The Deadly Companions

First feature film by Sam Peckinpah, who was hired due to his experience directing half-hour episodes of "Have Gun, Will Travel," and "The Westerner." The film, though weak in spots, is an auspicious debut and especially interesting if compared to the director's body of work. The plot, though contrived (Peckinpah was not allowed to change the script--always a bad sign for this director), has enough compelling elements that the viewer is willing to accept the coincidences that force the narrative along. Keith plays a bitter, obsessed gunslinger who accidentally kills dance-hall girl O'Hara's son in a gunfight. Out of guilt, Keith accompanies the woman on a trek into...