- The Deadly Companions
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The Deadly Companions 
PosterDirected by Sam Peckinpah Produced by Charles B. Fitzsimons Written by Albert Sidney Fleischman Starring Maureen O'Hara
Brian Keith
Steve Cochran
Chill WillsMusic by Marlin Skiles Cinematography William H. Clothier Release date(s) 1961 Running time 93 min. Country United States Language English The Deadly Companions is a 1961 Western. It was directed by Sam Peckinpah and starred Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran and Chill Wills. The film is based on A.S. Fleischman's novel of the same name. The film was Peckinpah's motion picture directorial debut. It is now in the public domain because of a missing copyright indication.
Contents
Summary
After her young son is killed in a bank robbery, Kit Tilden (Maureen O'Hara) is determined to bury him beside his father in Siringo, now deserted and located in Apache territory. Yellowleg (Brian Keith), the ex-army officer who accidentally killed her son, agrees to help take the body across the desert to be buried.
Production
After the cancellation of his 1959-1960 television series The Westerner, Brian Keith was cast as the male lead in The Deadly Companions. He suggested Sam Peckinpah (the producer and director of The Westerner) as the director for this film, and producer Charles B. Fitzsimons accepted the idea. By most accounts, the low-budget film shot on location in Arizona was a learning process for Peckinpah, Unable to rewrite the screenplay or edit the picture, Peckinpah vowed to never again direct a film unless he had script control. The Deadly Companions passed largely without notice and is the least known of Peckinpah's films.
Cast
- Maureen O'Hara as Kit Tilden
- Brian Keith as Yellowleg
- Steve Cochran as Billy Keplinger
- Chill Wills as Turk
- Strother Martin as Parson
- Will Wright as Doctor Acton
- James O'Hara as Cal, General Store (as Jim O'Hara)
See also
- List of films in the public domain
External links
- The Deadly Companions at the Internet Movie Database
- The Deadly Companions is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- Review at The Factual Opinion
Films directed by Sam Peckinpah 1960s The Deadly Companions (1961) · Ride the High Country (1962) · Major Dundee (1965) · The Wild Bunch (1969)1970s The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) · Straw Dogs (1971) · Junior Bonner (1972) · The Getaway (1972) · Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) · Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) · The Killer Elite (1975) · Cross of Iron (1977) · Convoy (1978)1980s The Osterman Weekend (1983)Categories:- 1961 films
- American films
- English-language films
- 1960s Western films
- Films directed by Sam Peckinpah
- Directorial debut films
- Western film stubs
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