His days of glory as a legendary lawman have passed, and aging Steve Judd accepts the job of transporting gold from a remote mining camp in the Sierras to a smalltown bank. Assisting him are Gil Westrum, another forgotten lawman reduced to earning his living as a carnival sharpshooter, and Heck Longtree, an adventurous young drifter. Secretly, Gil and Heck plan to steal the gold deposits, with or without Steve’s help. En route to the mining camp the three men are joined by Elsa Knudsen, the rebellious daughter of a religious zealot. Elsa is running away to join her boyfriend, Billy Hammond, at the mining camp. When they arrive, she marries Billy; but a brawl starts immediately after the ceremony, and Elsa refuses to stay with her husband and his drunken brothers. Instead, she leaves the camp with Steve, Gil, and Heck, who have collected the gold for transport. On the way back to the lowlands, Gil and Heck attempt to steal the gold, but Steve outwits them. Later, Gil slips away but returns when his comrades are attacked by the Hammond brothers. In a blazing shootout, the Hammonds are slain, but Steve also is mortally wounded. Before Steve dies, Gil promises him that he will deliver the gold and do what he can for Elsa and Heck, who have become attracted to each other. –TCM
“If they move”, hisses stern-eyed William Holden, “kill ’em”. So begins The Wild Bunch (1969), Sam Peckinpah’s bloody, high-body-count eulogy to the mythologized Old West. “Pouring new wine into the bottle of the Western, Peckinpah explodes the bottle”, observed critic Pauline Kael. That exploding bottle also christened the director with the nickname that would forever define his films and reputation: “Bloody Sam”.
David Samuel Peckinpah was born and grew up in Fresno, California, when it was still a sleepy town. Young Sam was a loner. The child’s greatest influence was grandfather Denver Church Peckinpah, a judge, congressman and one of the best shots in the Sierra Nevadas. Sam served in the Marine Corps during World War II but – to his disappointment – did not see combat. He married Marie Selland in Las Vegas in 1947 and enrolled as a theater graduate student at the University of Southern California the next year.
After drifting through several jobs—including a stint… read more
twisting plot and really interesting action sequences that were brilliantly filmed were 5 star worthy. 4/5 an unusual Peckinpah western, but certainly worth a watch
3 Peckinpah westerns in two days, I put this one in the middle. I thought the first hour was quite dull and cliche,the characters didn't seem to have any depth, but once they escaped the marriage it just became a whole new film, the last third was just excellently directed and written, it is such a shame that the first hour (the first two thirds) were so 'normal' because I think that the last half hour, with that
Early Peckinpah, with the passing of the old order a key theme already fully formed in it's director mind; it also contains his most sympathetic portrayal of a female character, although the great Oates steals the film. Best when melancholic; Judd and Westrum ruminating on lost loves and lost times in their longjohns could well be Falstaff and Shallow in the film's best scene. "We have heard the chimes at midnight."
I agree with you Luka. Warren Oates rules! He totally commands this film. The guy is always acting wth his face, even in the back of a scene he is a hypnotic presence.
John Ford mourns the Western as a spectral soundstage (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), Sam Peckinpah goes outside to revive it, or at least
John Ford mourns the Western as a spectral soundstage (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), Sam Peckinpah goes outside to revive it, or at least
