The Deadly Companions (1961)

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

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

Albert Sidney Fleischman (screenplay) (as A.S. Fleischman), Albert Sidney Fleischman (novel) (as A.S. Fleischman)

Stars:

Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Maureen O'Hara	...	Kit Tildon
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 Tildon Jr.

Storyline

The Civil War Yankee sergeant Yellowleg saves the cheater Turkey from hanging after a card game, and together with Turk's gunslinger buddy Billy Keplinger, they ride together to Gila City with the intention of heisting a bank. When other bandits rob a store, Yellowleg shoots at the outlaws and accidentally kills the son of the cabaret dancer Kit Tilden and the grieving woman decides to bury her son in the town of Siringo in Apache country where her husband is buried. Yellowleg Enlists Billy and Turkey to escort Kitty and the coffin through the dangerous land.

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Plot Keywords:

apache territory | arizona | arizona territory | native american | grief | 

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Taglines:

Deadly! Half-crazed with greed and dreams of grandeur!

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Genres:

Adventure | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Yellowleg" is a reference to the yellow stripe down the trousers of Union cavalry troops.

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Goofs

The impact of "Yellowleg 's" injured shoulder varies throughout the film, for example he has difficulty handling a gun or raising his arm in the doctor's office yet seems to have no problems using the same arm to mount his horse or to clamber up rocks.

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Quotes

Yellowleg: You don't know me well enough to hate me that much. Hating is a subject I know a little something about. You got to be careful it don't bite you back. I know somebody who spent five years looking for a man he hated. Hating and wanting revenge was all that kept him alive. He spent all those years tracking that other man down, and when he caught up with him, it was the worst day of his life. He'd get his revenge all right, but then he'd lose the one thing he had to live for.

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Alternate Versions

The print distributed by UPA for television in the seventies was in black and white.

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Connections

Featured in Passion & Poetry: The Early Sam (2010)

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Soundtracks

Title Song
Song by Marlin Skiles & Charles B. Fitzsimons
Sung by Maureen O'Hara

User Reviews

about solitude

A film who seems have no story. in strange way, that is not a problem. first, for the well made characters. second - for the performances. and for silences. for small gestures and for inspired exploration of past. not the last, for the fine equilibrium between the pieces of drama. a man. a woman. a coffen and a film who could be defined as western. not an ordinary one. but one of the most useful. as a story. about the angles of solitude.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 February 1962 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Trigger Happy

Filming Locations:

Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carousel Productions (III)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Pathé-Color)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1