Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

Frank Kowalski (story) and
Sam Peckinpah (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

August 1974 (Austria)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller | Western

Tagline:

It's got guts!

Plot:

An American bartender and his prostitute girlfriend go on a road trip through the Mexican underworld to collect a $1 million bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.

Plot Keywords:

Piano Player | Mexican | Death | Road | Bounty Hunter

Cast

Warren Oates	...	Bennie
Isela Vega	...	Elita
Robert Webber	...	Sappensly
Gig Young	...	Quill
Helmut Dantine	...	Max
Emilio Fernández	...	El Jefe (as Emilio Fernandez)
Kris Kristofferson	...	Biker
Chano Urueta	...	Manchot, the bartender
Donnie Fritts	...	John (as Donny Fritts)
Jorge Russek	...	Cueto
Chalo González	...	Chalo (as Chalo Gonzalez)
Don Levy	...	Frank
Enrique Lucero	...	Esteban
Janine Maldonado	...	Theresa
Tamara Garina	...	Grandmother Moreno
Farnesio de Bernal	...	Bernardo
Ahui Camacho	...	El Chavito
Monica Miguel	...	Dolores de Escomiglia
Paco Pharrez	...	El Carpintero (as Paco Pharres)
Juan Manuel Díaz	...	Paulo
René Dupeyrón	...	Angel (as Rene Dupeyron)
Yolanda Ponce	...	Yolo
Juan Jose Palacios	...	Juan
Manolo	...	Tourist Guide
Nery Ruiz	...	Maria (as Neri Ruiz)
Roberto Dumont	...	Chavo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Bright	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Conrad Hool	...	El Jefe's guard (uncredited)
Whitey Hughes	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Sharon Peckinpah	...	Nun (uncredited)
Garner Simmons	...	Hacienda Guard (uncredited)

Directed by
Sam Peckinpah

Writing credits
Frank Kowalski		(story) and
Sam Peckinpah		(story)
Sam Peckinpah		(screenplay) and
Gordon T. Dawson		(screenplay) (as Gordon Dawson)

Produced by
Martin Baum	....	producer
Helmut Dantine	....	executive producer
Gordon T. Dawson	....	associate producer (as Gordon Dawson)

Original Music by
Jerry Fielding

Cinematography by
Álex Phillips Jr.

Film Editing by
Dennis Dolan		(as Dennis E. Dolan)
Sergio Ortega
Robbe Roberts

Casting by
Claudia Becker

Art Direction by
Agustín Ituarte

Makeup Department
Rosa Guerrero	....	makeup artist

Production Management
William Davidson	....	executive production manager (as William C. Davidson)
Carlos Terron Garcia	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Davidson	....	first assistant director (as William C. Davidson)
Jesús Marín	....	assistant director (as Jesus Marin)

Art Department
Enrique Estévez	....	set dresser (as Enrique Estevez)
Alf Pegley	....	property master

Sound Department
Michael Colgan	....	sound editor (as Mike Colgan)
Harry W. Tetrick	....	sound re-recording mixer
Manuel Topete	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Raul Falomir	....	special effects
Federico Farfán	....	special effects (as Federico Farfan)
León Ortega	....	special effects (as Leon Ortega)

Stunts
Gary Combs	....	stunt coordinator
Duffy Hambleton	....	stunt coordinator (as Duffy Hambledon)
Whitey Hughes	....	stunt coordinator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adolfo Ramírez	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Garth Craven	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Daniel Allan Carlin	....	music editor (as Dan Carlin)
Dan Carlin Sr.	....	music editor (as Dan Carlin)
Arturo Castro	....	mexican music coordinator
Greig McRitchie	....	orchestrator (as Greg McRitchie)
Lennie Niehaus	....	orchestrator (as Leonard Niehaus)

Other crew
Katherine Haber	....	production assistant: director
Sharon Peckinpah	....	dialogue director
Jim Preminger	....	production assistant
Trudy von Trotha	....	script supervisor
Yannoulla Wakefield	....	production coordinator
Dan York	....	production assistant
'Chema' Hernandez	....	head wrangler: Mexico (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A.
• Optimus Films

Distributors

• United Artists (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Park Circus (2009) (UK) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• United Artists (1974) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1974) (Sweden) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Latigo Productions  titles
• Pacific Title  titles

Also Known As:

Tráiganme la cabeza de Alfredo García (Mexico)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA | Mexico

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2005) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chalco, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company:

Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A.

Trivia:

Gig Young appears in the film at the bar where Warren Oates is playing piano. When he and Robert Webber leave, Oates asks Young his name and Young responds, "Fred C. Dobbs," a reference to Humphrey Bogart's character in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At a little after 1:33 in the movie, as Bennie crosses inside his apartment, alone and talking to Alfredo's head ("A friend of ours used to take a shower in there...You know that? You know that!"), a crewman in black clothing can be glimpsed ducking behind an adjacent transom. A second later, his arm reappears as Bennie reaches for a bottle in the pantry.

Quotes:

El Jefe: I will pay one million dollars. Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Bad Blood Baby

Scratch the Surface and You Find Great Art

I believe Sam Peckinpah to be one of the most underrated directors in modern American cinema. We praise Scorcese to the sky (albeit deservedly) for ultra-violent work like Taxi Driver, yet tend to dismiss Peckinpah as a shallow director of action film and westerns.

Nothing could be further from the truth. When I watch this movie, it reminds me of what movies are all about, it is instructive, it elevates the consciousness of the form, which tends to be a factor in all great art.

`Alfredo Garcia' actually has more in common with Cocteau's `Orphee' than action vehicles; like it's predecessor, it is an adaptation of the Orpheus myth, albeit more subtle. I'm not going to get exhaustive in analysis, but will highlight some of the most obvious metaphors and references:

The first blatant clue is early in the film, after Benny (Warren Oates) gets the contract to bring back Alfredo Garcia's head, he tells his girlfriend `this is our golden fleece, baby.' Orpheus, of course, was one of the Argonauts who accompanied Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece.

When Orpheus was killed, his head was torn off, yet it continued to sing. In the same way, it is Alfredo's head luring Benny to the sweet tune of $10K, enough to start a new life, enough to find happiness. (Note also, when Benny asks

But Benny is in fact himself Orpheus, Alfredo Garcia simply his double. To wit, Alfredo had been sleeping with Benny's woman; her love is split between the two of them. More obvious is the scene when the two hit men come into Benny's piano bar, showing him the picture of Alfredo and asking if he's knows his whereabouts. Benny's reply is `You got me.' (Note also the thematic foreshadowing in this scene when Benny ask the Gig Young character for his name and he replies `Fred C. Dobbs', the name of Humphrey Bogart's doomed character in `Treasure of Sierra Madre.')

Our introduction to Benny is as a jaded singer in a low rent piano bar in Mexico. However, like Orpheus, he is able to inspire even the pathetic patronage to sing with relish.

Orpheus was said to be able to tame even the wild beasts with his sweet lyre, and later in the film, when Benny finds himself in great jeopardy, having fallen under the power of two random psycho's in the badlands (great Kris Kristopherson cameo by the way,) he uses the guitar to overcome his captor, first lulling him with song, then bashing him with the instrument.

Like the doomed Orpheus and Euridice, before Benny can marry his true love, she is randomly killed. In the old myth, Euridice is slain by an actual snake, in this film, she it is human snakes, i.e. devious, treacherous men.

(As Benny returns, cracking up over the death of his lover, he beings talking to Alfredo's severed head, now rotting in the heat. Could this be a statement on the rotten reality of the materialistic American dream?) Regardless, the head is clearly `singing' to him, although now it may be a bitter song of regret.

I don't want to spoil the ending (which is far more true romance than Tarantino's screenplay and the subsequent film of the same name, if one is familiar with the Tristan & Isolde paradigm,) but suffice it to say, at `the gates of the underworld,' home free, Benny, like Orpheus cannot resist `looking back' at his departed lover, and bring about his ruin.

The opening to this film is indisputably one of the greatest in cinematic history. As a parting note, I will elucidate this claim, as most people tend not to get it:

Set in Mexico, the film is a modern western and to bring this home, Peckinpah must bridge time.

It opens with old time Mexican music and an antique-looking black and white photo, which shifts into color and becomes the opening shot, a pastoral scene by a pond.

We see a pregnant girl in a very simple, homespun white gown dangling, her feet in the water. A maid in the garb of a timeless Mexican peasant, complete with shawl, comes up and consoles her. Two well dressed cowboys, complete with spurs and Colt .45's in their gun belts, approach to fetch her. In the background, a few more cowboys on horses ride past, one holding a rifle. In the background is an old style adobe building. Everything is right out of the 19th century.

This timeframe is reinforced when the girl is led to her father's office, the first view of which is of old-style oil paintings, on of a conquistador. This is actually a great hall with the architecture and furnishings of the 19th century. Her father, the quintessential Mexican Don from innumerable westerns is surrounded but surrounded by women in black, various functionaries, a priest and some nuns, all the antique garb of the era.

It only towards the end of the scene, if you looks very closely, will you notice that one man, a gringo, is wearing a dark banker's suit and has on a modern looking tie.

And very quickly after this, we cut to a motorcycle and then a line of cars driving out of the courtyard of the great house! And the next major cut is to a jet plane landing.

The film opens in the old west and after the set up, phases us abruptly into modern times when it is actually set. I'm not sure how this can be described as anything other than genius.

It is moments like this, along with great depth of character, emotion and theme, dramatic and symbolic unity, that makes this film an artistic achievement.

In my limited sphere of understanding, Peckinpah is as much in the ranks with Kurosawa and Pasolini, as with John Ford, Sam Fuller and other great Western and Action directors.

Great art, great entertainment and a quintessential action flick; this is a tremendous film that bears multiple viewings.