Bad Company (1972)

Director:

Robert Benton

Writers:

David Newman (written by) and
Robert Benton (written by)

Release Date:

8 October 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A group of naive boys find that life as desperadoes in the west is more serious that they understood...

Plot Keywords:

Hanged Boy | Hanging | Shot In The Head | Chicken | Child Shot In The Head

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Jake Rumsey
Barry Brown	...	Drew Dixon
Jim Davis	...	Marshal
David Huddleston	...	Big Joe
John Savage	...	Loney
Jerry Houser	...	Arthur Simms
Damon Cofer	...	Jim Bob Logan
Joshua Hill Lewis	...	Boog Bookin
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Hobbs
Raymond Guth	...	Jackson
Ed Lauter	...	Orin (as Edward Lauter)
John Quade	...	Nolan
Jean Allison	...	Mrs. Dixon
Ned Wertimer	...	Mr. Dixon
Charles Tyner	...	Egg farmer

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Company:

Jaffilms

Trivia:

The classic rock band Bad Company named itself after this film.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the boys cross the Missouri River from St. Joseph, one utters the words, "Say goodbye to the U.S.A." After January 29, 1861, what was across the river from St. Joe was the state of Kansas, so they never left the U.S.A. In fact, by the 1850s, to ride out of the U.S.A. they would have needed to have gone to the Canadian or Mexican border.

Quotes:

Hobbs: You go ahead and eat your beans, Joe. Me and the boys can take 'em easy. There's only two.
Big Joe: My boy, if it was a blind woman in a wheelchair, I'd still give her the odds.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Murphy Brown: Bad Company (#8.8)" (1995)

A Realistic Western

This is one of the most perfect Westerns I have ever seen.All the situations are realistic.The actors are well-cast and nobody turns in a bad performance.Harvey Schmidt's piano score is the perfect complement to Gordon Willis' photography.Perennial bad-guy Geoffrey Lewis has one the funniest and most realistic dying words that have ever been put on screen.I can't find anything bad to say about this film.If you're a fan of Westerns,coming-of-age films,slice-of-life movies or buddy flicks this sleeper should not be missed.It has elements of all these different genres all wrapped up in one beautifully made movie.