The Deadly Companions (1961)

★ 5.6 1h 33m IMDb

Western

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

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Cast

Maureen O'Hara as Kit Tilden Died 2015 · Ranelagh, County Dublin, Ireland Maureen O'Hara (born Maureen FitzSimons, August 17, 1920 - died October 24, 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, and a natural redhead, who became successful in Hollyw...

Brian Keith as Yellowleg Died 1997 · Bayonne, New Jersey, USA Brian Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney f...

Steve Cochran as Billy Keplinger Died 1965 · Eureka, California He is perhaps best remembered for his role of Big Ed Somers, the power hungry gangster pal of James Cagney in "White Heat" (1949). Born Robert Alexander Cochran in Eureka, California, he was the son o...

Chill Wills as Turk Died 1978 · Seagoville, Texas, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Chill Theodore Wills (July 18, 1902 – December 15, 1978) was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet. He was a performer from early chi...

Strother Martin as Parson Died 1980 · Kokomo, Indiana, USA Strother Martin (March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980) was an American actor in numerous films and television programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke,...

Will Wright as Doctor Acton Died 1962 · San Francisco, California, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. William Henry "Will" Wright (March 26, 1894, San Francisco, California - June 19, 1962, Los Angeles, California) was an American character actor. He was frequen...

Director Sam Peckinpah

Cast Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran, Chill Wills, Strother Martin, Will Wright, James O'Hara, Peter O'Crotty, Billy Vaughan, Chuck Hayward

Wuchak 5/10 Feb 04, 2019

***Melancholic, harsh Peckinpah Western with Keith and O’Hara***

A former Union soldier, Yellowleg (Brian Keith), vengefully searches for a Confederate who tried to scalp him alive 5 years earlier. After something bad happens in an Arizona town he offers to escort a dance hall woman (Maureen O’Hara) to a ghost town where her former beau was buried. There are a couple problems though: They have to go through Apache territory and two lowlifes accompany them most of the way.

Released in 1961, “The Deadly Companions” has a lot going for it: It stars Keith and the beautiful O'Hara, who had such great chemistry in "The Parent Trap,” released the very same month. This is Sam Peckinpah's directorial debut in cinema. Most people reading this know that Peckinpah went on to become a highly acclaimed director with notable efforts like "Ride the High Country" (1962). In addition, "The Deadly Companions" was filmed on location in Arizona (including Old Tucson); you can't beat Arizona for fine, authentic Western locations. Lastly, the picture only runs 90 minutes, so it won't likely wear out its welcome.

The first act is promising, highlighted by a church service in a saloon with O'Hara playing a social outcast amongst the church folk (for legitimate reasons). After a tragedy happens, the tone turns melancholic as the characters take a hard journey through the desert where they fight with each other and the Injuns. The movie’s realistic and harsh, reminiscent of unmemorable Westerns like “The Appaloosa” (1966) and “The Stalking Moon” (1968). “Molly and Lawless John” (1972) was the only one that took this basic approach and made a compelling Western.

But at least Peckinpah & team tried to do something different, like Brando did with the contemporaneous “One-Eyed Jacks.” The odd classical-meets-Country-and-Western score by Marlin Skiles is notable. At the end of the day “The Deadly Companions” shoots for dark art with a message of maybe redemption but, after the quality first act, never rises above mediocre. And verges on “The Deadly Dull.”

I kind of liked it, though, but you have to be in a meditative, brooding mood.

GRADE: C