The Deadly Companions (1961) User Reviews

Odd, but with historical importance

[winner55 · 7/10 · 23 June 2006]

The first theatrical feature from famed 'maverick' director Peckinpah is a very odd film. For one thing, it takes some careful reflection to recognize that it has virtually no story, simply the working out of apposite relationships between people having almost nothing in common with one another. The abortive bank robbery becomes almost forgotten, overshadowed as it is with O'Hara's journey to bury her son near her husband.

Which brings us to the first important historical point of the film. The attempt to bury the son is going to leave an impression on Peckinpah, who revamps it as black comedy for Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. (It also apparently left an impression on Tommy Lee Jones, who borrows the idea for his recent "Three Burials" film.) Peckinpah would also rework the Chill Wills character through several films. Brian Kieth's driven Civil War vet becomes the basis of Major Dundee, and of Holden's Pike Bishop in the final battle of The Wild Bunch. Another reviewer remarked that the boy playing the harmonica foreshadows the Bob Dylan character in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid; but, more importantly, it clearly provided the inspiration for the Charles Bronson Harmonica character in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. The arrival of the three would-be bank robbers in the town at the beginning uses camera angles that would recur in the Wild Bunch, just as the arrival in the abandoned village at the end of the film includes camera angles used in the scenes from the Bunch that are set in Mexico. Another reviewer has rightly remarked the resonance of the barroom church service with similar scenes in later Peckinpah films. And the undeniable sexual tensions between Kieth, O'Hara and the two bank robbers would reappear in an almost unrecognizable fashion - not in the Ballad of Cable Hogue, as the reader might have expected, but in Straw Dogs, where it explodes into open violence, only achieving partial resolution in the McQueen/ McGraw relationship in the Getaway.

Whew! that's a lot of potential to discover in a low budget western. But there's more! One of the reasons why this film would leave an imprint on Tommy Lee Jones and Sergio Leone is that it is not really a "Western", i.e., a cowboy genre film. Except for the references to the Civil War, it could easily have been set somewhere in Africa, Mexico, or Australia. It could have been set in the Middle Ages. There's only one character that is pure "cowboy" movie stereotype, the black-clad gunslinger. And he is so openly a stereotype, one can't help wondering if he represents some intentional parody element to the film. At any rate, the point is that Peckinpah's decision to film a "non-Western Western" is historically crucial - If films like the Wild Bunch and Once Upon a Time in the West can be truly said to mark the end of the Western genre as a whole, the first notice of this transition is to be made in Deadly Companions.

Finally, one ought to note the performances of the actors. All of them, it should be noted are either miscast or cast against expectations. Chill Wills had never played such a nasty crud before; Maureen O'Hara playing a loser is completely antithetical to the cinema persona she had previously established for herself, and to which she would later return in films like McClintock! And Brian Keith turns in a great performance in a role that is really thanklessly unsympathetic for the audience in many subtle ways.

Really a remarkable achievement for a young director with little or no budget to work with.

Bang the drum slowly

[dbdumonteil · 7/10 · 16 September 2007]

Produced by Maureen O'Hara's brother,in order to recharge his sister's career,Sam Peckinpah did not like this film.O' Hara sings on the cast and credits and at the end of the movie.It's strange to see this par excellence Fordian heroine on Peckinpah's territory.

But you do not have to be a Peckinpah fan to enjoy this crepuscular western (Peckinpah is not my cup of tea as far as western are concerned;give me Ford,Daves,Walsh,Mann instead).If there had been problems between the director and his star,the movie did not suffer for it.

It is a good western but be warned: it's a gloomy one.The story begins with the death of a dancehall girl's child ("He was all I loved in this world" she would say later).THe movie looks like a long funeral ;it's a long way to the place where the boy must be buried in his father's grave.It's difficult to tackle a sadder subject.

Another great moment is O'Hara's and Keith's arrival in the ghost town,searching for the grave.Often filmed at dusk or in the darkest night,this film is also a story of redemption,of forgiveness.

Revenge and Redemption

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 23 December 2008]

The veteran Civil War Yankee officer Yellowleg (Brian Keith) saves the cheater Turk (Chill Wills) in a card game, and together with the gunslinger Billy Keplinger (Steve Cochran), they ride together to Gila City with the intention of heisting a bank. Yellowleg has a war scar on the head due to a man that tried to scalp him and his has been on the trail of his attacker for five years. When bandits rob a store, Yellowleg shoots against the outlaws and accidentally kills the son of the cabaret dancer Kit Tilden (Maureen O'Hara) and the grieving woman decides to bury her son in the Apache country Siringo, where her husband is also buried. Yellowleg calls Billy and Turk to escort Kitty through the dangerous land.

"The Deadly Companions" is the first feature of the great director Sam Peckinpah after six years directing Westerns for television. The credible story is a tale of revenge and redemption with flawed characters. Forty-one year old Maureen O'Hara is extremely gorgeous in the role of a widow humiliated by the locals after the death of her unknown husband and her survival as "dancer" of a cabaret with her son considered bastard by the population. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Parceiros da Morte" ("Partners of Death")

Peckinpah's First

[FilmFlaneur · 21 March 2001]

This film is best seen as an apprentice work, falling neatly between Peckinpah's TV work (The Rifleman etc), and the string of Western masterpieces that began with Guns in The Afternoon/Ride the High Country. For the only time in the director's work there is no sense of the 'old West' passing, as Peckinpah still works broadly within the established Western tradition - one which he would shortly transform and make his own.

Brian Keith and O'Hara work surprisingly well together, even though in the light of the director's later work the insistance upon a strong and sympathetic female co-lead seems uncharacteristic. Apparently Maureen O'Hara's role in producing the film influenced the emphasis and development of her role.

The film suffers from a poverty of budget (most noticeable in the opening scenes where the bar room appears cramped and two dimensional), as well as over-insistent musical score - one which occasionally detracts from the rhythm of the film. The trademark Peckinpah montage editing has yet to make itself felt and, very unusually for this director, the first few moments of the film seem (to this viewer) slightly rushed and confusing - almost as if Peckinpah is just finding his feet, sketching on a larger canvas than he had previously been used to.

Peckinpah fans will find much to enjoy here, though: the character of 'Turkey' (played by Chill Wills) is as colourful and as rounded as any of the minor low-life characters that appear in the later films. He even hides a 'Major Dundee' military cap under his coat, - in retrospect one which can be seen as an appropriate cinematic "embryo". Even with a limited budget, the film is always in safe hands, the story intriguing and ironic. Riding into town, the desperate trio see a group of children playing and mildly tormenting each other - another Peckinpah trademark. When the desperadoes are confronted by a frontier prayer meeting, the anticipation of the grander meeting at the beginning of 'The Wild Bunch' is obvious. The preacher is in fact the first in a long line of religious failures and bigots featuring in Peckinpah's films.

Perhaps the biggest surprise to those used to Peckinpah's work is the lack of violence (even the end shoot out, although effective, is somewhat muted). Peckinpah, it seems, had yet to discover the stylistic hallmark which later was to mark his career in controversy.

Yellowleg

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 24 July 2020]

Sam Peckinpah - according to Maureen O'Hara (who had survived five films with that cantankerous old cuss John Ford) "one of the strangest and most objectionable people I had ever worked with" - got his break in feature films at the behest of Brian Keith, with whom he had just worked on five episodes of the TV series 'The Westerner' (and like Dean Martin in 'Some Came Running' always keeps his hat on).

Set in 1867 and shot on a twenty day schedule on location in Arizona with the camera safely in the hands of veteran cameraman William Clothier, Sam's inexperience with the big screen (and the choppy cutting that resulted) and that O'Hara was in reality having such a miserable time probably enhanced the bleak and sardonic quality of the rambling film that emerged; while Marlin Skiles' relentless guitar, accordion & harmonica score - for good or ill - stays with you (as does Miss O'Hara's full-throated rendering of the song that accompanies the opening & closing credits).

A small, interesting cast includes jug-eared veteran Will Wright in one of his last films, and future Peckinpah regular Strother Martin.

Peckinpah's early feature with expert direction for his long experience in Western television series

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 4 July 2007]

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 .

A decent first feature from Peckinpah

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 20 October 2012]

This, director San Peckinpah's first film, initially follows three men as the head into the Arizonan town of Gila where they intend to rob the bank. We soon learn that the group's de facto leader, a former Union Army officer known as Yellowleg, has another agenda; he wants to find the former Confederate soldier who had tried to scalp him five years before. All their plans are put on hold though when some other men try to rob the bank and Yellowleg accidentally kills a child in the shootout. Kit Tilden, the boy's mother is determined to take the boy back to the town of Siringo to be buried alongside his father; the problem is the town has been deserted for some time and is deep in hostile Apache territory. Nobody from the town is willing to escort her so Yellowleg decides that he will go with her along with his colleagues; gunslinger Billy and former rebel Turk. Turk isn't that keen to go as he wants to rob the bank but Billy is keen to go; not because he wants to help but because he has taken a shining to the redheaded Kit and means to have her whether she likes it or not. Inevitably tensions raise on the journey and ultimately Yellowleg and Kit find themselves travelling alone with a vengeful Apache taunting them.

People watching this hoping to see a typical Peckinpah bloodbath will be disappointed; this was his first feature and he didn't have full control of the picture as he would in later years. It is a fairly low budget B Western but that doesn't mean it isn't interesting; I don't think I've seen another western where the 'good guy' kills a child and has to deal with the consequences. There isn't a huge amount of action but there are some nicely tense scenes. The film isn't totally without humour either; I like how Turk kept going on about how he was going to use the proceeds of the robbery to set up his own country inside Arizona. Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara put in decent performances as Yellowleg and Kit; the chemistry between then growing as their characters get closer. While this is very much a minor Peckinpah film it is definitely worth seeing if you are a fan of his work.

Quite good--and little like Peckinpah's later films.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 8 September 2013]

When you watch "The Deadly Companions", you'd be hard pressed to realize it was a Sam Peckinpah directed film unless you knew it. While it does bear some similarity in style to "Ride the High Country" and "Major Dundee", it lacks the excessive violence most people associate with Peckinpah today. It is far quieter and subtle than a typical Peckinpah films, that's for sure.

The film begins with three low-lifes traveling together. This is by far the weakest part of the film, as the three really are way too disparate characters to be together. While Yellowleg (Brian Keith) acts mean, he's decent down deep and why he's with two scum-bags is a perplexing thing. Soon, there is a bank robbery in town and in the the process, a fallen woman's (Maureen O'Hara) son is killed by Yellowleg. Of course, it was an accident--he was trying to stop the robbery. And, the fallen lady really is NOT bad--the townsfolk just assumed the worst about her and her son since they didn't care to know he died before the child was born and before the lady came to town. Because the town treated her so badly, the lady vows never to bury her child in this crappy town but sets off across Indian territory to a town where she and her husband married. It's an insane trip and Yellowleg vows to accompany her--even though she hates him and refuses his help. Unfortunately, his two associates follow as well and you know sooner or later, it's them or Yellowleg.

This is a decent film--not great. I liked the character study and quiet moments in the film, though a few plot points simply were confusing and made little sense (such as the identity of the man Yellowleg was pursuing for all those years). Still, the good far outweighs the bad and it's worth seeing.

They Should Have Died On The Trail

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 30 October 2011]

The Deadly Companions is one of those star produced vehicles, in this case unofficially by Maureen O'Hara although her brother Charles Fitzsimmons is the nominal producer. According to her memoirs she wanted Brian Keith as her co-star, but Keith wanted Sam Peckinpah to be given his first shot at directing a feature film. O'Hara agreed much to her regret.

The film is an interesting and most adult western. Keith is a Union army veteran whose thrown in with a pair of ex-Confederates, Steve Cochran and Chill Wills. But he's also got a mission to avenge a scar given him by a former Confederate sergeant in a brawl. Still he takes his time as he believes as that revenge is a dish best served cold.

While stopping over at a town where the three are contemplating a bank robbery, some other robbers beat them to it. Keith, Cochran, and Wills shoot it out with the others, but in the process Maureen O'Hara's son is killed by Keith.

The grieving widow is determined to take her son's body back to a place that is now a ghost town and the way is through Apache territory. Keith agrees to accompany her out of obligation, Cochran has his hormones in overdrive and Wills goes along for the ride. These are not three guys I would want to be out on the trail with and they prove it soon enough.

Given all that happens to them and the characters that Peckinpah develops, they all should have died on the trail. There's violence enough in The Deadly Companions, but Peckinpah had not yet developed one of those slow motion violence ballets he would later use to great effect in The Wild Bunch.

Peckinpah didn't like the film, he preferred to think of Ride The High Country as his cinematic debut. O'Hara didn't like the film and doubly didn't like Peckinpah. In this she echoed Charlton Heston who had a similar opinion, though Heston gave Peckinpah his due insofar as talent was concerned. Both thought he had a screw loose. O'Hara also said he didn't have a clue as to how to direct a feature film his experienced crew carried him along. I would say he learned though.

But for this film I have to agree with Sam and Maureen. It really is quite mediocre.

An Okay But Not Quite Memorable Western Milestone

[FightingWesterner · 6/10 · 30 September 2009]

After five years of searching, Brian Keith finally catches up with the rebel soldier that scalped him in the war (!) and entices him and his partner into teaming up for a proposed bank robbery that's really just a veiled attempt to get revenge.

However, the trio end up exchanging bullets with other bank robbers, accidentally killing the young son of the town pariah, a dance-hall girl dealing with gossip suggesting her boy was a bastard.

With no one else willing, Keith insists on escorting the mother and the boy's body through Apache country for burial beside his father.

The Deadly Companions is a downbeat first feature by Sam Peckinpah. It's passable entertainment but pretty much standard and nowhere near as good as his (highly recommended) second feature Ride The High Country, the classic The Wild Bunch, or the underrated Ballad Of Cable Hogue.

Brian Keith, Maureen O'Hara, and especially Chill Wills deliver good performances.

Sam's Shaky Shakedown Cruise

[slokes · 4/10 · 12 October 2009]

For fans of Sam Peckinpah, there's little to recognize of the legendary director in his first movie. Yes, it's a western featuring a morally compromised protagonist (Brian Keith), and Chill Wills plays the first of many bat-guano crazies in the Peckinpah canon. But there's a lot that's different.

Maureen O'Hara stars as a woman who loses her son in a bank robbery gone awry. Keith plays a guy named "Yellowleg", the Union Civil War vet who shot the boy and tries to help her bury him while working in some revenge on the side. There's some shooting and horseback riding, too, but Peckinpah's hard-edged humanism and iconic visual sensibility have yet to arrive.

Keith is the guy more in command of this film. "I hear they got a new bank and an old marshall over at Gila City," is the way Yellowleg frames his outlaw pitch to Turkey (Wills) and Billy (Steve Cochran) at the start of the film. Tough but sly, Yellowleg asserts his authority without the slightest sign of strain.

"You givin' the orders now?" Billy asks him.

"Looks that way, don't it?" is the reply.

O'Hara is more of a problem. Her character, Kit, wants to bury her boy in a ghost town deep in Apache country, and could care less about the danger to herself or others. O'Hara frequently played stubborn characters, but few as unrelievedly serious as Kit. Her manner grates as the film goes on and she seems more put out by the idea Yellowleg might not think she was married to the boy's father than the fact her boy is dead.

It's possible O'Hara's performance suffered from a lack of communication with her director. It's said that the producer, O'Hara's brother Charles B. Fitzsimons, forbade Peckinpah to talk to her on set, then fired the director before editing began. This could account for the fact her scenes never gel with the rest of the film.

I'm reluctant to judge the film too much by its look and feel. The version I saw, part of the "Maureen O'Hara Collection" put out by St. Clair, seems to be a pan-and-scan lifted from a TV print and was possibly edited for commercials. Certainly the film jumps around a lot.

Some blame must fall on either Peckinpah or Fitzsimons. The score is both mediocre and idiotic, soft mariachi music playing while Billy assaults Kit or a lame rendition of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" playing whenever Turkey goes off on one of his rants about creating his own republic complete with "slave Indians". At one point we are asked to believe Yellowleg walking into a camp of sleeping Apaches to steal a horse without getting caught.

Keith reveals himself here as a worthy lead. He worked with Peckinpah on TV shows and would have been an excellent talent for the director on screen. His loss was Warren Oates' gain. You do get the great Strother Martin as one of Peckinpah's few-ever positive religious figures, turning a bar room into a "preach house" and telling Yellowleg and company to take their hats off to the Lord. Moments like that lift the film from being the muddy genre exercise it otherwise is.

Essential Peckinpah

[princehal · 9/10 · 24 September 2007]

It's time this movie took its rightful place in Peckinpah's career. Some discussions of the director don't even mention it, and I suspect that's partly because of its relative unavailability. At least it needs to be seen before making generalizations about his treatment of women, as O'Hara's character is his only strong dramatic female character (echoed later by Stella Stevens' good-time gal in the whimsical Ballad of Cable Hogue). It also shows his gentle, lyrical side in a serious context, which is an important counterweight to the brutality he's famous for. And it might provide a point of entry for those who otherwise find his work off-putting.

I wonder if some of the negative comments here were based on poor video copies of the film. I just saw the new UK DVD release of a beautiful widescreen print, and it shows Peckinpah already a master of the 'scope frame (one example: the angles on Wills and Cochran on horseback following Keith and O'Hara pulling the coffin, casually insinuating the interplay of threat and vulnerability in the midst of the harsh landscape). His distinctively offbeat editing rhythms are evident from the first scene, but of course they would be mangled into gibberish in a pan-and-scan version.

a good debut, but don't expect ALL the Peckinpah here

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 31 March 2016]

I wonder if anyone would come to watch The Deadly Companions as just "another" western, or, I should say, coming to it simply for the genre or because it stars Maureen O'Hara (I'm not sure how many would come from Brian Keith or Steve Cochran though, not exactly household names, if O'Hara even is today). I mention this because I know why I and many others have come around to check out what was a little-released film at the time by an independent studio - it's the debut feature of Sam Peckinpah. This is 1961, however, years before he would get the moniker of "Bloody Sam", and it's not that the movie is without violence but it's a film that is more concerned about how the characters relate to one another - or really the two leads, as some of the others drift away at times through the story.

It follows three guys who decide to rob a bank - in the opening scene Keith plays a guy named Yellowleg (I feel like he had a different name in the movie but oh well, it's not bad) and he saves a guy hanging from a noose during a card game. They hook up with a bandit and go to a small town on Sunday to pull this heist (one of the amusing things is that the town is so rural that they don't really know if it's Sunday or Monday - some in town are in church, some definitely not). But another heist is taking place at the same time (I think, it was maybe unclear) and during this a woman played by Maureen O'Hara witnesses as her son gets accidentally shot in the crossfire between the two sides. She resigns herself to go bury her son at the plot Kit has for her late husband in a small deserted town far away, and Yellowleg, whether from guilt or some other reasoning, goes along with her (against her wishes, at first, strongly).

One may come to this movie and the first thing to do is to read into the movie to see where this or that comes into play in the rest of Peckinpah's career. There are certain little things one may find - the way that the scumbag Billy hits on Kit (Cochran plays a great heel, who isn't one all the time but mostly is) reminded me a little of Straw Dogs and other Peckinpah movies where a woman is often forced into a total lack of agency, that is until someone else may or may not help her out of it - but it's really a director-for-hire thing. Peckinpah was working in television, and this was clearly a good way for him to break in to the industry and do things like show he could make a compelling western with a big star and get an equally compelling performance from her.

Is it a GREAT movie? No, it certainly isn't, though there are some moments where it brushes with it, or the way that the supporting character Turk is such a loud-mouth but kind of a sweet, lumbering criminal underneath it (also a deserter from the war, which Yellowleg fought in by the way), and O'Hara is a delight to watch even as she, for the first half, has to only play the "Get away from me!" face or emotions to varying degrees until she can play other things. There are also other things like the Apaches following the group and being a menace, and that feels sort of generic (though the scalping is a nice-brutal touch, perhaps another allusion to future Peckinpah nastiness), and the scar on Yellowleg's forehead that he always hides with his hat.

It's mostly a good script though due to how it's more concerned with the characters and how they are on this trek whether they like it or not to bury this boy, and how things like losing a horse (or horses plural) becomes a consistent nuisance. I'm sure that must have appealed to the director, and he pulls it off admirably. But ultimately there's nothing here that screams this as being some lost classic or underrated gem; the ending is fairly predictable, despite some nifty and unexpected action choreography between the actors, and of all things to criticize the music is just weird and distracting at times. Certainly watch it if you plan on seeing a lot of this director's whole oeuvre or simply want a Western with some varying degrees of bad-asses and a hard-driving, tragic story at its core and some alright cinematography (though hard to tell with bad prints floating around - even at revival screenings in theaters).

"You don't know me well enough to hate me that much."

[bensonmum2 · 4/10 · 27 November 2015]

The Deadly Companions was Sam Peckinpah's first non-TV directorial effort. Overall, I wasn't overly impressed. Peckinpah would go on to make some of my personal favorites, including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. But, unfortunately, I can't even call his first film "good".

The plot centers on an ailing ex-Army officer, called Yellowleg (Brian Keith), who accidentally shots and kills a young boy. The boy's mother, Kit Tildan (Maureen O'Hara), insists on traveling through dangerous Indian country so her son can be buried beside his father. To try to make-up for his mistake, Yellowleg travels with her despite her insistence that she doesn't need help.

The Deadly Companions has a number of problems I could cite (cheap sets, poor score, etc.), but I think I'll limit this to the biggest issue I have - the movie has a horribly uneven feel to the whole thing. For example, character motivation is all over the place. The ups and downs of Yellowleg and Kit's relationship feels so forced that it's more awkward than enjoyable. From one second to the next, you have no idea how they'll react to one another. It has a random feel to it like the script was being written and re-written daily (which I think was the case). The actors aren't helped by the ridiculous dialogue they're forced to spout. It's often embarrassing. And to make matters worse, I never felt any real chemistry between Keith and O'Hara. Being a pro, O'Hara is generally quite good, but it's not hard to see she would rather be anywhere else than on Peckinpah's set. Overall, it's a poor effort. If I have to come up one positive it would be Chill Wills in a supporting role. He's quite good.

An interesting, small western.

[Poseidon-3 · 30 April 2002]

This is a small scale western, but with some skillful acting and directing that make it seem a tad better than one might expect. Keith is a wandering ex-Union soldier who comes across a grizzled old outlaw whose being hanged for cheating at cards. He, for unknown reasons, saves the man (played with effective nastiness by Wills) and commandeers him and his pal Cochran to a town where a bank is ripe for robbing. There, the trio runs into O'Hara and her harmonica-playing young son. Circumstances lead to Keith offering to help O'Hara cross hostile Apache territory to visit the grave of her husband. Along the way, his motives for saving Wills are exposed, along with some of his insecurities (such as why he won't remove his hat.) O'Hara (who also sings the opening song) and Keith have undeniable chemistry (shown to greater effect in their simultaneous pairing "The Parent Trap", but still on display here, albeit in a more somber way.) It takes a while before the characters are really cared about, but once they are, the story takes on greater meaning. Cochran (displaying a still fit figure at 44) is appropriately slimy. Debits would include the rather small amount of "savage, terrifying Indians" (they are creepy and a little threatening, but there isn't quite enough menace to make them as threatening as one might like) a few continuity gaffes in the editing and the deadly, intrusive, lame, often inappropriate musical score. The music in this film detracts from the visuals and actually serves to cheapen the film. It sounds like someone told Porter Wagoner to pretend he was Phantom of the Prairie and play funereal organ music with the occasional hint of "gee-tar". Awful. One sequence, in particular, stands out. O'Hara stands guard in a cavern lit by a hole in the top of it and is gradually descended upon by an attacker. The charm of the stars takes this a long way, but be warned...there aren't many smiles in this one.

Somewhat confusing relationship with Brian and Maureen towards the end.

[PatrynXX · 6/10 · 9 April 2020]

But overall, a dark western . Sometimes quite literally at least on the Platinum dvd release. Very poor copy but I could follow it along. Most of the move was better edited than a movie I'd watched prior to this (Buffalo Bill 1944). But kinda got hazy when she suddenly acted like she knew him. That threw me... Much better than I expected it to be. Think O'Hara lost some of the edge on this movie which might be the directors fault. Although I hear mention of bad production. It's a western it gets it's job done. I've seen plenty worse and this isn't one of them. It's replayable a little been but not much...

Quality: 7/10 Entertainment 6/10 Re-Playable: 4/10

"You don't know me well enough to hate me that much."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 11 October 2006]

This one turned out a lot better than I was willing to give credit for going in, so much for first impressions. The hook in the early going is Yellowleg's (Brian Keith) never removing his hat, and that interest builds after he saves Turkey (Chill Wills) from a lynching. Turk and his partner Billy (Steve Cochran) are invited along to take out the bank in Gila City - "Beats cheatin' at cards, don't it?". So that remains on the viewer's mind throughout much of the film, even though they never get to do it on screen, though in a stroke of irony, they wind up foiling a robbery of the same bank by another gang. That's where the main plot kicks in, as a stray bullet from Yellowleg kills the young son of dance hall girl Kit (Maureen O'Hara).

In atonement for his misdeed, Yellowleg is compelled to accompany Kit to bury her son in Ciringo next to her dead husband. The trail goes straight through Apache territory, but that doesn't seem to be the main danger they'll face. All the while you're wondering when the Yankee Yellowleg will come to blows with his ornery partners.

Keep an eye on the scene when Billy attempts to make a 'social' call on Kit during the first night's camp on the trail. He's wearing a black shirt with a white scarf, but after the fight with Yellowleg, his shirt is missing.

When Yellowleg and Kit are left to continue the journey alone, they're taunted along the way by a single Apache brave who's interested in a bit of mind games before he goes for the kill. Though she stands alone in a cave keeping a watchful eye, Kit winds up killing the Indian quite by accident, the camera trained on her long enough to make the point, now she knows what it feels like.

I was surprised to learn that Sam Peckinpah directed the film in the early credits, so was unduly prepared for some harsh Western justice along the way. Though you get some of that, it's not the trademark Peckinpah one's used to, but then again, it was his first feature film. I would steer readers to other viewer comments regarding the back lot politics involving the production of the film. They offer some insight into the story's outcome and resolution. Peckinpah seems to have had his hands tied here a bit, but he certainly was able to cut loose by the time he got to "The Wild Bunch" and the film I first remember seeing by him - "Straw Dogs".

Three Men and a Babe!

[bsmith5552 · 6/10 · 26 November 2020]

"The Deadly Companions" was noteworthy as Director Sam (gimme a drink) Peckinpah's first theatrical release Star Maureen O'Hara was apparently not impressed with Peckinpah's direction. I wonder why.

The story centers on a character known as Yellowleg (Brian Keith) who is on a revengeful journey of five years, tracking the man who tried to scalp him during the Civil War. That man turns out to be Turk (Chill Wills) whom he finds balancing on a keg while in a hangman's noose. Wanting to exact his own form of revenge, Yellowleg and Turk's partner Billy Keplinger (Steve Cochran) free him.

The three travel to the small town of Gila City with a plan to rob the local bank. There, Yellowleg meets young Mead Tilton Jr. (Billy Vaughn) the son of dance hall "hostess" Kit Tilden (O'Hara). The townsfolk show their displeasure with Kit and her son at a church service conducted by Strother Martin as the Parson.

Before the trio can rob the bank, another gang beats them to it and a shootout ensues between them. While taking a shot at a fleeing bandit, Yellowleg accidently kills young Mead. Kit is devastated and decides to take the boy's body to be buried along side of his father who had been killed by Apaches shortly after his and Kit's marriage. Yellowleg feeling guilt offers to accompany Kit on her journey across Apache lands.

Kit expresses her hatred of Yellowleg and refuses but he rides along anyhow. He convinces Turk and Billy to ride along as well. Billy has his eye on the beautiful red head. Yellowleg is waiting for a chance to corner Turk alone. When her wagon breaks down, Kit is forced to accept the men's help.

One night in their camp, Billy tries to force his intentions on Kit. Yellowleg intervenes and sends Billy packing. Later, Turk sneaks out of camp and goes to join Billy in Gila City to rob the bank as originally planned. Yellowleg and Kit continue on their journey. They come upon a gang of Apache reveling on a stolen stagecoach. Needing a second horse, Yellowleg steals into the Apache camp and makes off with one of their horses which soon breaks a leg and has to be destroyed. An Apache kills their remaining horse and begins to stalk the couple.

When Yellowleg hides Kit in a cave while he goes to await the Apache, the Indian sneaks up on her but she is able to shoot him. Yellowknife returns and realizes as does Kit, that they are falling in love. They finally arrive at their destination, a ramshackled ghost town (the name of which escapes me) only to be greeted by Turk and Billy who have robbed the Gila City bank and are being pursued by a posse.

Still after Turk for his attempted scalping, Yellowknife shoots at him but is impaired by an arm that has a bullet lodged within. Billy shoots Turk but Turk still alive, shoots Billy, killing him. Yellowknife goes after Turk and corners him in an abandoned church. As he is about to exact his revenge..................................................

Not a bad start to Peckinpah's theatrical career but he would greatly improve his product with his next film "Ride the High Country" (1962). Keith and O'Hara (looking as beautiful as ever) had appeared in the more family oriented "The Parent Trap" the previous year. Strother Martin makes his first appearance as a member of Peckinpah's stock company here.

An Interesting Western

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 6 March 2014]

After accidentally killing the son of a dance-hall woman named "Kit Tildon" (Maureen O'Hara) a former union soldier known only as "Yellowleg" (Brian Keith) decides to escort Kit (along with the body of the young boy) to another small town in Arizona so that the boy can be buried next to the grave of his father. Unfortunately, this small town happens to lie in the path of warring Apaches. To further complicate matters Kit doesn't want Yellowleg coming along and Yellowleg insists that his two companions named "Billy Keplinger" (Steve Cochran) and "Turk" (Chill Wills) accompany him. Billy complies because he wants Kit in the worst possible way and Turk simply agrees to go because of Billy. What Turk doesn't realize is that Yellowleg wants to enact vengeance upon him for something that happened 5 years earlier. Anyway, rather than reveal the rest of the story and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was an interesting western with an equally interesting plot. Certainly not great by any means but interesting just the same. As far as the acting was concerned I thought everyone did an adequate job with the rather odd scripts they were given. Slightly above average.

"They fought with guns worn low!"

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 14 June 2009]

Early Sam Peckinpah western is a ragtag second-feature with Maureen O'Hara improbably cast as a dance hall hostess in 1860s Arizona. Her young son has been accidentally shot and killed by Yankee cowboy Brian Keith, who has come out west seeking revenge; after the lady takes off for a neighboring town to bury her boy, the cowboy (with a bad shooting arm!) trails behind her to keep her safe from Apaches. Scrappy, unabsorbing outdoor yarn with mediocre cinematography and scoring, also a disappointing performance by O'Hara (stubborn as usual, yet exasperatingly so). Screenwriter A.S. Fleischman (who later novelized his script, which was published prior to filming) certainly takes his time ironing out the relationships in this story. By the time he and director Peckinpah have finished, it seems a wasted effort. ** from ****

Time for a remake...

[DukeEman · 6/10 · 9 August 2012]

An early effort from Peckinpah who was just getting himself out off the television mentality of cheap filmmaking. The story was the only saving grace, but under the modern direction and rewrite this film could make for a great remake. Can you imagine if Taratino got his hands on this? And the delicious dialogue he would create between the down-trotted cowboy who after accidentally shooting a boy, escorts the dancehall grieving mother across the deadly Apache country to bury him. Even the Coen brothers would create a visual delight in telling a story with a few twists and hidden character agendas. Or is it time for a Western from Clint Eastwood, and maybe he would focus on the moral issues and redemption this story carries. Most difficult of all will be the handling of the Native American Indian. Will the modern storyteller keep the Apache as a savage or show that it was the White Man that made them savages? Regardless whoever remade this film, the potential is there, and I'm sure if Peckinpah had the chance and the budget, his remake would have turned this into a masterpiece.

"Looks Like Yellowlegs Has Done Staked Out His Claim."

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 6 January 2014]

I wonder if director Pekinpah didn't find himself in a liminal state when he directed this first feature -- somewhere between the strictures of the television Western series like "The Rifleman" and the wildly expressive feature films that were to come.

A trio of would-be bank robbers ride into an uptight little Western town and the leader, Brian Keith, shoots and kills Maureen O'Hara's little boy. O'Hara, despised as a "dance hall girl", is determined to see her boy buried with his father in a crumbling and deserted adobe village on the other side of Apache country. Out of guilt, Keith decides to accompany her, dragging his two reluctant, low-life compañeros along. One of them, Steve Cochran, dressed in black and accessorized in red and white, is a cocky gunslinger. The other, Chill Wills, in a bulky, ratty buffalo robe, is completely daft.

Brian Keith is the leader and the hero but he smacks of the small screen. He's taciturn, determined, grim, dignified, decent. Just like Chuck Connors in "The Rifleman" or Marshal Dillon in "Gunsmoke." That's the pattern that Pekinpah was leaving behind. Other hallmarks appear briefly -- cruel children, a community ritual interrupted by hooligans, residual Civil War resentments.

The Pekinpah that was to come is represented by Cochran and Wills. Cochran is a little treacherous, but Wills, having gotten his hands on that bank money, is determined to establish his own kingdom in Apache country, just like those Texas fellers at the Alamo or the Fredonian Rebellion. "I got me this general's cap to wear and we'll have lots of gold braid." He's entirely serious, just like the the Hammond brothers, who believe in polyandrous marriages, in "Ride the High Country." Keith can be an appealing actor but he's not given much to do except play the stereotype. And he's not a convincing drunk. Cochran is as slimy as he usually is, and Wills looks positively flea ridden, a big, shaggy, cheerfully lunatic dog.

Maureen O'Hara -- whose brothers appear as producer and undertaker -- was forty and mostly miscast. She's all gussied up at the beginning as a whore, and looks not so hot. And for the first hour or so, her character is angry and bitter, and that's not Maureen O'Hara's shtick. She's marvelous when she plays herself, chipper, unpretentious, and no nonsense. Later, on the trail, she's dusty and disheveled. The war paint is gone. Her mature but fresh beauty is more evident and she gets to deploy an enthralling smile.

Overall, the story has a lot of loose ends and meanders all over the place. It's pretty dull until the climax finally brings about some resolutions. When the duo are alone, buggylugging that coffin across the desert, the movie looks like a dramatization of someone preparing a Swanson's frozen dinner.

Maureen O Hara In a Peckinpah Western

[williwaw · 8/10 · 17 March 2011]

Maureen O'Hara gloriously beautiful movie star and fine actress produced 'The Deadly Companions'. ( Know the credits claim Maureen's Brother produced the film but reading her book, one realizes Maureen O Hara is one "take charge" woman). Maureen O Hara had rejuvenated her career with a hit in Disney's 'The Parent Trap'. Ms. O'Hara hired Sam Peckinpah to direct and no matter what one thinks of a Peckinpah film it is never boring. "Deadly Companions" has some great camera setups and action scenes and Ms. O Hara does well as always; Professional. In her book 'Tis Herself' Maureen O Hara said she had a hard time dealing with the free wheeling Sam Peckinpah and it shows in this film. Some parts of the 'Deadly Companions' seem disjointed. (Sam Peckinpah would lose final cut on another Western Charlton Heston's 'Major Dundee' at Columbia because of his clashes with Columbia Pictures management, but in that case Mr. Heston was a supporter of Peckinpah's). If memory serves me correctly this film was not distributed all that well and was quickly forgotten. Only due to cable and the interest in works of Peckinpah ( and of O'Hara) has it been re discovered.

'Deadly Companions' is the last film Maureen O Hara produced, however the great Irish-born star kept busy in movies as co star to John Wayne, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Rosanno Brazzi and Jackie Gleason. Now retired, Maureen O Hara has a great body of work: 'Hunchback of Notre Dame', 'How Green Was My Valley', 'Miracle on 34th Street', 'The Parent Trap'.

Maureen OHara's films with John Wayne, i.e a John Ford masterpiece 'The Quiet Man' and Andrew McLaglen's 'McClintock' are movie magic.

Downbeat and Disappointing

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 1 April 2014]

Disjointed and Uneven Western, Sam Peckinpah's First Feature Film is a Glum and Gloomy Movie that has some Offbeat Inclusions and Shoddy Camera Work. It is Certainly not a Typical Western and has some of that Odd Peckinpah Grit.

The Shooting Death of a Child, a Mentally Deranged Major Character, the Leading Man is both Crippled and Scalped, some Sadistic Torture, Drunken Indians Playing Dressup with Stagecoach Remnants, Dragging a Coffin across the Desert, an Attempted Rape, a Sunday Sermon in a Saloon, and More.

But it isn't put together very well and the Music Background is Awful. The Pacing is Slow and the Ending Lacks some Punch. But although most Prints are Dark and Fuzzy at times there is Enough On Screen that is Worth a View for Fans of Westerns and the Director. Just Expect a Downbeat Tone and a Mild Disappointment.

Slow, Dull, Farfetched

[theognis-80821 · 2/10 · 20 June 2022]

After working with Brian Keith on their TV series "The Westerner," Sam Peckinpah was ready to try a theatrical feature. If this show is Peckinpah's high school diploma in feature filmmaking, his reformulation of this story, "Ride the High Country" (1962) was his doctoral dissertation. There's Strother Martin and some suggestions of his favorite themes, but not much else to suggest how skillful he was to become. Perhaps, stubbornness is an asset for a neophyte director, as he continued to develop his revisionist approach to westerns.