Sam Peckinpah

David Samuel “Sam” Peckinpah (/ˈpɛkɪnˌpɑː/;[1]February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an Amer-ican film director and screenwriter who achieved promi-nence following the release of the Western epic The WildBunch (1969). He was known for the visually innovativeand explicit depiction of action and violence as well as hisrevisionist approach to the Western genre.Peckinpah’s films generally deal with the conflict betweenvalues and ideals, and the corruption of violence in humansociety. He was given the nickname “Bloody Sam” owingto the violence in his films. His characters are often lonersor losers who desire to be honorable, but are forced tocompromise in order to survive in a world of nihilism andbrutality.Peckinpah’s combative personality, marked by years ofalcohol and drug abuse, affected his professional legacy.Many of his films were noted for behind-the-scenes bat-tles with producers and crewmembers, damaging his rep-utation and career during his lifetime. Some of his films,including StrawDogs (1971), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid(1973) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974),remain controversial.

1 Family origins

The Peckinpahs originated from the Frisian Islands in thenorthwest of Europe. Both sides of Peckinpah’s fam-ily migrated to the American West by covered wagonin the mid-19th century.[2] Peckinpah and several rela-tives often claimed Native American ancestry, but thishas been denied by surviving family members.[3] Peck-inpah’s great-grandfather, Rice Peckinpaugh, a merchantand farmer in Indiana, moved to Humboldt County,California, in the 1850s, working in the logging busi-ness, and changed the spelling of the family name to“Peckinpah.”[4][5] Peckinpah Meadow and PeckinpahCreek, where the family ran a lumber mill on a moun-tain in the High Sierra north of Coarsegold, California,have been officially named on U.S. geographical maps.[3]Peckinpah’s maternal grandfather was Denver S. Church,a cattle rancher, Superior Court judge and United StatesCongressman of a California district including FresnoCounty.[6] Sam Peckinpah’s nephew is David Peckinpah,who was a television producer and director, as well asa screenplay writer.[7] Peckinpah’s parents were DavidEdward Peckinpah and Fern Louise Church, and he isa cousin of former New York Yankees shortstop RogerPeckinpaugh.[8]

2 Life

David Samuel “Sam” Peckinpah was born February 21,1925, in Fresno, California, where he attended bothgrammar school and high school.[9] He spent much timeskipping classes with his brother to engage in cowboy ac-tivities on their grandfather Denver Church's ranch, in-cluding trapping, branding, and shooting. During the1930s and 1940s, Coarsegold and Bass Lake were stillpopulated with descendants of the miners and ranchersof the 19th century. Many of these descendants workedon Church’s ranch. At that time, it was a rural area un-dergoing extreme change, and this exposure is believed tohave affected Peckinpah’s Western films later in life.[10]

He played on the junior varsity football team while atFresno High School, but frequent fighting and disciplineproblems caused his parents to enroll him in the SanRafael Military Academy for his senior year.[11] In 1943,he joined the United States Marine Corps. Within twoyears, his battalion was sent to China with the task of dis-arming Japanese soldiers and repatriating them followingWorld War II. While his duty did not include combat, heclaims to have witnessed acts of war between Chinese andJapanese soldiers. According to friends, these includedseveral acts of torture and the murder of a laborer bysniper fire. The American Marines were not permittedto intervene. Peckinpah also claimed he was shot dur-ing an attack by Communist forces. Also during his finalweeks as a Marine, he applied for discharge in Peking,so he could marry a local woman, but was refused. Hisexperiences in China reportedly deeply affected Peckin-pah, and may have influenced his depictions of violencein his films.[12]

After being discharged in Los Angeles, he attendedCalifornia State University, Fresno, where he studied his-tory. While a student, he met and married his first wife,Marie Selland, in 1947. A drama major, Selland intro-duced Peckinpah to the theater department and he be-came interested in directing for the first time. During hissenior year, he adapted and directed a one-hour versionof TennesseeWilliams' The Glass Menagerie. After grad-uation in 1948, Peckinpah enrolled in graduate studiesin drama at University of Southern California. He spenttwo seasons as the director in residence at HuntingtonPark Civic Theatre near Los Angeles before obtaining hismaster’s degree. He was asked to stay another year, butPeckinpah began working as a stagehand at KLAC-TV inthe belief that television experience would eventually leadto work in films. Even during this early stage of his ca-

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2 4 TELEVISION CAREER

reer, Peckinpah was developing a combative streak. Re-portedly, he was kicked off the set of The Liberace Showfor not wearing a tie, and he refused to cue a car sales-man during a live feed because of his attitude towardsstagehands.[13]

In 1954, Peckinpah was hired as a dialogue coach for thefilm Riot in Cell Block 11. His job entailed acting as an as-sistant for the movie’s director, Don Siegel. The film wasshot on location at Folsom Prison. Reportedly, the war-den was reluctant to allow the filmmakers to work at theprison until he was introduced to Peckinpah. The war-den knew his family from Fresno and was immediatelycooperative. Siegel’s location work and his use of actualprisoners as extras in the film made a lasting impressionon Peckinpah. He worked as a dialogue coach on four ad-ditional Siegel films: Private Hell 36 (1954), An Annapo-lis Story, (1955, and co-starring L. Q. Jones), Invasionof the Body Snatchers (1956) and Crime in the Streets(1956).[14] Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in which Peck-inpah appeared in a cameo as Charlie the meter reader,starred Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. It becameone of the most critically praised science fiction films ofthe 1950s. Peckinpah claimed to have done an extensiverewrite on the film’s screenplay, a statement which re-mains controversial.[15] Nevertheless, Peckinpah’s associ-ation with Siegel established him as an emerging screen-writer and potential director.Throughout much of his adult life, Peckinpah was af-fected by alcoholism, and, later, other forms of drugaddiction. According to some accounts, he also suf-fered from mental illness, possibly manic depression orparanoia.[16] It is believed his drinking problems be-gan during his service in the military while stationed inChina, when he would frequent the saloons of Tianjinand Beijing.[17] After divorcing Selland, the mother ofhis first four children, in 1960, he married the Mexi-can actress Begoña Palacios in 1965. A stormy relation-ship developed, and over the years they married on threeseparate occasions. They had one daughter together.[18]His personality reportedly often swung between a sweet,soft-spoken, artistic disposition, and bouts of rage and vi-olence during which he verbally and physically abusedhimself and others. An experienced hunter, Peckinpahwas fascinated with firearms and was known to shootthe mirrors in his house while abusing alcohol, an im-age which occurs several times in his films.[19] Peckin-pah’s reputation as a hard-living brute with a taste for vi-olence, inspired by the content in his most popular filmsand in many ways perpetuated by himself, affected hisartistic legacy.[20] His friends and family have claimedthis does a disservice to a man who was actually morecomplex than generally credited. Throughout his career,Peckinpah seems to have inspired extraordinary loyaltyin certain friends and employees. He used the same ac-tors (Warren Oates, L. Q. Jones, R. G. Armstrong, JamesCoburn, Ben Johnson, and Kris Kristofferson), and col-laborators (Jerry Fielding, Lucien Ballard, Gordon Daw-

son, and Martin Baum) in many of his films, and severalof his friends and assistants stuck by him to the end of hislife.Peckinpah spent a great deal of his life in Mexico afterhis marriage to Palacios, eventually buying property inthe country. He was reportedly fascinated by the Mex-ican lifestyle and culture, and he often portrayed it withan unusual sentimentality and romanticism in his films.Four of his films,Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch(1969), Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) and Bring Methe Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), were filmed entirelyon location within Mexico, while The Getaway (1972)concludes with a couple escaping to freedom there.[21]

3 Death

Peckinpah was seriously ill during his final years, as alifetime of hard living caught up with him. Regardless,he continued to work until his last months. He diedof heart failure on December 28, 1984.[22] At the time,he was in preparation for shooting an original script byStephen King entitled The Shotgunners, which later be-came a book called The Regulators.[23] He lived at theMurray Hotel in Livingston, Montana, from 1979 untilhis death in 1984.[24]

4 Television career

On the recommendation of Don Siegel, Peckinpah es-tablished himself during the late 1950s as a scriptwriterof western series of the era, selling scripts to Gunsmoke,Have Gun – Will Travel, The Rifleman, Broken Arrow,Klondike, andDick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre.[21][25] Hewrote one episode “The Town” (December 13, 1957)for the CBS series, Trackdown, starring Robert Culp asthe Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman. The script is about acowardly town afraid to resist the clutches of an outlawgang.[26]

Peckinpah wrote a screenplay from the novel The Authen-tic Death of Hendry Jones, a draft that evolved into the1961 Marlon Brando film One-Eyed Jacks.[27] His writ-ing led to directing, and he directed a 1958 episode ofBroken Arrow (generally credited as his first official di-recting job) and several 1960 episodes of Klondike, (co-starring James Coburn, L. Q. Jones, Ralph Taeger, JoiLansing, and Mari Blanchard). He also directed the CBSsitcom Mr. Adams and Eve, starring Howard Duff andIda Lupino.[28][29]

In 1958, Peckinpah wrote a script for Gunsmoke that wasrejected due to content. He reworked the screenplay, ti-tled The Sharpshooter, and sold it to Zane Grey Theater.The episode received popular response and became thetelevision series The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors.Peckinpah directed four episodes of the series (with guest

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stars R. G. Armstrong and Warren Oates), but left af-ter the first year. The Rifleman ran for five seasons andachieved enduring popularity in syndication.[30][31]

4.1 The Westerner

Main article: The Westerner (TV series)During this time, he also created the television series The

Brian Keith in The Westerner (1960)

Westerner, starring Brian Keith and in three episodes alsofeaturing John Dehner. Peckinpah wrote and directed apilot called Trouble at Tres Cruzes, which was aired inMarch 1959 before the actual series was made in 1960.Peckinpah acted as producer of the series, having a handin the writing of each episode and directing five of them.Critically praised, the show ran for only 13 episodes be-fore cancellation mainly due to its gritty content detail-ing the drifting, laconic cowboyDave Blassingame (BrianKeith). Especially the episodes Jeff and Hand on the Gunare in their depiction of violence and with their imagina-tive directing remarkable forerunners of his later featurefilms. Despite its short run, TheWesterner and Peckinpahwere nominated by the Producers Guild of America forBest Filmed Series. An episode of the series eventuallyserved as the basis for Tom Gries’ 1968 film Will Pennystarring Charlton Heston. TheWesterner, which has sinceachieved cult status, further established Peckinpah as atalent to be reckoned with.[32][33][34][35]

In 1962 Peckinpah direct two-hour-long episodes for TheDick Powell Theater. In the second of these, The Losers,

an updated remake of The Westerner set in the presentday with Lee Marvin as Dave Blassingame and KeenanWynn as Dehner’s character Bergundy Smith, he mixedslow motion, fast motion and stills together to capture vi-olence, a technique famously put to more sophisticateduse in 1969s The Wild Bunch.[36]

5 Early film career

5.1 The Deadly Companions

Main article: The Deadly Companions

After cancellation of TheWesterner, Brian Keith was castas the male lead in the 1961 Western film The DeadlyCompanions. He suggested Peckinpah as director andthe project’s producer Charles B. Fitzsimons accepted theidea. By most accounts, the low-budget film shot on lo-cation in Arizona was a learning process for Peckinpah,who feuded with Fitzsimons (brother of the film’s starMaureen O'Hara) over the screenplay and staging of thescenes. Reportedly, Fitzsimons refused to allow Peck-inpah to give direction to O'Hara. Unable to rewritethe screenplay or edit the picture, Peckinpah vowed tonever again direct a film unless he had script control. TheDeadly Companions passed largely without notice and isthe least known of Peckinpah’s films.[37][38]

5.2 Ride the High Country

Main article: Ride the High Country

His second film, Ride the High Country (1962), was basedon the screenplay Guns in the Afternoon written by N.B.Stone, Jr. Producer Richard Lyons admired Peckinpah’swork on The Westerner and offered him the directingjob. Peckinpah did an extensive rewrite of the screen-play, including personal references from his own child-hood growing up on Denver Church’s ranch, and evennaming one of the mining towns “Coarsegold.” He basedthe character of Steve Judd, a once-famous lawman fallenon hard times, on his own father David Peckinpah. In thescreenplay, Judd and old friend Gil Westrum are hiredto transport gold from a mining community through dan-gerous territory. Westrum hopes to talk Judd into takingthe gold for themselves. Along the way, following theexample of Judd, Westrum slowly realizes his own self-respect is far more important than profit. During the fi-nal shootout, when Judd and Westrum stand up to a trioof men, Judd is fatally wounded and his death serves asWestrum’s salvation – a Catholic tragedy weaved from theWestern genre. It became amajor theme in many Peckin-pah films to come. Starring aging Western stars Joel Mc-Crea and Randolph Scott in their final major screen roles,the film initially went unnoticed in the United States but

4 6 INTERNATIONAL FAME

was an enormous success in Europe. Beating FedericoFellini's 8½ for first prize at the Belgium Film Festival,the film was hailed by foreign critics as a brilliant re-working of the Western genre. New York critics alsodiscovered Peckinpah’s unusual Western, with Newsweeknaming Ride the High Country the best film of the yearand Time placing it on its best-ten list. By some crit-ics, the film is admired as one of Peckinpah’s greatestworks.[39][40]

5.3 Major Dundee

Main article: Major Dundee

Peckinpah’s next film,Major Dundee (1965), was the firstof Peckinpah’s many unfortunate experiences with themajor studios that financed his productions. Based ona screenplay by Harry Julian Fink, the film was to starCharlton Heston. Peckinpah was hired as director afterHeston viewed producer Jerry Bresler's private screen-ing of Ride the High Country. Heston liked the film andcalled Peckinpah, saying, “I'd like to work with you.”[41]The sprawling screenplay told the story of Union cav-alry officer Major Dundee who commands a NewMexicooutpost of Confederate prisoners. When an Apache warchief wipes out a company and kidnaps several children,Dundee throws together a makeshift army, including un-willing Confederate veterans, black Federal soldiers, andtraditional Western types, and takes off after the Indians.Dundee becomes obsessed with his quest and heads deepinto the wilderness of Mexico with his exhausted men intow. Peckinpah’s first big-budget film had a large cast,including Heston, Richard Harris, James Coburn, SentaBerger, Jim Hutton, Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, R. G.Armstrong and L. Q. Jones. Filming began without acompleted screenplay, and Peckinpah chose several re-mote locations in Mexico, causing the film to go heavilyover budget. Intimidated by the size and scope of theproject, Peckinpah reportedly drank heavily each nightafter shooting. He also fired at least 15 crew members.At one point, Peckinpah’s mean streak and abusivenesstowards the actors so enraged Heston that the normallyeven-tempered star threatened to run the director throughwith his cavalry saber if he did not show more courtesyto the cast. Shooting ended 15 days over schedule and$1.5millionmore than budgeted with Peckinpah and pro-ducer Bresler no longer on speaking terms. The movie,detailing themes and sequences Peckinpah mastered laterin his career, was taken away from him and substantiallyreedited. An incomplete mess which today exists in a va-riety of versions, Major Dundee performed poorly at thebox office and was trashed by critics (though its stand-ing has improved over the years). Peckinpah held for therest of his life that his original version of Major Dundeewas among his best films, but his reputation was severelydamaged.[42][43][44]

Peckinpah was next signed to direct The Cincinnati Kid, a

gambling drama about a young prodigy who takes on anold master during a big New Orleans poker match. Be-fore filming started, producer Martin Ransohoff began toreceive phone calls about the Major Dundee ordeal andwas told Peckinpah was impossible to work with. In ad-dition, Peckinpah decided to shoot in black and white andwas hoping to transform the screenplay into a social re-alist saga about a kid surviving the tough streets of theGreat Depression. After four days of filming, which re-portedly included some nude scenes, Ransohoff dislikedthe rushes and immediately fired him.[45] Eventually di-rected by Norman Jewison and starring Steve McQueen,the film went on to become a 1965 hit.[46][47]

5.4 Noon Wine

He caught a lucky break in 1966 when producer DanielMelnick needed a writer and director to adapt KatherineAnne Porter's short novel Noon Wine for television. Mel-nick was a big fan of The Westerner and Ride the HighCountry, and had heard Peckinpah had been unfairly firedfrom The Cincinnati Kid. Against the objections of manywithin the industry, Melnick hired Peckinpah and gavehim free rein. Peckinpah completed the script, whichMiss Porter enthusiastically endorsed, and the project be-came an hour-long presentation for ABC Stage 67. Tak-ing place in turn of the century West Texas, Noon Winewas a dark tragedy about a farmer’s act of futile murderwhich leads to suicide. Starring Jason Robards and Oliviade Havilland, the film was a critical hit, with Peckinpahnominated by theWriters Guild for Best Television Adap-tation and the Directors Guild of America for Best Tele-vision Direction. Robards kept a personal copy of thefilm in his private collection for years as he consideredthe project to be one of his most satisfying professionalexperiences. A rare film which had no home video re-lease until 2014, Noon Wine is today considered one ofPeckinpah’s most intimate works, revealing his dramaticpotential and artistic depth.[48][49][50]

6 International fame

6.1 The Wild Bunch

Main article: The Wild Bunch

The surprising success ofNoonWine laid the groundworkfor one of the most explosive comebacks in film history.In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts producers KennethHyman and Phil Feldman were interested in having Peck-inpah rewrite and direct an adventure film, The DiamondStory. An alternative screenplay written by Roy SicknerandWalonGreenwas the westernTheWild Bunch. At thetime, William Goldman's screenplay Butch Cassidy andthe Sundance Kid had recently been purchased by 20th

6.3 Straw Dogs 5

Century Fox.It was quickly decided that The Wild Bunch, which hadseveral similarities to Goldman’s work, would be pro-duced in order to beat Butch Cassidy to the theaters.[51]By the fall of 1967, Peckinpah was rewriting the screen-play into what became The Wild Bunch. Filmed on lo-cation in Mexico, Peckinpah’s epic work was inspired byhis hunger to return to films, the violence seen in ArthurPenn's Bonnie and Clyde, America’s growing frustrationwith theVietnamWar, andwhat he perceived to be the ut-ter lack of reality seen inWesterns up to that time. He setout tomake a filmwhich portrayed not only the vicious vi-olence of the period, but the crude men attempting to sur-vive the era. Starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine,Robert Ryan, Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, Strother Mar-tin, Jaime Sánchez and EdmondO'Brien, the film detaileda gang of veteran outlaws on the Texas/Mexico border in1913 trying to exist within a rapidly approaching mod-ern world. The Wild Bunch is framed by two ferociousand infamous gunfights, beginning with a failed robberyof the railway company office and concluding with theoutlaws battling the Mexican army in suicidal vengeanceprompted the death of one of their members.[52] Irrev-erent and unprecedented in its explicit detail, the 1969film was an instant success. Multiple scenes attempted inMajor Dundee, including slow motion action sequences,characters leaving a village as if in a funeral processionand the use of inexperienced locals as extras, were per-fected in The Wild Bunch. Many critics denounced its vi-olence as sadistic and exploitative. Other critics and film-makers hailed the originality of its unique rapid editingstyle, created for the first time in this film and ultimatelybecoming a Peckinpah trademark, and praised the re-working of traditional Western themes. It was the begin-ning of Peckinpah’s international fame, and he and hiswork remained controversial for the rest of his life.[53]The film was ranked No. 80 on the American Film In-stitute's top 100 list of the greatest American films evermade and No. 69 as the most thrilling, but the contro-versy has not diminished.[54] When The Wild Bunch wasre-released for its 25th anniversary, it received an NC-17rating from the MPAA, proving the film’s continued im-pact after so many years.[55] Peckinpah received his onlyAcademyAward nomination for Best Original Screenplayfor this film.

6.2 The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Main article: The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Defying audience expectations, as he often did, Peckin-pah immediately followed The Wild Bunch with the ele-giac, funny and mostly non-violent 1970 Western TheBallad of Cable Hogue. Utilizing many of the same cast(L. Q. Jones, Strother Martin) and crew members of TheWild Bunch, the film covered three years in the life ofsmall-time entrepreneur Cable Hogue (Jason Robards)

who decides to make a fortune after discovering waterin the desert. He opens his business along a stagecoachline, only to see his dreams end with the appearance ofthe first automobile on the horizon. Shot on locationin the Valley of Fire in Nevada, the film was plaguedby poor weather, Peckinpah’s renewed drinking and hisbrusque firing of 36 crew members. The chaotic film-ing wrapped 19 days over schedule and $3 million overbudget, effectively terminating his tenure with WarnerBros.-Seven Arts. In retrospect, it was a damaging ca-reer move as Deliverance and Jeremiah Johnson, criticaland enduring box office hits, were in development at thetime and Peckinpah was considered the first choice to di-rect both films.[56] Largely ignored upon its initial release,The Ballad of Cable Hogue has been rediscovered in re-cent years and is often held up by critics as exemplary ofthe breadth of Peckinpah’s talents. They claim that thefilm proves Peckinpah’s ability to make unconventionaland original work without resorting to explicit violence.Over the years, Peckinpah cited the film as one of hisfavorites.[57][58][59]

6.3 Straw Dogs

Main article: Straw Dogs (1971 film)

His alienation of Warner Brothers once again left himwith a limited number of directing jobs. Peckinpah wasforced to do a 180-degree turn and traveled to Englandto direct Straw Dogs (1971), one of his darkest and mostpsychologically disturbing films. Produced by DanielMelnick, who had previously worked with Peckinpah onNoon Wine, the screenplay was based on the novel TheSiege of Trencher’s Farm by Gordon Williams. It starredDustin Hoffman as David Sumner, a timid Americanmathematician (his wife at one point attempts to eraseEinstein’s field equations from his blackboard) who leavesthe chaos of college anti-war protests to live with hisyoung wife Amy (Susan George) in her native village inCornwall, England. Resentment of David’s presence bythe locals slowly builds to a shocking climax when themild-mannered academic is forced to defend his home.Peckinpah entirely rewrote the existing screenplay, in-spired by the books African Genesis and The Territo-rial Imperative by Robert Ardrey, which argued that manwas essentially a carnivore who instinctively battled overcontrol of territory.[60] The character of David Sumner,taunted and humiliated by the town locals, is eventuallycornered within his home where he loses control and killsseveral of the men during the violent conclusion. StrawDogs deeply divided critics, some of whom praised itsartistry and its confrontation of human savagery, whileothers attacked it as a misogynistic and fascistic celebra-tion of violence.[61] Much of the criticism centered onAmy’s complicated and lengthy rape scene, which Peck-inpah reportedly attempted to base on his own personalfears rooted in past failed marriages. To this day, the

6 7 LATER CAREER

scene is attacked by critics as an ugly male-chauvinist fan-tasy, claiming it serves as an example of Peckinpah’s (andHollywood’s) debasing of women.[62] The film was formany years banned on video in the UK, although somecritics have come to hail it as one of Peckinpah’s greatestfilms.[63][64][65]

6.4 Junior Bonner

Main article: Junior Bonner

Despite his growing alcoholism and controversial repu-tation, Peckinpah was extremely prolific during this pe-riod of his life. In May 1971, weeks after completingStraw Dogs, he returned to the United States to beginwork on Junior Bonner. The lyrical screenplay by JebRosenbrook, depicting the changing times of society andbinding family ties, appealed to Peckinpah’s tastes. Heaccepted the project, at the time concerned with beingtyped as a director of violent action. The film was his fi-nal attempt to make a low-key, dramatic work in the veinofNoonWine and The Ballad of Cable Hogue. Filmed onlocation in Prescott, Arizona, the story covered a week inthe life of aging rodeo rider Junior “JR” Bonner (SteveMcQueen) who returns to his hometown to compete inan annual rodeo competition. In addition to McQueen,the cast included Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Joe DonBaker and Ben Johnson. Junior Bonner was marked bysharp character development, colorful location detail andunusually tender scenes between Preston and Lupino asBonner’s estranged parents. Promoted as a Steve Mc-Queen action vehicle, reviews were mixed and the filmperformed poorly at the box office. Peckinpah remarked,“I made a film where nobody got shot and nobody went tosee it.” The film’s reputation has grown over the years asmany critics consider Junior Bonner to be one of Peck-inpah’s most sympathetic works, while also noting Mc-Queen’s earnest performance.[66][67]

6.5 The Getaway

Main article: The Getaway (1972 film)

Eager to work with Peckinpah again, Steve McQueenpresented him Walter Hill's screenplay to The Getaway.Based on the Jim Thompson novel, the gritty crimethriller detailed lovers on the run following a dangerousrobbery. Both Peckinpah andMcQueen needed a hit, andthey immediately began working on the film in Febru-ary 1972.[68] Peckinpah had no pretensions about mak-ing The Getaway, as his only goal was to create a highlypolished thriller to boost his market value.[69] McQueenplayed Doc McCoy, an imprisoned mastermind robberwhose wife Carol (Ali MacGraw) conspires for his re-lease on the condition they rob a bank in Texas. A dou-blecross follows the crime, and the McCoys are forced

to flee for Mexico with both the police and criminals inhot pursuit. Replete with explosions, car chases and in-tense shootouts, the film became Peckinpah’s biggest fi-nancial success to date earning more than $25 million atthe box office.[70] Though strictly a commercial product,Peckinpah’s creative touches abound throughout, mostnotably during the intricately edited opening sequencewhen McQueen’s character is suffering from the pres-sures of prison life.[71] The film remains popular and wasremade in 1994.[72][73][74] starring Alec Baldwin and KimBasinger.

7 Later career

The year 1973 marked the beginning of the most difficultperiod of Peckinpah’s life and career. While still filmingTheGetaway in El Paso, Texas, Peckinpah sneaked acrossthe border into Juarez in April 1972 and married JoieGould. He had met Gould in England while filming StrawDogs, and she had since been his companion and a part-time crew member. Peckinpah’s intake of alcohol had in-creased dramatically while making The Getaway, and hebecame fond of saying, “I can't direct when I'm sober.”He began to have violent mood swings and explosions ofrage, at one point assaulting Gould. After four months,she returned to England and filed for divorce. Devastatedby the breakup, Peckinpah fell into a self-destructive pat-tern of almost continuous alcohol consumption, and hishealth was unstable for the remainder of his life.[75]

7.1 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Main article: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

It was in this state of mind that Peckinpah agreed tomake Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Based on the screenplay by RudolphWurlitzer (who had previously penned Two-Lane Black-top, a film admired by Peckinpah), the director was con-vinced that he was about to make his definitive statementon the Western genre.[76] The script offered Peckinpahthe opportunity to explore themes that appealed to him:two former partners forced by changing times onto op-posite sides of the law, manipulated by corrupt economicinterests. Peckinpah rewrote the screenplay, establishingPat Garrett and Billy the Kid as friends, and attempted toweave an epic tragedy from the historical legend. Filmedon location in the Mexican state of Durango, the filmstarred James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson in the ti-tle roles, with a huge supporting cast including Bob Dy-lan (who composed the film’s music), Jason Robards, R.G. Armstrong, Richard Jaeckel, Jack Elam, Chill Wills,Katy Jurado, Matt Clark, L. Q. Jones, RutanyaAlda, SlimPickens and Harry Dean Stanton.[77] From the beginning,Peckinpah began to have clashes with MGM and its pres-

7.3 The Killer Elite 7

ident James Aubrey, known for his stifling of creativeinterests and eventual dismantling of the historic moviecompany.[78] Numerous production difficulties, includ-ing an outbreak of influenza and malfunctioning cameras,combined with Peckinpah’s growing problems with alco-hol, resulted in one of the most troubled productions ofhis career. The film finished 21 days behind schedule and$1.6 million over budget. Enraged, Aubrey severely cutPeckinpah’s film from 124 to 106 minutes, resulting inPat Garrett and Billy the Kid being released in a truncatedversion largely disowned by cast and crewmembers. Crit-ics complained that the filmwas incoherent, and the expe-rience soured Peckinpah forever on Hollywood. In 1988,however, Peckinpah’s director’s cut was released on videoand led to a reevaluation, with many critics hailing it as amistreated classic and one of the era’s best films. Film-makers, including Martin Scorsese, have praised the filmas one of the greatest modern Westerns.[79][80]

7.2 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Main article: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

In the eyes of his admirers, Bring Me the Head of AlfredoGarcia (1974) was the last true “Peckinpah film.” Thedirector himself claimed that it was the only one of hisfilms to be released exactly as he intended it. A projectin development for many years and based on an idea byFrank Kowalski, Peckinpah wrote the screenplay with theassistance of Kowalski, Walter Kelley and Gordon Daw-son. An alcohol-soaked fever dream involving revenge,greed and murder in the Mexican countryside, the filmfeatured Warren Oates as a thinly disguised self-portraitof Peckinpah, and co-starred a leather bag containing thesevered head of a gigolo being sought by a Mexican pa-trone for one million dollars. The macabre drama waspart black comedy, action film and tragedy, with a warpededge rarely seen in Peckinpah’s works. Most critics wererepulsed, and it was listed in the book The 50Worst Filmsof All Time by Harry Medved and Randy Dreyfuss.[81]One of the few critics to praise the film was Roger Ebert,and in fact, the film’s reputation has grown in recent years,with many noting its uncompromising vision as well as itsanticipation of the violent black comedy which becamefamous in the works of such directors as David Lynchand Quentin Tarantino.[82] While a failure at the box of-fice, the film today has a devoted cult following. In 1991,UCLA's film school organized a festival of great but for-gotten American films, and included Bring Me the Headof Alfredo Garcia in the program.[83][84] It is reportedlyTakeshi Kitano's favorite film. It also led a film critic toparaphrase the film’s title in an attack on the director, say-ing, “Bring me the head of Sam Peckinpah”.

7.3 The Killer Elite

Main article: The Killer Elite

His career now suffering from consecutive box office fail-ures, Peckinpah once again was in need of a hit on thelevel of The Getaway. For his next film, he chose TheKiller Elite (1975), an action-filled espionage thriller star-ring James Caan and Robert Duvall as rival Americanagents. Filmed on location in San Francisco, Peckinpahallegedly discovered cocaine for the first time thanks toCaan and his entourage.[85] This led to increased paranoiaand his once legendary dedication to detail deteriorated.Producers also refused to allow Peckinpah to rewrite thescreenplay (for the first time since his debut film TheDeadly Companions). Frustrated, the director spent largeamounts of time in his on-location trailer, allowing assis-tants to direct many scenes. At one point he overdosedon cocaine, landing himself in a hospital and receiving asecond pacemaker. The film was completed and was rea-sonably successful at box office business, although criticspanned it. Today, the film is considered one of Peckin-pah’s weakest films, and an example of his decline as amajor director.[86][87]

7.4 Cross of Iron

Main article: Cross of Iron

Still renowned in 1975, Peckinpah was offered the op-portunity to direct the eventual blockbusters King Kong(1976) and Superman (1978). [88] He turned down bothoffers and chose instead the bleak and vivid World WarII drama Cross of Iron (1977). The screenplay was basedon a novel about a platoon of German soldiers in 1943on the verge of utter collapse on the Taman Peninsula.The German production was filmed in Yugoslavia. Work-ing with James Hamilton and Walter Kelley, Peckinpahrewrote the screenplay and screened numerous Nazi doc-umentaries in preparation. Almost immediately, Peckin-pah realized he was working on a low-budget production,as he had to spend $90,000 of his own money to hireexperienced crew members. While not suffering fromthe cocaine abuse which marked The Killer Elite, Peck-inpah continued to drink heavily causing his direction tobecome confused and erratic. The production abruptlyran out of funds, and Peckinpah was forced to com-pletely improvise the concluding sequence, filming thescene in one day. Despite these obstacles, the film’s warfootage was stunning and James Coburn, in the lead roleof Rolf Steiner, gave one of the finest performances ofhis career. Co-starring James Mason, Maximilian Schell,David Warner and Senta Berger, Cross of Iron was notedfor its opening montage utilizing documentary footageas well as the visceral impact of the unusually intensebattle sequences. The film was a huge box office suc-cess in Europe, inspiring the sequel Breakthrough star-

8 8 THEMES

ring Richard Burton.[89] Cross of Ironwas reportedly a fa-vorite of OrsonWelles, who said that afterAll Quiet on theWestern Front it was the finest anti-war film he had everseen.[90] The film performed poorly in the U.S., eclipsedultimately by StarWars, though today it is highly regardedand considered the last gasp of Peckinpah’s once-greattalent.[91][92]

7.5 Convoy

Main article: Convoy (1978 film)

Hoping to create the blockbuster, Peckinpah decided totake on Convoy (1978). His associates were perplexed,as they felt his choice to direct such substandard materialwas a result of his renewed cocaine use and continued al-coholism. Based on the hit song by C. W. McCall, thefilm was an attempt to capitalize on the huge success ofSmokey and the Bandit (1977). Addictions or not, Peck-inpah still felt compelled to turn the genre exercise intosomething more significant. Unhappy with the screen-play written by B.W.L. Norton, Peckinpah tried to en-courage the actors to re-write, improvise and ad-lib theirdialogue. In another departure from the script, Peckin-pah attempted to add a new dimension by casting a pair ofblack actors as members of the convoy, Madge Sinclairas Widow Woman and Franklyn Ajaye as Spider Mike.Filmed in New Mexico and starring Kris Kristofferson,Ali MacGraw and Ernest Borgnine, Convoy turned out tobe yet another troubled Peckinpah production, with thedirector’s health a continuing problem. Friend and actorJames Coburn was brought in to serve as second unit di-rector, and he filmed many of the scenes while Peckinpahremained in his on-location trailer. The film wrapped inSeptember 1977, 11 days behind schedule and $5 mil-lion over budget. Surprisingly, Convoy was the highest-grossing picture of Peckinpah’s career, notching $46.5million at the box office, but was panned by critics, leav-ing his reputation seriously damaged. For the first time inalmost a decade, Peckinpah finished a picture and foundhimself unemployed.[93][94]

7.5.1 2nd unit work on Jinxed!

For the next three years, Peckinpah remained a profes-sional outcast. But during the summer of 1981, his orig-inal mentor Don Siegel gave him a chance to return tofilmmaking. While shooting Jinxed!, a comedy dramastarring Bette Midler and Rip Torn, Siegel asked Peckin-pah if he would be interested in directing 12 days of sec-ond unit work. Peckinpah immediately accepted, and hisearnest collaboration, while uncredited, was noted withinthe industry. For the final time, Peckinpah found himselfback in the directing business.[95][96][97]

7.6 The Osterman Weekend

Main article: The Osterman Weekend (film)

By 1982, however, Peckinpah’s health was in poor shape.Producers Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer wereundaunted, as they felt that having Peckinpah’s nameattached to The Osterman Weekend (1983) would lendthe suspense thriller an air of respectability. Peckin-pah accepted the job but reportedly hated the convolutedscreenplay based upon Robert Ludlum's novel (which healso disliked). Multiple actors in Hollywood auditionedfor the film, intrigued by the opportunity. Many of thosewho signed on, including John Hurt, Burt Lancaster andDennis Hopper, did so for less than their usual salaries fora chance to work with the legendary director. By the timeshooting wrapped in January 1983 in Los Angeles, Peck-inpah and the producers were hardly speaking. Neverthe-less, Peckinpah brought in the film on time and on budget,delivering his director’s cut to the producers. Davis andPanzer were unhappy with Peckinpah’s version, which in-cluded a grossly distorted opening sequence of two char-acters making love. The producers changed the open-ing and also deleted other scenes they deemed unneces-sary. The Osterman Weekend had some effective actionsequences and some strong supporting performances, butPeckinpah’s final film was critically panned. It grossed $6million in the United States and did well in Europe andon the new home-video market.[97][98]

7.6.1 Julian Lennon music videos

Peckinpah’s last work as a filmmaker was undertaken justtwo months before his death. He was hired by producerMartin Lewis to shoot two music videos featuring JulianLennon – "Valotte" and "Too Late For Goodbyes". Thecritically acclaimed videos led to Lennon’s nomination forBest New Video Artist at the 1985 MTV Video MusicAwards.[99][100]

8 Themes

Peckinpah’s films generally deal with the conflict betweenvalues and ideals and the corruption and violence of hu-man society. His characters are often loners or losers whoharbor the desire to be honorable and idealistic but areforced to compromise themselves in order to survive in aworld of nihilism and brutality.The conflicts of masculinity are also a major theme ofhis work, leading some critics to compare him to ErnestHemingway. Peckinpah’s world is a man’s world, andfeminists have castigated his films as misogynistic andsexist, especially concerning the shooting of a womanduring the final moments of The Wild Bunch, the rape se-quence in Straw Dogs and Doc McCoy’s physical assault

9

of his wife in The Getaway.Many critics see his worldview as a misanthropic,Hobbesian view of nature as essentially evil and savage.Peckinpah himself stated the opposite. He saw violenceas the product of human society, and not of nature. Itis the result of men’s competition with each other overpower and domination, and their inability to negotiatethis competition without resorting to brutality. Peckin-pah also used violence as a means to achieve catharsis,believing his audience would be purged of violence bywitnessing it explicitly on screen (one of the major in-spirations for his violent sequences in The Wild Bunch).Peckinpah later admitted that this idea was mistaken, andthat audiences had come to enjoy the violence in his filmsrather than be horrified by it, something that deeply trou-bled him later in his career.Peckinpah, who was born to a ranching family that in-cluded judges and lawyers, was also deeply concerned bythe conflict between “old-fashioned” values and the cor-ruption and materialism of the modern world. Many ofhis characters are attempting to live up to their expecta-tions of themselves even as the world they live in demandsthat they compromise their values.This theme is most evident in Peckinpah’s Westerns. Un-likemostWestern directors, Peckinpah tended to concen-trate on the early 20th century rather than the 19th, andhis films portray characters who still believe in the valuesof the Old West being swept away by the new, industrialAmerica.This persistent theme has led many critics to view Peck-inpah’s films as essentially tragic. That is, his charactersare portrayed as being prisoners of their fates and theirown failings who nonetheless seek redemption and mean-ing in an absurd and violent world. The theme of longingfor redemption, justification, and honor in a dishonorableexistence permeates almost all of Peckinpah’s work.

9 Documentaries

• Sam Peckinpah has been the subject of three docu-mentaries including the BBC production Sam Peck-inpah: Man of Iron (1992), directed by Paul Joyce,Sam Peckinpah’sWest: Legacy of a Hollywood Rene-gade (1994) andTheWild Bunch: AnAlbum inMon-tage (1996) directed by Paul Seydor. The latter wasnominated for an Academy Award as Best Docu-mentary Short Subject.[101][102]

• Over a 4-year period German film maker MikeSiegel produced and directed Passion & Poetry –The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah a two-hour long filmabout Sam Peckinpah which includes rare Peckin-pah – interviews and statements. In 2009 the 2 –disc special edition with a running time of 270 min-utes was released on DVD.

10 Parodies• John Belushi portrayed Peckinpah as a derangedlunatic who directs his first romantic comedy bybeating up his leading lady in the first season, fifthepisode of Saturday Night Live.[103]

• Peckinpah’s use of violence was parodied by MontyPython in Sam Peckinpah’s “Salad Days”, one of themore controversial episodes of Monty Python’s Fly-ing Circus, in which a lovely day out for an upper-class English family turns into a blood-soaked orgyof severed limbs and gushing wounds.[104] Peckin-pah reportedly loved this sketch and enjoyed show-ing it to friends and family.

• Peckinpah’s penchant for filming action scenes inslow motion was satirized by Benny Hill in a West-ern skit called “The Deputy” that first aired on hisMarch 29, 1973 special. In one scene, Hill’s titularcharacter shoots one of the villains (Bob Todd), whothen proceeds to pirouette in extremely slow motionbefore collapsing.

• In the film Fletch (1985), the main character, imi-tating a doctor in order to examine medical records,calls out, “And bring me the head of AlfredoGarcia!"[105]

• In the 1973 Sergio Leone/Tonino Valerii spaghettiwestern My Name is Nobody, the characters JackBeauregard (Henry Fonda) and “Nobody” (TerenceHill) meet at a cemetery. Nobody walks past thetombstones reading the names and comes across onelabeled “Sam Peckimpah”. He says “Sam Peckim-pah. That’s a beautiful name in Navajo.” Leonenamed the gang in the film “The Wild Bunch”. No-body has Beauregard face The Wild Bunch in orderto be known in history books.

• Various Peckinpah films are parodied in Jim Rear-don's student film Bring Me the Head of CharlieBrown.

• In the film Deadfall (1993), when the character Ed-die (Nicolas Cage) mortally wounds a would-be as-sassin, he asks the man “Who sent you?" The killerresponds, “Sam fuckin' Peckinpah.” This film waslater adapted into a song of the same name by Snot.

• In the John Waters film Cecil B. Demented (2000),several characters have the name of a legendary filmdirector tattooed on their body. One of the charac-ters has “Sam Peckinpah” tattooed on their arm.[106]

• In the 1986 horror film Chopping Mall, a store inthe mall that survivors use to supply themselves with

10 14 NOTES

assault rifles, ammunition and grenades is namedPeckinpah’s Sporting Goods, a wry reference to thedirector’s film violence.[107]

• In the 2006 film Hot Fuzz, one of the characters ismentioned to be an extra in StrawDogs, and a farm isowned by the Treachers, making it Treacher Farm.

• In the 1993 Denis Leary song "Asshole", Learystates he is “going to get the Duke (John Wayne),John Cassavetes, Lee Marvin, Sam Peckinpah anda case of whiskey then drive down to Texas” beforebeing cut off by a bandmate and getting called anasshole.

• In the BBC Radio 4 panel show I'm Sorry I Haven'ta Clue, the Film Club round usually includes a filmname based onBringMe the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

• Kris Kristofferson recorded “Sam’s Song (Ask AnyWorking Girl)", a brief tribute to the director, forhis 1995 release “A Moment of Forever”.

11 Filmography

12 Television credits

13 See also

14 Notes[1] “Peckinpah”, Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dic-

tionary

[2] Current Biography 1973, p. 327.

[3] Simmons, p. 3.

[4] Weddle, p. 15.

[5] Fine, p. 12.

[6] Weddle, p. 16.

[7] David E. Peckinpah IMDB.

[8] Simmons, p. 5.

[9] FilmReference.

[10] Simmons, pp. 10–11.

[11] Simmons, p. 18.

[12] Weddle, pp. 52–59.

[13] Weddle, pp. 104–105.

[14] Weddle, pp. 116–119.

[15] Weddle, p. 120.

[16] Weddle, pp. 499–500.

[17] Weddle, p. 56.

[18] Simmons, pp. 63–64.

[19] Weddle, pp. 163,479.

[20] Weddle, p. 380.

[21] Sam Peckinpah IMDB.

[22] Weddle, p. 550.

[23] Biography: Sam Peckinpah IMDB.

[24] Cohen, pp. 77–80.

[25] Weddle, p. 126.

[26] Billy Hathorn, “Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Long-ley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the TexasRangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television,1955 to 1967”, West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 89(2013), p. 106

[27] Simmons, p. 28.

[28] Simmons, pp. 28–29.

[29] Klondike IMDB.

[30] Simmons, pp. 29–30.

[31] Rifleman IMDB.

[32] Simmons, pp. 31–34.

[33] Westerner IMDB.

[34] Westerner Trivia IMDB.

[35] Weddle, p. 168–184.

[36] Simmons, p. 55-6.

[37] Weddle, pp. 197–198.

[38] Simmons, pp. 36–39.

[39] Weddle, pp. 198–219.

[40] Simmons, pp. 41–54.

[41] Fine, p. 84.

[42] Weddle, pp. 229–244.

[43] Simmons, pp. 55–72.

[44] Major Dundee Trivia IMDB.

[45] Carroll.

[46] Weddle, pp. 257–263.

[47] Simmons, pp. 73–81.

[48] Weddle, pp. 280–295.

[49] Simmons, pp. 76–80.

11

[50] Noon Wine IMDB.

[51] Weddle, pp. 307–309.

[52] Weddle, pp. 310–331.

[53] Weddle, pp. 376–377.

[54] AFI 100.

[55] Wild Bunch Trivia IMDB.

[56] Weddle, pp. 391–392.

[57] Weddle, p. 383–389.

[58] Simmons, pp. 108–120.

[59] Cable Hogue Trivia IMDB.

[60] Weddle, p. 396.

[61] Weddle, p. 427.

[62] Weddle, pp. 399–400.

[63] Weddle, pp. 393–403.

[64] Simmons, pp. 121–138.

[65] Straw Dogs Trivia IMDB.

[66] Weddle, pp. 428–434.

[67] Simmons, pp. 139–153.

[68] Weddle, p. 434.

[69] Weddle, p. 436.

[70] Getaway Box Office IMDB.

[71] Weddle, p. 439.

[72] Getaway IMDB.

[73] Simmons, pp. 154–168.

[74] Weddle, p. 442.

[75] Weddle, pp. 444–450.

[76] Weddle, p. 453.

[77] Pat Garrett IMDB.

[78] Weddle, p. 463.

[79] Weddle, p. 483.

[80] Simmons, pp. 169–188.

[81] Medved, pp. 51–55.

[82] Ebert review.

[83] Weddle, pp. 492–498.

[84] Simmons, pp. 189–208.

[85] Weddle, p. 499.

[86] Weddle, pp. 498–500.

[87] Simmons, pp. 209–224.

[88] Weddle, p. 504.

[89] Breakthrough IMDB.

[90] Simmons, p. 236.

[91] Weddle, pp. 504–513.

[92] Simmons, pp. 225–237.

[93] Weddle, pp. 514–518.

[94] Simmons, pp. 232–236.

[95] Jinxed! IMDB.

[96] Weddle, pp. 534–535.

[97] Simmons, p. 239.

[98] Weddle, pp. 535–537.

[99] Weddle, pp. 541–543.

[100] MTV.

[101] Man of Iron IMDB.

[102] Montage IMDB.

[103] SNL Episodes IMDB.

[104] Weddle, p. 428.

[105] Fletch Quotes IMDB.

[106] Cecil B. DeMented Trivia IMDB.

[107] Chopping Mall Connections IMDB.

15 References

• Simmons, Garner (1982). Peckinpah, A Portrait inMontage. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-76493-6.

• Weddle, David (1994). If They Move . . . Kill 'Em!The Life and Times of Sam Peckipah. Grove Press.ISBN 0-8021-1546-2.

• Current Biography. H. W. Wilson. 1973. ISBN 0-8242-0543-X.

• “David E. Peckinpah”. Internet Movie Database.Retrieved July 23, 2007.

• "(David) Sam Peckinpah Biography (1925–)".FilmReference.com. Retrieved September 3, 2011.

• “Sam Peckinpah”. Internet Movie Database. Re-trieved September 27, 2007.

• “Biography: Sam Peckinpah”. Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved July 28, 2007.

12 16 FURTHER READING

• Cohen, Stan (2004). “The Murray Hotel”. Mon-tana’s Grandest-Historic Hotels and Resorts of theTreasure State. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial His-tories Publishing Company. ISBN 1-57510-111-4.

• “Full cast and crew for Klondike". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• “Episode list for The Rifleman". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• "The Westerner". Internet Movie Database. Re-trieved September 27, 2007.

• “Trivia for The Westerner". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• “Trivia for Major Dundee". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• Carroll, E. Jean (March 1982). “Last of the Desper-adoes: Dueling with Sam Peckinpah”. Rocky Moun-tain Magazine.

• Fine, Marshall. Bloody Sam. Donald I. Fine Books.ISBN 978-1-55611-236-2.

• "Noon Wine". Internet Movie Database. RetrievedSeptember 27, 2007.

• “American Film Institute”. afi.com. RetrievedSeptember 27, 2007.

• “Trivia for The Wild Bunch". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• “Trivia for The Ballad of Cable Hogue". InternetMovie Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• “Trivia for Straw Dogs". Internet Movie Database.Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• “Box office/business for The Getaway". InternetMovie Database. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• "The Getaway". Internet Movie Database. RetrievedSeptember 27, 2007.

• "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

• Medved, Harry (1978). The 50 Worst Films of AllTime. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-38119-5.

• “Roger Ebert, FilmReview for BringMe the Head ofAlfredo Garcia". suntimes.com. October 28, 2001.Retrieved October 6, 2007.

• "Breakthrough". Internet Movie Database. Re-trieved November 9, 2007.

• “Rock on the Net: 1985 MTV Video MusicAwards”. rockonthenet.com. Retrieved November9, 2007.

• "Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved November 9, 2007.

• "The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage". InternetMovie Database. Retrieved November 9, 2007.

• “Episode list for Saturday Night Live". InternetMovie Database. Retrieved November 9, 2007.

• “Memorable quotes for Fletch". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved November 9, 2007.

• “Trivia for Cecil B. DeMented". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved November 9, 2007.

• “Movie connections for Chopping Mall". InternetMovie Database. Retrieved November 20, 2007.

• “Combined credits for Jinxed!". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved March 6, 2012.

16 Further reading

• Bliss, Michael (2012). Peckinpah Today: New Es-says on the Films of Sam Peckinpah. Southern Illi-nois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-3106-3.

• Simons, John L. (2011). Peckinpah’s Tragic West-erns: A Critical Study. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-6133-0.

• Hayes, Kevin J. (2008). Sam Peckinpah: Interviews.University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-934110-64-7.

• Engel, Leonard (2003). Sam Peckinpah’s West: NewPerspectives. University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-772-7.

• Mesce, Bill, Jr. (2001). Peckinpah’s Women: AReappraisal of the Portrayal of Women in the Pe-riod Westerns of Sam Peckinpah. Scarecrow Press.ISBN 0-8108-4066-9.

• Seydor, Paul (1999). Peckinpah: TheWestern Films,A Reconsideration. University of Illinois Press.ISBN 0-252-06835-1.

• Dukore, Bernard F. (1999). Sam Peckinpah’s Fea-ture Films. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06802-5.

• Bliss, Michael (1993). Justified Lives: Morality andNarrative in the Films of Sam Peckinpah. SouthernIllinois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-1823-7.

• Evans, Max (1972). Sam Peckinpah: Master of Vi-olence. Dakota Press. ISBN 0-88249-011-7.

13

17 External links• Sam Peckinpah at the Internet Movie Database

• SamPeckinpah.com A discussion forum for fans ofSam Peckinpah

• Senses of Cinema: Sam Peckinpah

• Essays about Sam Peckinpah’s films

• Roger Ebert review of The Wild Bunch

• Sam Peckinpah versus Michael Mann

• A Tribute to Sam Peckinpah by ConvoyTM.com

• “A Glorious High” by Pauline Kael at austinchroni-cle.com

• Best Sam Peckinpah Westerns from AmericanMovie Classics

• Sam Peckinpah papers, Margaret Herrick Library,Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

• Sam Peckinpah - Radio Documentary 1969at http://www.kaneprod.com/peckinpah_radiodocumentary.htm

14 18 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

18 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

18.1 Text• Sam Peckinpah Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Peckinpah?oldid=685629725 Contributors: Sjc, Chuckhoffmann, Davi-dLevinson, Olivier, Kchishol1970, Jahsonic, Error, BenKovitz, Uyanga, Dtgm, Zoicon5, Motor, Grendelkhan, Owen, Huangdi, Naddy,Timrollpickering, Matty j, Asparagus, DocWatson42, Marcika, Gamaliel, Litalex, DragonflySixtyseven, Ellsworth, Cornischong, Sam,Slidewinder, D6, Boris Kaiser, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Paulo Oliveira, Bishonen, Bender235, Ground, Nabla, Maclean25, Spald-ing, Alansohn, Q0, Rosenzweig, Buaidh, Arthena, Philip Cross, Ricky81682, Docboat, Grenavitar, Ndteegarden, Ianblair23, Drbreznjev,Zosodada, The JPS, Woohookitty, Towpilot, Ashmoo, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Lockley, Fred Bradstadt, FlaBot, Ian Pitchford, Ben-w, Carrion-luggage, YurikBot, Gregalodon, Hede2000, DanMS, Rhindle The Red, Spot87, Bobak, PhilipC, Zenexp, Tony1, Alex West, Davidpatrick,Pegship, BlackJack, Deville, Hal Raglan, Rms125a@hotmail.com, Infamous30, Th1rt3en, Spin Boy 11, Whobot, Fourohfour, Mrblondnyc,Diagraph01~enwiki, SmackBot, Looper5920, Aim Here, Elonka, Evanreyes, Chris the speller, Cafe tableaux, Jeff5102, Mike hayes, Mid-night man, MadameArsenic, OrphanBot, Silent Tom, Konczewski, Fallshirmjager, Filpaul, Will Beback, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Egres-sio, PseudoSudo, Nobunaga24, Shamrox, Benjamin Ben-Ze'ev, Keith-264, Derbent 5000, Iridescent, TjoeC, Billy Hathorn, FairuseBot,CmdrObot, Unmitigated Success, Cydebot, Metanoid, Registered user 92, Otto4711, Lugnuts, Nabokov, Njan, TylerThorne, LarryQ, Sky-masterson, ThatGuamGuy, James086, Chase317, Brrryan, LudwigK, Cineast67, AntiVandalBot, Jguad1, Nicholas0, JimDunning, Elko-ref, Aille, Postcard Cathy, Fetchcomms, Wbwn, Slabba, MegX, Rothorpe, Geniac, Johnnyparker, 75pickup, J.B., Robneyer, KConWiki,Gkklein, Johnpacklambert, J.delanoy, Uncle Dick, Scott Free, Monkeyzpop, Dispenser, Doctor Sunshine, Aboutmovies, AdamBMorgan,HenryLarsen, Ajfweb, Lupus Daemonicus, VolkovBot, Fistful of Questions, Nachtschicht, Philip Trueman, ElinorD, Vendrov, Ferengi,^demonBot2, Bearian, Maxim, Bahamut0013, Alcmaeonid, Sojourneyer, GirasoleDE, SieBot, Gerakibot, Jbmurray, Alex Middleton, As-pects, Chriskent2002, Jrgilfoil, Kumioko (renamed), Hans yulun lai, Mopal, Sensewagon, LarRan, Martarius, Binksternet, All Hallow’sWraith, Newzild, Stonestead, Mild Bill Hiccup, TheOldJacobite, Niceguyedc, Cirt, Grandpallama, Mlaffs, Light show, NunoXEI, Plas-mate, Certes, Savolya, Bobdog01, TFBCT1, Kbdankbot, Addbot, Sergiobrunojoe, Manuel Trujillo Berges, JGKlein, Tassedethe, Lightbot,Luckas-bot, Yobot, Granpuff, Citation bot, Zanderavia, Omnipaedista, F W Nietzsche, MerlLinkBot, Erik9, FrescoBot, D'ohBot, Ci-tation bot 1, Rpftwebmaster, Primaler, Arbero, Andrei Cvhdsee Brazil, ZéroBot, Rlsurfsandsun, David J Johnson, Thine Antique Pen,Looney1023, ChuispastonBot, BornonJune8, Sofffie7, Brycehughes, Helpful Pixie Bot, Gothicfilm, Blake Burba, PumpkinSky, Frommsb,Empress-of-angels, Benzband, JCHeverly, Mogism, Cerabot~enwiki, Krusty94301, VIAFbot, MLPainless, Lindenhurst Liberty, JumpForward Immediately, Tsaost, StiffyGreen, Lauren at Margaret Herrick Library, KasparBot, Docu1969 and Anonymous: 207

18.2 Images• File:Brian_Keith_The_Westerner_1960.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Brian_Keith_The_Westerner_1960.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: eBay item Original artist: NBC Television

• File:P_vip.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/P_vip.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?• File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0Contributors:Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:Tkgd2007

• File:USMC_logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/USMC_logo.svg License: Public domain Contrib-utors: DoD website: http://www.defenselink.mil/multimedia/web_graphics/#mc Original artist: U.S. Government

18.3 Content license• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0