The Deadly Companions (1961)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

Albert Sidney Fleischman (novel)
Albert Sidney Fleischman (writer)

Release Date:

16 March 1962 (Finland)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Ex-army officer accidentally kills a woman's son, tries to make up for it by escorting the funeral procession through dangerous Indian territory.

Plot Keywords:

Shootout | Dead Child | Young Boy | Beautiful Woman | Single Mother

Cast

Maureen O'Hara	...	Kit Tilden
Brian Keith	...	Yellowleg
Steve Cochran	...	Billy Keplinger
Chill Wills	...	Turk
Strother Martin	...	Parson
Will Wright	...	Doctor Acton
James O'Hara	...	Cal, General Store (as Jim O'Hara)
Peter O'Crotty	...	Mayor of Hila City
Billy Vaughan	...	Mead Tilden Jr.

Also Known As:

Trigger Happy (USA) (reissue title) (USA) (reissue title)
Deadly Companions (UK) (DVD title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (re-rated) | West Germany:16 | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-12 | USA:Approved (PCA #19933)

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Carousel Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (2004) (TV)

Foreshadows his later works

Peckinpah is getting to what he later mastered in movies such as Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid; outlaws with deep emotional scars who live in the past and wander around like the Flying Dutchman. The scar is made physical as Yellowleg is unable to raise his arm when shooting, which leads to a tragic accident. In Deadly Companions we also see similar character as Bob Dylan played in Pat Garrett; the little boy playing his harmonica. Deadly Companions is a bit clumsy a movie, sometimes it is difficult to see what is actually going on, but the story is good and the characters are real. It's a must see for Peckinpah fans.