''The Deadly Companions'' is a 1961 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and war film directed by

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Instit ...

and starring

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-born naturalized American actress who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate b ...

Brian Keith Robert Alba Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997), known professionally as Brian Keith, was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family ...

Steve Cochran Steve Cochran (born Robert Alexander Cochran, May 25, 1917 – June 15, 1965) was an American film, television and stage actor. He attended the University of Wyoming. After a stint working as a cowboy, Cochran developed his acting skills in loca ...

, and

Chill Wills Theodore Childress "Chill" Wills (July 18, 1902 – December 15, 1978) was an American actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys quartet. Early life Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas, on July 18, 1902. Career Wills was a performer from early c ...

. Based on the novel of the same name by A. S. Fleischman, the film is about an ex-army soldier who accidentally kills a woman's son, and tries to make up for it by escorting the funeral procession through dangerous Indian territory. ''The Deadly Companions'' was Sam Peckinpah's motion picture directorial debut.

Plot

After her young son is killed in a

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tel ...

, the widowed dance-hall hostess Kit Tilden (

) is determined to bury him beside his father in Siringo, now deserted and located in

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

territory. Yellowleg (

), the ex-army

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

sergeant who accidentally killed her son, decides to help take the body across the desert to be buried, whether Kit wants help or not. He forces the other two bank robbers — Turk, a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

deserter; and Billy, a gunslinger — to accompany them. After Billy attacks Kit, Yellowleg throws him out of their camp. Turk then deserts. Yellowleg and Kit become closer during the journey to Siringo. After arriving at the long abandoned settlement, they discover that Turk and Billy have followed them, leading to a gunfight among the three men.

Cast

as Kit Tildon *

as Yellowleg *

as Billy Keplinger *

as Turk *

Strother Martin Strother Douglas Martin Jr. (March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980) was an American character actor who often appeared in support of John Wayne and Paul Newman and in Western films directed by John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. Among Martin's memorable ...

as Parson * Will Wright as Doctor Acton * Jim O'Hara as Cal, General Store * Peter O'Crotty as Mayor of Gila City * Billy Vaughan as Mead Tildon Jr. * Big John Hamilton as gambler (uncredited)

Production

Directorial debut

After the cancellation of his 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 Charles B. Fitzsimons (8 May 1924 – 14 February 2001) was an Irish actor who emigrated to the United States, where he became a film producer after ending his acting career. He was a younger brother of famed actress Maureen O'Hara. His na ...

accepted the idea. By most accounts, the low-budget film shot on location in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

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. In her memoir '''Tis Herself'' (2004), Maureen O'Hara complained about Peckinpah's behavior on-set, saying that he "didn't have a clue how to direct a movie" and was "one of the strangest and most objectionable people I had ever worked with".

Cast and crew

Charles B. Fitzsimons (1924–2001), a former actor, was Maureen O'Hara's younger brother. In addition to his listing as producer, the film's opening credits indicate "song by Marlin Skiles & Charles B. Fitzsimons; sung by Maureen O'Hara" (the title of the song, which is heard through the entire length of the opening credits, is not specified). Another younger brother, Jim O'Hara (1927–1992), played the seventh-billed role of Cal (the family surname is Fitzsimons, also rendered as FitzSimons). Leading man Brian Keith who was the star of Sam Peckinpah's 1960 TV series '' The Westerner'', was also Maureen O'Hara's co-star in '' The Parent Trap'' which they completed immediately before ''The Deadly Companions'' and which premiered on June 12, 1961, six days after the

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

premiere of ''The Deadly Companions''. They re-teamed for one additional film, 1966's ''

The Rare Breed ''The Rare Breed'' is a 1966 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith in Panavision. Loosely based on the life of rancher Col. John William Burgess, the film follows Martha ...

'', which top-billed

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

. Cinematographer William H. Clothier also worked on ''

'' as well as two other films with Maureen O'Hara, 1963's ''

McLintock! :''See also McClintock (disambiguation)'' ''McLintock!'' is a 1963 American Western comedy film, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The film co-stars Wayne's son Patrick Wayne, Stefanie Powers, Jack Kr ...

'' and 1971's ''

Big Jake ''Big Jake'' is a 1971 American Technicolor Western (genre), Western film starring John Wayne, Richard Boone and Maureen O'Hara. The picture was the final film for George Sherman in a directing career of more than 30 years, and Maureen O'Hara' ...

'', both starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

Filming locations

Old Tucson Studios Old Tucson (aka Old Tucson Studios) is an American movie studio and theme park just west of Tucson, Arizona, adjacent to the Tucson Mountains and close to the western portion of Saguaro National Park and near the Desert Museum. Built in 1939 for ...

, 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

References

;Citations ;Further reading * * * * * * * * *

External links

* * * *
''The Deadly Companions''
at ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' (revised and updated version of 1987 write-up originally published in ''The Motion Picture Guide'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Deadly Companions, The 1960 Western (genre) films 1960 directorial debut films 1960 films American Western (genre) films Articles containing video clips Astor Pictures films 1960s English-language films Films about bank robbery Films based on American novels Films based on Western (genre) novels Films directed by Sam Peckinpah Revisionist Western (genre) films 1960s American films Films scored by Marlin Skiles English-language Western (genre) films