Line #32 Creator/SamPeckinpah


1	[[quoteright:288:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sam_peckinpah_8256.jpg]]
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3	->''"Well, killing a man isn't clean and quick and simple. It's bloody and awful. And maybe if enough people come to realize that shooting somebody isn't just fun and games, maybe we'll get somewhere.''"
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5	David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was a director of manly movies. An eccentric substance-abuser who was notorious for his gruff demeanor and rocky relationships with women, he created a number of films that perfectly reflect his own personality: violent, nihilistic and cynical. Some of them stand as modern classics.
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7	Peckinpah specialized in [[{{Western}} Westerns]], a genre that had personal resonance for him, since he was born and raised in Fresno, California, and both of his parents were descended from prominent pioneer families. He spent much of his youth on a large ranch owned by his maternal grandfather, and learned first-hand about cowboys and frontier life.
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9	After a stint in the Marines, he attended college, then moved to Hollywood. After some early behind-the-scenes film work, he made his name in television, writing episodes of ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'' and some other Western shows. A Peckinpah script originally rejected from ''Gunsmoke'' became the basis for ''Series/TheRifleman'', and he did some writing and directing for it during its first season. He created the series ''Series/TheWesterner'' in 1960, but it [[ShortRunners only lasted 13 episodes]]. He made his feature film directorial debut the next year with ''The Deadly Companions'', featuring ''Westerner'' star Brian Keith. ''Film/TheWildBunch'' kicked his career into high gear in 1969, but his irascible personality and personal vices led it to sputter out by the end of TheSeventies. He made a few steps toward a comeback in TheEighties, directing ''Film/TheOstermanWeekend'' and, oddly, two music videos for Music/JulianLennon, before passing away from heart failure in 1984.
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11	His filmography includes:
12	[[index]]
13	* 1962 -- ''Film/RideTheHighCountry'': A tale about two aging ex-lawman guarding a shipment of gold in early 20th century California, it had lackluster box office when it was released in 1962 but has since been [[invoked]]VindicatedByHistory.
14	* 1965 -- ''Film/MajorDundee'': A vicious {{deconstruction}} of the Cavalry Vs. Indians formula crossed with ''Literature/MobyDick''. A victim of extensive ExecutiveMeddling, it (and ''Film/TheCincinnatiKid'' from which he was fired) set the stage for Peckinpah's contentious relationships with producers and studio heads during the production of his later films.
15	* 1969 -- ''Film/TheWildBunch'': His most famous film, an infamously violent anti-western about aging bank robbers in the changing west.
16	* 1970 -- ''Film/TheBalladOfCableHogue'': This is a lesser-known [[PlayingAgainstType mostly non-violent change of pace film]] about the proprietor of a water hole during [[TwilightOfTheOldWest the last days of the Old West]].
17	* 1971 -- ''Film/{{Straw Dogs\|1971}}'': A nebbishy professor gets pushed to the brink and violently reasserts his masculinity. Remade in [[Film/StrawDogs2011 2011]].
18	* 1972 -- ''Film/JuniorBonner'': Another [[PlayingAgainstType uncharacteristically non-violent film]] starring Creator/{{Steve McQueen\|Actor}} as an aging rodeo bull-rider.
19	* 1972 -- ''Film/TheGetaway'': A crime caper also starring Creator/SteveMcQueenActor that was remade in 1994.
20	* 1973 -- ''Film/PatGarrettAndBillyTheKid'': Perhaps best known for being the origin of Music/BobDylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door."
21	* 1974 -- ''Film/BringMeTheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia'': A bloody [[NewOldWest modern western]].
22	* 1975 -- ''Film/TheKillerElite'': A freelance spy seeks his traitorous ex-partner.
23	* 1977 -- ''Film/CrossOfIron'': His only war film, and an inspiration for [[Creator/QuentinTarantino Tarantino]]'s ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''.
24	* 1978 -- ''Film/{{Convoy}}'': A trucker film based on the novelty country song.
25	* 1983 -- ''Film/TheOstermanWeekend'': His final film, based on the Creator/RobertLudlum novel.
26	[[/index]]
27
28	!! Sam Peckinpah's signature style includes:
29	* TheAlcoholic: His alcoholism is often reflected in his characters.
30	* AntiHero: These types of characters are the closest you'll get to anyone to root for in Peckinpah's work.
31	* AuthorAppeal: [[{{Gorn}} Extreme violence]] of course. Most of his films also features an extreme amount of alcohol being consumed, which again isn't surprising. Another common sight are cute, innocent children [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour doing morbid and disturbing things]] like torturing scorpions in ''Film/TheWildBunch'', a dog in ''Film/{{Straw Dogs\|1971}}'' and using a hangman's noose as a playground swing in ''Pat Garret and Billy the Kid''. Peckinpah seemed to believe that every passing generation became worse and less moral than the previous one, which this symbolised.
32	* ChronicallyKilledActor: L.Q. Jones (in 5 films) and Warren Oates (in 4 films) always played characters who end up getting whacked in their Peckinpah-directed film appearances. While Oates dies in all four of his, he at least makes it to the climactic shootout in three of them. R.G. Armstrong also only survives 1 out of his 4 Peckinpah-directed appearances.
33	* CreatorsOddball: Among his final directorial works were the videos for Music/JulianLennon's Top 10 1984 hits "Too Late for Goodbyes" and "Valotte".
34	* ExecutiveMeddling: Frequently a victim of it, as he made little effort to compromise with studio heads or producers. ''Film/MajorDundee'' and ''Film/PatGarrettAndBillyTheKid'' are the most extreme, though by no means the only examples. ''Film/TheWildBunch'' was a notable aversion: he worked well with producer Phil Feldman, though he disagreed with Feldman's decision to cut several scenes from the film.
35	* {{Gorn}}: Peckinpah's films are most famous for being extremely violent compared to other movies of the era, to the point where a parody of his style by ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' revolves almost entirely around a musical cast being cartoonishly mutilated. Even by 21st century standards, the violence in his films is still considered shockingly high.
36	* MagnumOpusDissonance: He reportedly preferred ''Film/TheBalladOfCableHogue'' to his more famous (and violent) works like ''Film/TheWildBunch'' and ''Film/{{Straw Dogs\|1971}}''. ''Film/BringMeTheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia'' started out this way, being one of his most personal films (and one of the few that was free of ExecutiveMeddling), that was both a box office and critical disappointment. It even got included in the influential 1978 book ''The Fifty Worst Films of All Time'' by Harry and Michael Medved. However, it has since become much better thought of (Creator/RogerEbert put it on his Great Movies List), though it still lacks the popularity and recognition of ''Film/TheWildBunch''.
37	* NewOldWest: Seen in ''Film/TheWildBunch,'' ''Film/JuniorBonner'', and ''Film/BringMeTheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia''.
38	* PigeonholedDirector: All of his feature films are either TheWestern or fall broadly into the ActionGenre. The lack of box office success for his two LighterAndSofter outings (''Film/TheBalladOfCableHogue'', ''Film/JuniorBonner'') further pushed Hollywood to limit the types of films they'd let him direct.
39	* ProductionPosse: Creator/WarrenOates, Ben Johnson, Creator/JamesCoburn, Creator/KrisKristofferson, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Creator/RGArmstrong, John Davis Chandler, Creator/DavidWarner, Cassie Yates, Aurora Clavell, Emilio Fernandez, Creator/ErnestBorgnine, Creator/SteveMcQueenActor, and Slim Pickens to name the most frequently occurring. He also frequently worked with cinematographers Lucien Ballard and John Coquillon, and composer Music/JerryFielding.
40	* RatedMForManly: Masculinity, violence and revenge are common themes. The dark and nihilistic tone of his films is sometimes read as a {{deconstruction}} of the trope.
41	* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: Firmly romantic in all of his movies, most of them being about rogues who find that there's NoPlaceForMeThere in a more modern world. The most terrifying character in all of his movies is David Sumner, a mathematician who represents the cold, emotionless, force of order and civilization who gradually becomes dehumanized as he asserts his power over a bunch of thuggish crooks.
42	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: He fell deeply onto the "cynicism" side of the spectrum, becoming nihilistic in the process.
43	* SociopathicHero: ''The Wild Bunch'' themselves, David Sumner, and Warren Oates' character in ''Alfredo Garcia''.
44	* SouthOfTheBorder: Peckinpah spent some time in Mexico as an exchange student during college, and developed an immense love for Mexican culture and history that lasted the rest of his life. ''Film/MajorDundee'', ''Film/TheWildBunch'' and ''Film/BringMeTheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia'' were all set there and filmed there as well. He also had a long RelationshipRevolvingDoor with Mexican actress Begoña Palacios, who he first met while filming ''Major Dundee''.
45	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: A major part of his films was his desire to show just how horrific violence and killing were in real life.
46	* TwilightOfTheOldWest: The end of the WildWest and the beginning of the Modern Age is a common theme in many of his best-known films like ''Film/RideTheHighCountry'', ''Film/TheWildBunch'', and ''Film/TheBalladOfCableHogue''.
47	* ViolenceIsDisturbing: As the quote above illustrates, Peckinpah made it a point to always shows violence in its most stripped down and brutal form and was determined to disabuse people of any notion that it was quick, simple or easy. A quick look at any of his films would make it clear that he succeeded.
48	* WarIsHell: War is always portrayed as brutally, unheroically and overall as nightmarishly as possible in Peckinpah's work, owing in no small part to his own experiences in the Marines during WWII.
49	* TheWestern: Many, obviously, but perhaps notably, his film Westerns are almost exclusively set in the TwilightOfTheOldWest or the NewOldWest rather than the "classic" period.
50	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: He was at one point in talks to direct ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' but was passed after he pulled out a gun during a meeting. One can only imagine what his portrayal of the character would have looked like.

Context Creator / SamPeckinpah