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Title: The Deadly Companions (1961)
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Edit
Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Maureen O'Hara | ... |
Kit Tildon
|
|
| Brian Keith | ... |
Yellowleg
|
|
| Steve Cochran | ... |
Billy Keplinger
|
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| Chill Wills | ... |
Turk
|
|
| Strother Martin | ... |
Parson
|
|
| Will Wright | ... |
Doctor Acton
|
|
 |
James O'Hara | ... |
Cal, General Store
(as Jim O'Hara)
|
|
|
Peter O'Crotty | ... |
Mayor of Hila City
|
|
|
Billy Vaughan | ... |
Mead Tildon Jr.
|
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
The Civil War Yankee sergeant Yellowleg saves the cheater Turkey from hanging after a card game, and together with Turk's gunslinger buddy Billy Keplinger, they ride together to Gila City with the intention of heisting a bank. Yellowleg has a scar on the head from a man that tried to scalp him and he has been on the trail of his attacker for five years. When other bandits rob a store, Yellowleg shoots at the outlaws and accidentally kills the son of the cabaret dancer Kit Tilden and the grieving woman decides to bury her son in the town of Siringo in Apache country where her husband is buried. Yellowleg Enlists Billy and Turkey to escort Kitty and the coffin through the dangerous land. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Taglines:
An Unholy AllianceGenres:
WesternCertificate:
See all certifications »Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
1961 (UK) See more »Also Known As:
Gefährten des Todes See more »Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)Color:
Color (Pathé-Color)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Edit
See more »
(uncredited)
Music traditional
Lyrics by Patrick Gilmore aka Louis Lambert
Sung by Turk in the bar and at the end
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Turk talks about creating a "Republic of Freedonia". Whilst most people are aware that this is the name of a fictional country in the film Duck Soup (1933), 'Freedonian' was a term used in the USA after the American Revolution, until it was replaced by 'American'. See more »Goofs
When the posse takes Turk captive, they put him on a horse with a rifle in the boot and with his hands cuffed in front of himself. See more »Quotes
Kit Tilden: It's strange - I feel I know better than any man I've ever known, yet I hardly know you at all.See more »
Soundtracks
When Johnny Comes Marching Home(uncredited)
Music traditional
Lyrics by Patrick Gilmore aka Louis Lambert
Sung by Turk in the bar and at the end
See more »
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.