By Richard Harland Smith
The Deadly Companions
Brief Synopsis
To make amends for killing a man, a Civil War veteran accompanies his corpse through dangerous territory.
Cast & Crew
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Sam Peckinpah
Director
Maureen O'hara
Kit Tilden
Brian Keith
Yellowleg
Steve Cochran
Billy
Chill Wills
Turk
Strother Martin
Parson
Film Details
Also Known As
Trigger Happy
Genre
Western
Adaptation
Classic Hollywood
Drama
Release Date
Jan
1961
Premiere Information
Tucson, Arizona, opening: 6 Jun 1961
Production Company
Carousel Productions
Distribution Company
Motion Picture Investors; Pathé-America Distributing Co.
Country
United States
Location
Tucson, Arizona, USA
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Yellowleg by Albert Sidney Fleischman (New York, 1960).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 30m
Sound
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Color
Color (Pathécolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1
Synopsis
In the late 1860's, a former Union Army sergeant, Yellowleg, hunts down a Rebel deserter, Turk, who tried to scalp him as he lay wounded on a battlefield. He finds him in a bordertown cantina and, without revealing his true motive, persuades him and his trigger-happy sidekick, Billy, to join forces with him in robbing the bank in Gila City, Arizona. Once there, however, the men discover that other outlaws are in town for the same reason; a gun battle breaks out, and Yellowleg accidentally kills the 9-year-old son of dancehall hostess Kit Tilden. When the woman decides to bury her child next to her husband's grave in Siringo, a ghost town, the remorseful Yellowleg forces his companions to join him in accompanying Kit through the Apache-inhabited desert; but en route, Billy is thrown out of camp for attempting to rape Kit, and Turk deserts. Shortly after arriving in Siringo, Kit and Yellowleg are rejoined by the two outlaws, who have just robbed the bank at Gila City. Yellowleg, despite his growing love for Kit, decides to take his revenge on Turk, but a shoulder wound causes him to miss his mark; instead, it is Billy who shoots Turk. The old man is only wounded, however, and is able to turn on his former friend and kill him. A posse arrives to take Turk back to Gila City as Kit and Yellowleg ride off together.
Director
Sam Peckinpah
Director
Cast
Maureen O'hara
Kit Tilden
Brian Keith
Yellowleg
Steve Cochran
Billy
Chill Wills
Turk
Strother Martin
Parson
Will Wright
Doctor
Jim O'hara
Cal
Peter O'crotty
Mayor
Billy Vaughan
Mead
Robert Sheldon
Hank Gobble
Bartender
Buck Sharpe
Indian
Crew
Laurindo Almeida
Guitar solo
Robert Bain
Guitar solo
James Barker
Makeup
Frank Beetson Sr.
Wardrobe
Robert J. Callen
Sound
William H. Clothier
Director of Photography
Tom Coleman
Props master
Charles B. Fitzsimons
Producer
Albert Sidney Fleischman
Screenwriter
Chuck Hayward
Stunt
Kurt Herrnfeld
Sound Effects Editor
David Koehler
Special Effects
Raoul Kraushaar
Music Conductor
Lee Lukather
Production Manager
Sheila O'brian
Wardrobe
Stanley E. Rabjohn
Film Editor
Gordon Sawyer
Sound
Charles B. Skiles
Composer
Marlin Skiles
Music
Marlin Skiles
Composer
Fae Smith
Hairstyles
Peter Zinner
Music Editor
Photo Collections
1 Photo
The Deadly Companions - Movie Poster
The Deadly Companions - Movie Poster
Videos
Movie Clip
Hosted Intro
Film Details
Also Known As
Trigger Happy
Genre
Western
Adaptation
Classic Hollywood
Drama
Release Date
Jan
1961
Premiere Information
Tucson, Arizona, opening: 6 Jun 1961
Production Company
Carousel Productions
Distribution Company
Motion Picture Investors; Pathé-America Distributing Co.
Country
United States
Location
Tucson, Arizona, USA
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Yellowleg by Albert Sidney Fleischman (New York, 1960).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 30m
Sound
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Color
Color (Pathécolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1
Articles
The Deadly Companions
For his first shot at directing a feature length western, Sam Peckinpah was a mere hired gun. A former dialogue coach turned scenarist, and as the creator of the hit TV series The Rifleman, Peckinpah had a personal morality that was very much at odds with Hollywood boilerplate and a devotion to realism that was years ahead of its time. In 1960, his weekly series, The Westerner had ended after only one critically-lauded season. When series lead Brian Keith was cast in a western feature, The Deadly Companions (1961), Peckinpah got himself attached as director, albeit in the service of producer Charles B. FitzSimons. The brother of actress Maureen O'Hara, FitzSimons saw the project as a vehicle for O'Hara and resisted Peckinpah's attempts to sculpt the script by Albert Sidney Fleischman into something on which he could hang his own hat. (During preproduction, Fleischman turned the work-in-progress into a novel, titled Yellowleg, a reference to the protagonist's backstory as a Union soldier during the Civil War.) Peckinpah finished the $500,000 indie feature in only 21 days but lost final cut to FitzSimons, resulting in a finished film that fell between the visions of its collaborators. To FitzSimons' chagrin, critics of the day panned The Deadly Companions but praised Peckinpah as a filmmaker to watch - Peckinpah's next film was the majestic Ride the High Country (1962).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
The Deadly Companions
For his first shot at directing a feature length western, Sam Peckinpah was a mere hired gun. A former dialogue coach turned scenarist, and as the creator of the hit TV series The Rifleman, Peckinpah had a personal morality that was very much at odds with Hollywood boilerplate and a devotion to realism that was years ahead of its time. In 1960, his weekly series, The Westerner had ended after only one critically-lauded season. When series lead Brian Keith was cast in a western feature, The Deadly Companions (1961), Peckinpah got himself attached as director, albeit in the service of producer Charles B. FitzSimons. The brother of actress Maureen O'Hara, FitzSimons saw the project as a vehicle for O'Hara and resisted Peckinpah's attempts to sculpt the script by Albert Sidney Fleischman into something on which he could hang his own hat. (During preproduction, Fleischman turned the work-in-progress into a novel, titled Yellowleg, a reference to the protagonist's backstory as a Union soldier during the Civil War.) Peckinpah finished the $500,000 indie feature in only 21 days but lost final cut to FitzSimons, resulting in a finished film that fell between the visions of its collaborators. To FitzSimons' chagrin, critics of the day panned The Deadly Companions but praised Peckinpah as a filmmaker to watch - Peckinpah's next film was the majestic Ride the High Country (1962).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Filmed on location in and around Tucson, Arizona. Rereleased in 1965 by Motion Picture Investors as Trigger Happy.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Summer June 6, 1961
Feature directorial debut for Sam Peckinpah.
Distributor Motion Picture Investors re-released the film in 1965 under the title "Trigger Happy".
Re-released in 1965 under the title "Trigger Happy".
Released in United States Summer June 6, 1961
