Sam Peckinpah (director) THE DEADLY COMPANIONS (1961) Set of 12 photos

[Los Angeles]: Pathé-American Distributing, 1961. Set of twelve (12) vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white print still photos, one with affixed list of credits on verso, one with stamp of a 1960s poster exchange. Overall, near fine.

Sam Peckinpah’s first feature film, starring Maureen O’Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran and Chill Wills. 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.

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 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.

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.” (Wikipedia)

Photos coded: DC-16, 22, 26, 30, 39, 43, 58, 66, 73, 75, 76, 79.

Out of stock