This, director San Peckinpah's first film, initially follows three men as the head into the Arizonan town of Gila where they intend to rob the bank. We soon learn that the group's de facto leader, a former Union Army officer known as Yellowleg, has another agenda; he wants to find the former Confederate soldier who had tried to scalp him five years before. All their plans are put on hold though when some other men try to rob the bank and Yellowleg accidentally kills a child in the shootout. Kit Tilden, the boy's mother is determined to take the boy back to the town of Siringo to be buried alongside his father; the problem is the town has been deserted for some time and is deep in hostile Apache territory. Nobody from the town is willing to escort her so Yellowleg decides that he will go with her along with his colleagues; gunslinger Billy and former rebel Turk. Turk isn't that keen to go as he wants to rob the bank but Billy is keen to go; not because he wants to help but because he has taken a shining to the redheaded Kit and means to have her whether she likes it or not. Inevitably tensions raise on the journey and ultimately Yellowleg and Kit find themselves travelling alone with a vengeful Apache taunting them.
People watching this hoping to see a typical Peckinpah bloodbath will be disappointed; this was his first feature and he didn't have full control of the picture as he would in later years. It is a fairly low budget B Western but that doesn't mean it isn't interesting; I don't think I've seen another western where the 'good guy' kills a child and has to deal with the consequences. There isn't a huge amount of action but there are some nicely tense scenes. The film isn't totally without humour either; I like how Turk kept going on about how he was going to use the proceeds of the robbery to set up his own country inside Arizona. Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara put in decent performances as Yellowleg and Kit; the chemistry between then growing as their characters get closer. While this is very much a minor Peckinpah film it is definitely worth seeing if you are a fan of his work.
People watching this hoping to see a typical Peckinpah bloodbath will be disappointed; this was his first feature and he didn't have full control of the picture as he would in later years. It is a fairly low budget B Western but that doesn't mean it isn't interesting; I don't think I've seen another western where the 'good guy' kills a child and has to deal with the consequences. There isn't a huge amount of action but there are some nicely tense scenes. The film isn't totally without humour either; I like how Turk kept going on about how he was going to use the proceeds of the robbery to set up his own country inside Arizona. Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara put in decent performances as Yellowleg and Kit; the chemistry between then growing as their characters get closer. While this is very much a minor Peckinpah film it is definitely worth seeing if you are a fan of his work.