Sam Peckinpah

Directing

Sam Peckinpah

Born 1925-02-21 · Fresno, California, United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch (1969). He was known for the innovative and explicit depiction of action and violence, as well as his revisionist approach to the Western genre. Peckinpah's films generally deal with the conflict between values and ideals, and the corruption of violence in human society. He was given the nickname "Bloody Sam" owing to the violence in his films. His characters are often loners or losers who desire to be honorable, but are forced to compromise in order to survive in a world of nihilism and brutality. Peckinpah's combative personality, marked by years of alcohol and drug abuse, has often overshadowed his professional legacy. Many of his films were noted for behind-the-scenes battles with producers and crew members, damaging his reputation and career during his lifetime. Many of his films, such as Straw Dogs (1971), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), remain controversial. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sam Peckinpah, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Convoy poster
6.3

Trucker Rubber Duck and his buddies Pig Pen, Widow Woman and Spider Mike use their CB radios to warn one another of the presence of cops. But conniving Sheriff Wallace is hip to the truckers' tactics, and begins tricking the drivers through his own CB broadcasts. Facing constant harassment from the law, Rubber Duck and his pals use their radios to coordinate a vast convoy and rule the road.

Convoy

1978

Invasion of the Body Snatchers poster
7.5

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1956

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid poster
7.2

Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

1973

The Visitor poster
5.3

An ancient intergalactic warrior arrives on Earth to put a stop to a demonic child's plot to reproduce Satan's next generation of evil.

The Visitor

1979

The Osterman Weekend poster
5.6

The host of an investigative news show is convinced by the CIA that the friends he has invited to a weekend in the country are engaged in a conspiracy that threatens national security.

The Osterman Weekend

1983

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood poster
7.1

The chronicle of the mind-blowing journey that was Hollywood during the seventies; the true and gripping story of the last golden age of American cinema, an exalted celebration of creativity and experimentation; but also of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll: a turbulent and dark tale of ambition, envy, betrayal, hatred and self-destruction.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

2003

Wichita poster
6.3

Former buffalo hunter and entrepreneur Wyatt Earp arrives in the lawless cattle town of Wichita Kansas. His skill as a gun-fighter makes him a perfect candidate for Marshal, but he refuses the job until he feels morally obligated to bring law and order to this wild town.

Wichita

1955

Filmmakers in Action poster
7.2

What is the state of cinema and what being a filmmaker means? What are the measures taken to protect authors' copyright? What is their legal status in different countries? (Sequel to “Filmmakers vs. Tycoons.”)

Filmmakers in Action

2006

Junior Bonner poster
6.1

With his bronco-busting career on its last legs, Junior Bonner heads to his hometown to try his luck in the annual rodeo. But his fond childhood memories are shattered when he finds his family torn apart by his greedy brother and hard-drinking father.

Junior Bonner

1972

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade poster
8.0

An account of the life and work of American film director Sam Peckinpah (1925-84), a tortured artist whose genius and inner demons changed the Western genre forever.

Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade

2004

China 9, Liberty 37 poster
5.4

Gunslinger Clayton Drumm is about to be hanged when he is given a chance to live if he agrees to murder Matthew, a miner who has steadfastly refused to sell his land to the railroad company. Matthew’s refusal is a major obstacle to the railroad’s plans for expansion.

China 9, Liberty 37

1978

An Annapolis Story poster
4.3

Two brothers, both cadets at Annapolis, fall in love with the same girl.

An Annapolis Story

1955

On Location: Dustin Hoffman poster
8.0

Profile of actor Dustin Hoffman on the set of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 film STRAW DOGS.

On Location: Dustin Hoffman

1971

Dial Red O poster
5.2

The first of the five films where Bill Elliott played a detective lieutenant in the L.A Sheriff's department, Dial Red "O" (the correct title with the number 0 (zero), as on a telephone dial, shown in ") opens with war-torn veteran Ralph Wyatt getting word that his wife is divorcing him, and he flees the psychiatric ward of the veteran's hospital, wanting to talk to her. His escape touches off an all-out manhunt, led by Lieutenant Andy Flynn of the sheriff's department.

Dial Red O

1955

Passion & Poetry: Getaway in Texas poster
NR

A documentary about the making of Sam Peckinpah's 1972 classic film The Getaway.

Passion & Poetry: Getaway in Texas

2025

Passion & Poetry: Sam's Final Cut poster
NR

A documentary about Sam Peckinpah's personal director's cut of his last film The Osterman Weekend (1983); recently restored by film historian Mike Siegel. Siegel documents the discovery and acquisition of the 35mm print after 24 years of unprotected storage; outlining the process of cleaning and scanning the film as well as some assets now lost to time.

Passion & Poetry: Sam's Final Cut

2022

A Tied Blasé poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

A Tied Blasé

1981

Behind the camera

Convoy poster
6.3

Trucker Rubber Duck and his buddies Pig Pen, Widow Woman and Spider Mike use their CB radios to warn one another of the presence of cops. But conniving Sheriff Wallace is hip to the truckers' tactics, and begins tricking the drivers through his own CB broadcasts. Facing constant harassment from the law, Rubber Duck and his pals use their radios to coordinate a vast convoy and rule the road.

Convoy

1978

The Getaway poster
7.1

A recently released ex-convict and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes wrong.

The Getaway

1972

The Wild Bunch poster
7.6

An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.

The Wild Bunch

1969

The Wild Bunch poster
7.6

An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.

The Wild Bunch

1969

Straw Dogs poster
7.1

David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.

Straw Dogs

1971

Straw Dogs poster
7.1

David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.

Straw Dogs

1971

Cross of Iron poster
7.1

It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.

Cross of Iron

1977

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid poster
7.2

Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.

Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

1973

Ride the High Country poster
7.1

An ex-lawman is hired to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. But what he doesn't realize is that his partner and old friend is plotting to double-cross him.

Ride the High Country

1962

Major Dundee poster
6.7

During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners and scouts on an expedition into Mexico to destroy a band of Apaches who have been raiding U.S. bases in Texas.

Major Dundee

1965

Major Dundee poster
6.7

During the last winter of the Civil War, cavalry officer Amos Dundee leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners and scouts on an expedition into Mexico to destroy a band of Apaches who have been raiding U.S. bases in Texas.

Major Dundee

1965

Villa Rides poster
6.2

Pulled into the Mexican Revolution by his own greed, Texas gunrunner and pilot Lee Arnold joins bandit-turned-patriot Pancho Villa and his band of dedicated men in a march across Mexico battling the Colorados and stealing women's hearts as they go. But each has a nemesis among his friends: Arnold is tormented by Fierro, Villa's right-hand-man; and Villa must face possible betrayal by his own president's naiveté

Villa Rides

1968

The Ballad of Cable Hogue poster
7.0

Double-crossed and left without water in the desert, Cable Hogue is saved when he finds a spring. It is in just the right spot for a much needed rest stop on the local stagecoach line, and Hogue uses this to his advantage. He builds a house and makes money off the stagecoach passengers. Hildy, a prostitute from the nearest town, moves in with him. Hogue has everything going his way until the advent of the automobile ends the era of the stagecoach.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue

1970

The Ballad of Cable Hogue poster
7.0

Double-crossed and left without water in the desert, Cable Hogue is saved when he finds a spring. It is in just the right spot for a much needed rest stop on the local stagecoach line, and Hogue uses this to his advantage. He builds a house and makes money off the stagecoach passengers. Hildy, a prostitute from the nearest town, moves in with him. Hogue has everything going his way until the advent of the automobile ends the era of the stagecoach.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue

1970

The Killer Elite poster
5.8

Mike Locken is one of the principal members of a group of freelance spies. A significant portion of their work is for the CIA, and while on a case for them one of his friends turns on him and shoots him in the elbow and knee. His assignment, to protect someone, goes down in flames. He is nearly crippled, but with braces is able to again become mobile. For revenge as much as anything else, Mike goes after his ex-friend.

The Killer Elite

1975

The Osterman Weekend poster
5.6

The host of an investigative news show is convinced by the CIA that the friends he has invited to a weekend in the country are engaged in a conspiracy that threatens national security.

The Osterman Weekend

1983

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia poster
7.1

An American bartender and his prostitute girlfriend go on a road trip through the Mexican underworld to collect a $1 million bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

1974

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia poster
7.1

An American bartender and his prostitute girlfriend go on a road trip through the Mexican underworld to collect a $1 million bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

1974

The Glory Guys poster
6.5

Though a fictionalized Western based on George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the film is almost a generic war story covering the enlistment, training, and operational deployment of a group of recruits that could take place in any time period.

The Glory Guys

1965

Junior Bonner poster
6.1

With his bronco-busting career on its last legs, Junior Bonner heads to his hometown to try his luck in the annual rodeo. But his fond childhood memories are shattered when he finds his family torn apart by his greedy brother and hard-drinking father.

Junior Bonner

1972

The Deadly Companions poster
5.6

An ex-army officer accidentally kills a woman's son and tries to make up for it by escorting the funeral procession through dangerous Indian territory.

The Deadly Companions

1961

The Losers poster
NR

A couple of hard-drinking cardsharp drifters find themselves in the unlikely situation of having to play Cupid. A TV movie / episode of The Dick Powell Theatre.

The Losers

1963

The Losers poster
NR

A couple of hard-drinking cardsharp drifters find themselves in the unlikely situation of having to play Cupid. A TV movie / episode of The Dick Powell Theatre.

The Losers

1963

Noon Wine poster
7.0

A dark tragedy about a farmer's futile act of homicide that takes place on a small dairy farm in southern Texas during the 1890s. Sam Peckinpah directed this original adaptation of the Katherine Anne Porter novel for ABC, and the project became an hour-long presentation for ABC Stage 67, premiering on Nov. 23, 1966.

Noon Wine

1966