The Insane True Story of Bloody Sam Peckinpah

Did you know that Sam Peckinpah was fired amidst the production of multiple pictures before getting the chance to direct his classic Western film The Wild Bunch and that he worked with actors such as L.Q. Jones and Warren Oates on numerous occasions? Sam Peckinpah was a legendary director best known for directing such features as The Wild Bunch and The Getaway. The Wild Bunch hit theaters in 1969, proving a big shock for audience members who were used to traditional Westerns. The film was a good deal more violent and amoral than traditional genre entries of the past, though this amorality came with a message.

▬Contents of this video▬
00:00 - Intro
00:15 - The Director of The Wild Bunch Was Truly Wild
01:44 - Ride the High Country Featured Members of “Peckinpah’s Posse”
03:23 - Sam Had a Good Deal of Frontier Heart
04:57 - Sam Was a Director with Lots of Integrity
06:22 - The End of “Bloody” Sam Peckinpah
06:48 - Outro

Sam intended The Wild Bunch as a critique on the Vietnam War, and he was adamant that the violence he intended to be in the film stay in it despite any controversy. Sam had previously lost fights on pictures in the editing room, and The Wild Bunch ended up being the first film that Sam was able to deliver to cinema screens the way he intended. Perhaps, as a result, The Wild Bunch ended up being a career-defining hit for the filmmaker, and producers were subsequently less questioning of his creative choices.

The Wild Bunch was considered so violent and controversial for its time that it led to its director receiving the nickname of “Bloody” Sam Peckinpah. The director would live up to this nickname in his ensuing career with such controversial classics as the Dustin Hoffman-starring Straw Dogs. Join Facts Verse as we take a look at the insane true story of “Bloody” Sam Peckinpah.

The Insane True Story of Bloody Sam Peckinpah

[taratupa]

'The Getaway' is my favorite of his films. I watch it at least once a year.

[bobcobb]

Seems your video is pretty light on facts. Wild Bunch shocked audiences because it was the first big budget western made after the Production Code was done away with in lieu of the MPAA rating system. Prior to then, most American audiences hadn’t seen violence on that scale. But the “Bloody Sam” nickname was also media hyperbole. Immediately after Wild Bunch, Peckinpah made 2 films with little to no violence at all, “The Ballad of Cable Hogue” and “Junior Bonner, ” which are both wonderful movies that didn’t get an audience at the time. Sam famously said “When I make a violent movie, people complain, but when I make a non-violent movie, they don’t even show up.”

[payazokoki]

No mention of the cross of iron? That’s one superb violent film!

[wanderlusttrail]

My favorite movie of all time since i was 13 is and always will be " THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE ". I AM 64 NOW. It influenced my entire life. I loved the free-spirited wanderer aspect. Taking life as it came, rather than planning and making a certain life happen.

[avejoe]

Sam was an iconic director. The Wild Bunch and Ride the High Country is my favorite films. Great Director, Amazing Man!

[Zyworski]

My favorite movie is The Getaway. I don't what movie the best scene comes from but it is the one with the horses charging across a shallow river in slow motion.

[docmach]

Greatest quote regarding him;
"It was directed by Sam Peckinpah, so you know most of the people at the beginning of the movie WON'T be in the end."

[allensagalla]

"The Big 3" for me would be "The Wild Bunch" "The Getaway" & "Straw Dogs" 😃

[stevencoffin]

I think his best and my personal favorite is "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia". It was unfairly lambasted by the critics when it was released for being so dark in tone but I love the movie.

[johnfitzpatrick]

My favorite Peckinpah film is The Wild Bunch. On the other hand, I believe that Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is the film that truly got his vision on the screen intact.

[carlossantiago]

You forgot to mention the actor Strother Martin he was part of that group with lq and Warren Oates he was in the Wild Bunch and a hell of an actor thanks for the video

[chrishoward]

His nickname was "Bloody Sam" and not "Bloody" Sam. The Peckinpah Posse was was group of authors who included Garner Simmons, David Weddle and Paul Seydor. The actors who found favor and subsequent work were known as the 'Peckinpah stock company'. His first movie was called The Deadly Companions. Next came Ride the High Country which garnered a fair bit of praise overseas and subsequently was re-evalued in the U.S. He was fired from Major Dundee after the film was handed over to Columbia. Charlton Heston backed the directorduring the shoot and pursuaded Columbia to let the director stay and finish his picture or else he would quit along with many of the cast if the fired Peckinpah. It was the music from Major Dundee that Peckinpah railed against the most and not Ride the High Country as your video states.

[cadeevans]

Never heard of this story interesting thanks for sharing

[billybrownsolo]

It doesn't get any better then PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID...thank you Sam

[cld]

For me, Sam Peckinpah is one of the greatest Directors ever.
He had his Ups & Downs, but he never made a bad movie.
Even drunk as shit and high of coke, he made better movies than 95% of Hollywood Filmmakers today.

❤Sam Peckinpah❤

[Riz]

I think the wild bunch is his all time classic

[jacko]

One of my favourite “Peckinpah Films” is one he ironically never actually directed…
The film ‘A Boy and His Dog’ is directed by frequent collaborator L. Q. Jones, however you can clearly see he learned his trade from the films he made with Sam as his directorial style & trademarks are all over this picture (that said I think the film would be far better & more appreciated if it was actually directed by Sam himself)

[KentRapelje]

My favorite Peckinpah? Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, the posthumous Turner version.

[bryantbarth]

What do you think of Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid?

[ismailmayet]

The Wild Bunch Is A Really Good Western And Straw Dogs Is Absolutely Brilliant