The Deadly Companions

1962

1h 30m

Western

List

86%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

37%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

When a bank heist goes wrong, outlaw Yellowleg (Brian Keith) inadvertently kills a 9-year-old boy -- the son of saloon girl Kit Tilden (Maureen O'Hara). Plagued by guilt over the shooting, Yellowleg vows to help her bury the boy beside his father in the now-derelict town of Siringo, Ariz. With criminal cohorts Billy (Steve Cochran) and Turk (Chill Wills), Yellowleg embarks on a dangerous journey into Apache territory to lay the boy in his final resting place.

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Michael Sragow

New Yorker

The plot twists are hokey, but the atmosphere is bleak and tense, and the men's performances nuanced.

Mar 28, 2016

Full Review

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

As the deadlier of the refugee criminals, Steve Cochran is almost as mean as his colleague, Chill Wills, is picturesque. Their resourceful efforts would be more effective if the drama, as directed by Sam Peckinpah, did not move at the pace of a hearse.

Rated: 2/5

May 9, 2005

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

I wonder what John Ford thought of it?

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 30, 2021

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Rapidly proliferating ideas in a condensed style

Sep 6, 2009

Full Review

TV Guide

An interesting start for one of modern American cinema's most brilliant and controversial directors.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 30, 2006

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 23, 2005

Full Review

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Audience Member

Brian, Keith in Maureen O’Hara Really did a good job in this one. It’s very good Wester highly recommend it James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas April 21, 2023.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/21/23

Full Review

Martin B

First rate movie with a terrific cast of accomplished actors. Suspence, twists and fixated on a place we heard so much about we had to see know what the big deal was. Sure it took an impossible set of circumstances and dogged determination beyond reason to get to the place they we seeking. And yes the ending also spectacularly fortunate for the good guys to deliver us a satisfying ending. But really that's what westerns are all about anyway right?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Ian G

Sam Peckinpah's debut in the director's chair, and it shows. Fromstart to its sorry finish, this thing is dire in every way that counts, Sometimes it helps to have the originating book's author write the screenplay, but if the book was his first book (Feels like a believable suggestion to me) then I'm guessing this was also his inaugural screenplay. It is truly terrible. And every other insulting word used for such purposes, consider them all applied here. Peckinpah should never have been put in charge of this, as his directorial skill as seen in The Wld Bunch is noticeable here, but only by its absence. The cast's leading members are tried and more than tested elsewhere, but I think they should have spoken up more than they seem to have done at some of the terrible continuity errors, the ridiculously extended pauses that kill all traces of flow of the laughable "plot", such as it is here. At a runtime of 103.5 minutes, it's way over time. Some merciless editing might shave off at least 10 minutes of what can only be said to be dead screen time, maybe more. This thing is so outright dreadful that I can't be bothered giving it any more of my time. Best to ignore the favourable reviews, god alone could understand what drove those people to like this pathetic picture, By my reckoning, watch something else. Watch ANYTHING else. TV ads have more class and entertainment value than does "The Deadly Companions".

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/22

Full Review

Audience Member

The Deadly Companions is a good western. It is more interesting as Sam Peckinpahs first effort as a director and many of his themes ate here. The strong quiet leader in Brian Keith who will not take his Stetson off for any reason. Maureen O'Hara is the tough dancing girl. It's interesting to compare what she does here versus how she acted for John Ford. She sings the lead song in a beautiful Irish soprano. The Peckinpah acting company shows up with the great Strother Martin as the preacher. The pace is slow and humorous and even bits of dialogue show up in future Peckinpah westerns. A good start to a finery career with this unusual western.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Extremely un cliche romance. Sam Peckinpah's first Western.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/01/18

Full Review

Audience Member

Sam Peckinpahin leffa ja näinkin heikko esitys.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Sam Peckinpah

Director

Maureen O'Hara

Kit Tildon

Brian Keith

Yellowleg

Steve Cochran

Billy Keplinger

Chill Wills

Turk

Strother Martin

Parson

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Synopsis

When a bank heist goes wrong, outlaw Yellowleg (Brian Keith) inadvertently kills a 9-year-old boy -- the son of saloon girl Kit Tilden (Maureen O'Hara). Plagued by guilt over the shooting, Yellowleg vows to help her bury the boy beside his father in the now-derelict town of Siringo, Ariz. With criminal cohorts Billy (Steve Cochran) and Turk (Chill Wills), Yellowleg embarks on a dangerous journey into Apache territory to lay the boy in his final resting place.

Director: Sam Peckinpah
Screenwriter: Albert Sidney Fleischman, Albert Sidney Fleischman
Production Co: Carousel
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 11, 2016
Runtime: 1h 30m

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