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The Wild Bunch Overview:

The Wild Bunch (1969) was a Action - Western Film directed by Sam Peckinpah and produced by Phil Feldman and Roy N. Sickner.

The Wild Bunch was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999.

Academy Awards 1969 --- Ceremony Number 42 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Music - ScoringJerry FieldingNominated
Best WritingStory by Walon Green, Roy N. Sickner; Screenplay by Walon Green, Sam PeckinpahNominated
See More Oscar Winners

The Wild Bunch BlogHub Articles:

The Wild Bunch (1969)

By Beatrice on Apr 23, 2020 From Flickers in Time

The Wild Bunch Directed by Sam Peckinpah Written by Walon Green, Sam Peckinpah, and Roy N. Sickner 1969/US First viewing/Amazon Instant One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die This bloody, violent Western holds out little hope for humanity.  Maybe not the thing for the disgusted during Lockd... Read full article

The Wild Bunch - Looking Back on Peckinpah's Classic After 50 Years

By Rick29 on Oct 16, 2019 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

William Holden in The Wild Bunch. Fifty years ago, two of American cinema's most influential Westerns were released: the revisionist Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. Neither film staved off the decline of the Western genre, but each impacted Hollywood in signif... Read full article

The Wild Bunch (1969, Sam Peckinpah), the director’s cut

By Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 15, 2017 From The Stop Button

The Wild Bunch opens with a methodically executed heist slash shootout sequence. Director Peckinpah quickly introduces cast members, partially due to the dramatic plotting, mostly due to Lou Lombardo’s fantastic editing. All juxtaposed with some kids watching ants kill scorpions. The Wild Bunch op... Read full article

The Wild Bunch (1969)

By smumcountry on Jan 21, 2015 From Smum County

January 21, 2015 by smumcounty It’s 1913. A band of outlaws in Texas headed by Pike Bishop (William Holden) are looking to make one more big score so they can retire. To that end they plan the robbery of a railroad office which reportedly has a safe full of silver coins. They manage to ride into t... Read full article

The Wild Bunch (1969)

By smumcountry on Jan 21, 2015 From Smum County

January 21, 2015 by smumcounty It’s 1913. A band of outlaws in Texas headed by Pike Bishop (William Holden) are looking to make one more big score so they can retire. To that end they plan the robbery of a railroad office which reportedly has a safe full of silver coins. They manage to ride into t... Read full article

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The Wild Bunch Quotes:

Pike Bishop: I'd like to make one good score and back off...
Dutch Engstrom: Back off to what?
Pike Bishop: He gave his word.
Dutch Engstrom: He gave his word to a railroad.
Pike Bishop: It's his word.
Dutch Engstrom: That ain't what counts! It's who you give it *to*!
Dutch Engstrom: Pike; "I wouldn't have it any other way", *either*!
[first lines]
[indistinct voices]
Rev. Wainscoat: Do not drink wine or strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, least ye shall die. Look not though upon the wine when it is red, and when it bringeth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright at the last, it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Now folks, that's from the Good Book, but in this here town it's five cents a glass.
Pike Bishop: You boys want to move on or stay here and give him a... decent burial?
Tector Gorch: He was a good man, and I think we oughta bury him.
Pike Bishop: He's DEAD! And he's got a lot of good men back there to keep him company!
Lyle Gorch: Too damn many!
Dutch Engstrom: [removes his hat] I think the boys are right. I'd like to say a few words for the dear, dead departed. And maybe a few hymns'd be in order. Followed by a church supper. With a choir!
Lyle Gorch: You crazy bastards! Both of ya!
See More Quotes from The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch Facts
When Warren Oates emerges from under the bridge right before the Wild bunch begin their assault on the train, a large penis has clearly been drawn on the bridge to the left of where he enters.
This film was adapted from a story thought up by Roy N. Sickner, an actor and stuntman. Writer Walon Green wrote the script, which was then rewritten by Sam Peckinpah. Green felt that Peckinpah's rewrite was substantial enough to deserve credit, but Green had to lobby the writer's guild to allow Peckinpah a credit. Green has always said he was grateful to Peckinpah for not rewriting too much of the script just to get credit. Green, Sickner and Peckinpah all shared Academy award nominations for best screenplay (the only Oscar nomination Peckinpah ever received in his entire career.) They didn't win.
Deke Thornton describes Gen. Mapache as "a killer for Huerta". He was referring to real-life Gen. Victoriano Huerta, who had overthrown and murdered Mexican President Francisco I. Madero in 1913, setting off a civil war. The Mexican town this film was shot in, Parras in Coahuila state, was Madero's birthplace.
The role of Gen. Mapache was first offered to the German-Italian actor Mario Adorf. Adorf declined the offer when he learned that his character would cut a boy's throat, but regretted his decision three years later when he saw the movie.
Excluding the start and end credits, this film contains about 2,721 edits in about 138 minutes of action. This equates to an average shot length of three seconds. The "Shootout at Bloody Porch" contains about 325 edits in five minutes of action, for an average shot length slightly under one second.
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