This film made by Sam Peckinpah (126-1984) , a Westerned himself from ranch-land in North Fork and it tells about an ex- North soldier (Brian Keith) from Ohio, as he meets a pair gunslingers (Steve Cochran and Chill Wills). When spontaneously a wild bunch attacks a gold purchased store he accidentally kills a woman's son . She's a dance hall's woman (Mauren O'Hara) and decides head to Siringo with her dead son , the village where was murdered her husband in an Apache raid . Brian Keith with a dark past under his hat and a guilty feeling for inadvertently killing , Chill Wills as a boozy ex-south soldier and Steve Cochran as an outlaw , escort the funeral procession along a dangerous journey into Indian territory until arriving in Siringo with adobe houses (similar sets to ¨Rio Bravo¨) where is developed the exciting final duel .
This is the Peckinpah's first feature , since years before he was soon involved in TV westerns , he wrote several episodes of ¨Gunsmoke¨and other Western television series , directing some episodes and he created ¨The Westerner¨ with Brian Keith and the successful ¨Rifleman¨ . Posteriorly , losing no opportunity , he made an enormous impression with ¨Deadly companions¨ filmed in Arizona . The movie was produced by Charles Fitzsimons (Carousel production) , Mauren O'Hara brother , who realized an excessive edition control and Peckinpah complained himself about ending result and especially on a no-sense final showdown . The producers found it very difficult to get financial backing for the picture due to subject matter : carrying a dead child in a coffin throughout the film , but they refused to change the story . Based on the success of the novel, Yellowleg , on which the film is based, Pathe America was persuaded to co-finance the film along with the Theater Owners of America and it was distributed by Pathe-America Distribution though went immediately bankrupt . Splendid cinematography -though being necessary a right remastering- by the Western expert , William H Clothier , he was usual in John Wayne films (Train robbers , Big Jake, Rio Lobo , Undefeated , El Alamo) and John Ford movies (Cheyenne Autumnm, Man who shot Libert Valance , Horse soldiers, Donovan reef). The film achieved a moderate success, although it was nothing to the stir he caused with his next work and most popular ¨Ride the high country¨ with Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott that lift him as the peak of popularity . The picture was well directed by Sam Peckinpah and its rating is better than average .
Sam Peckinpah , after beginning his career as a writer , he was soon involved in TV Westerns . Filming popular Western series as ¨Rifleman¨ , subsequently moving into pictures in 1961 giving fine impression with his first one , ¨Deadly companions¨ . After that , he did the prestigious ¨Ride the high county¨ that along with ¨Wild Bunch¨ , at the peak of his popularity , remain Sam's best films . Later on , he made ¨Major Dundee¨ that was heavily re-cutting . He subsequently filmed tougher-than-tough action movies , including gushing blood and guts with particular images in slow-moving , such as : ¨The getaway¨ , ¨the killer elite¨, the most popular ¨Straw dogs¨ , Convoy¨, and ¨The Osterman weekend¨ , until his early death .
