The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch is a 1969 American Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang on the Mexico–United States border trying to adapt to the changing modern world of 1913. The film was controversial because of its graphic violence and its portrayal of crude men attempting to survive by any available means.
Plot
In 1913 Texas, Pike Bishop, the leader of a gang of aging outlaws, is seeking retirement after one final score: the robbery of a railroad office containing a cache of silver. The gang is ambushed by Pike's former partner, Deke Thornton, who is leading a posse of bounty hunters hired and deputized by the railroad. A bloody shootout kills several members of the gang. Pike uses a serendipitous temperance union parade to shield their getaway, and many citizens are killed in the crossfire.
Awards
Cast
- Albert Dekker
- Alfonso Arau
- Aurora Clavel
- Ben Johnson
- Bill Hart
- Bo Hopkins
- Chano Urueta
- Dub Taylor
- Edmond O'Brien
- Elsa Cárdenas
- Emilio Fernández
- Enrique Lucero
- Ernest Borgnine
- Jaime Sánchez
- Jaime Sánchez Fernández
- Jorge Russek
- L. Q. Jones
- Pedro Galván
- Rayford Barnes
- Robert Ryan
- Strother Martin
- Warren Oates
- William Holden
More details
| author | Sam Peckinpah Walon Green |
|---|---|
| award | National Film Registry |
| contentLocation | Mexico Texas |
| director | Sam Peckinpah |
| editor | Lou Lombardo |
| events | Mexican Revolution |
| genre | western |
| keywords | ambush bacchanal bounty hunter capture force former partner gang member german german empire gold coin kill lose machine machine gun mexican border mexican federal army pancho villa reward rio grande river surround temperance movement temperance union u.s. army wound |
| musicBy | Jerry Fielding |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Original Score, no Musical Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay |
| producer | Phil Feldman |
| productionCompany | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts |
| publisher | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts |
| recordedAt | Mexico |
| theme | vigilante |