The Westerner". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Trivia for The Westerner".
Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Trivia for Major Dundee".
Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Carroll, E. Jean (March 1982). Last of the Desperadoes: Dueling with Sam Peckinpah. Rocky Mountain Magazine.
Fine, Marshall. Bloody Sam. Donald I. Fine Books.
ISBN 978-1-55611-236-2.
"Noon Wine". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved
September 27, 2007.
American Film Institute.
September 27, 2007.

a.com.

Retrieved

Trivia for The Wild Bunch". Internet Movie

Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Trivia for The Ballad of Cable Hogue". Internet
Movie Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Trivia for Straw Dogs". Internet Movie Database.
Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Box oce/business for The Getaway". Internet
Movie Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
"The Getaway". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved
September 27, 2007.
"Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid". Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
Medved, Harry (1978). The 50 Worst Films of All
Time. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-38119-5.

"Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron". Internet Movie

Database. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
"The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage". Internet
Movie Database. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
Episode list for Saturday Night Live". Internet
Movie Database. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
Memorable quotes for Fletch". Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
Trivia for Cecil B. DeMented". Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
Movie connections for Chopping Mall". Internet
Movie Database. Retrieved November 20, 2007.
Combined credits for Jinxed!". Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved March 6, 2012.

16 Further reading
Bliss, Michael (2012). Peckinpah Today: New Essays on the Films of Sam Peckinpah. Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-3106-3.
Simons, John L. (2011). Peckinpahs Tragic Westerns: A Critical Study. McFarland. ISBN 0-78646133-0.
Hayes, Kevin J. (2008). Sam Peckinpah: Interviews.
University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-93411064-7.
Engel, Leonard (2003). Sam Peckinpahs West: New
Perspectives. University of Utah Press. ISBN 087480-772-7.
Mesce, Bill, Jr. (2001). Peckinpahs Women: A
Reappraisal of the Portrayal of Women in the Period Westerns of Sam Peckinpah. Scarecrow Press.
ISBN 0-8108-4066-9.
Seydor, Paul (1999). Peckinpah: The Western Films,
A Reconsideration. University of Illinois Press.
ISBN 0-252-06835-1.

Roger Ebert, Film Review for Bring Me the Head of

Alfredo Garcia". suntimes.com. October 28, 2001.
Retrieved October 6, 2007.

Dukore, Bernard F. (1999). Sam Peckinpahs Feature Films. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-25206802-5.

"Breakthrough". Internet Movie Database.

trieved November 9, 2007.

Bliss, Michael (1993). Justied Lives: Morality and

Narrative in the Films of Sam Peckinpah. Southern
Illinois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-1823-7.

Re-

Rock on the Net: 1985 MTV Video Music

Awards. rockonthenet.com. Retrieved November
9, 2007.

Evans, Max (1972). Sam Peckinpah: Master of Violence. Dakota Press. ISBN 0-88249-011-7.

13

17

External links

Sam Peckinpah at the Internet Movie Database

SamPeckinpah.com A discussion forum for fans of
Sam Peckinpah
Senses of Cinema: Sam Peckinpah
Essays about Sam Peckinpahs lms
Roger Ebert review of The Wild Bunch
Sam Peckinpah versus Michael Mann
A Tribute to Sam Peckinpah by ConvoyTM.com
A Glorious High by Pauline Kael at austinchronicle.com
Best Sam Peckinpah Westerns from American
Movie Classics
Sam Peckinpah papers, Margaret Herrick Library,
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Sam Peckinpah - Radio Documentary 1969

at
http://www.kaneprod.com/peckinpah_
radiodocumentary.htm

14

18

18
18.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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18.2

Images

File:Brian_Keith_The_Westerner_1960.JPG Source:
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Westerner_1960.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: eBay item Original artist: NBC Television
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Contributors:
Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:
Tkgd2007
File:USMC_logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/USMC_logo.svg License: Public domain Contributors: DoD website: http://www.defenselink.mil/multimedia/web_graphics/#mc Original artist: U.S. Government

18.3

Content license

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