The Wild Bunch (1969)

William Holden is Pike Bishop; Ernest Borgnine is Dutch Engstrom. They’re leaders of the Wild Bunch, a gang that dons U.S. Army uniforms to rob a bank near the border with Mexico.

In the process, they run smack dad into an ambush set up by railroad man Pat Harrigan. By the time they ride out of town, the gang’s considerably smaller. And there are innocent bystanders lying dead in the street as well.

Worse yet, when the remaining members of the Wild Bunch go to split up the loot, they realize the bags of money they’d gotten away with are really filled with nothing but steel washers.

So Pike begins plotting the gang’s next move. It’s time to start thinking beyond their guns, he’s decided. Time to pull one last job, then put the outlaw life behind them.

That one last job turns out to be stealing a shipment of arms from the U.S. Army for Gen. Mapache (Emilio Fernandez), who offers them $10,000 in return.

Problem is, Angel holds a couple of grudges against Mapache. The revolutionary leader preys on small, defenseless Mexican villages like the one Angel is from.

And, in a recent raid, Angel’s girl — Teresa — rode off with the revolutionaries to willingly become one of Mapache’s whores.

Angel’s finally convinced to participate in the theft of the weapons. But only if he’s given one box of rifles for his village.

That turns out to be a problem for his as well as the rest of this Wild Bunch.

And while the gang is dodging the U.S. Army and figuring out how to deal with a less-than-trustworthy ally in Mapache, there’s another concern.

Former gang member Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan) is on their trail, hired by the railroad with the threat that he’ll return to Yuma Prison if he doesn’t succeed in catching them.

Review:

If director Sam Peckinpah had accomplished nothing else, he would have left us with one of the most memorable openings and climatic showdowns you’ll find in a Western.

The former comes as the Wild Bunch rides into town and sees a group of young children taking delight as scorpions struggle for their life while covered in ants.

That latter comes when the Wild Bunch decide to rescue a badly tortured Angel from Mapache’s grips.

But Peckinpah accomplished much more than that, serving up a Western that runs well more than two hours and yet doesn’t seem too long, a major accomplishment if you consider some other Westerns being released at the time.

Excellent performances by the supporting cast help, including Bo Hopkins as “Crazy” Lee, the gang member left behind; Emilio Fernandez as the erratic revolutionary leader and Jorge Russek as the real leader of his revolutionary forces.

If the film strikes a sour note, it’s in the depiction of Thornton’s posse (including L.Q. Jones and Strother Martin) as complete incompetents and in Bishop’s repeated preaching about what it means to be part of the Wild Bunch.

But if you’re looking for action in a Western, this is one of the best. The story ain’t half bad either.

Directed by:
Sam Peckinpah

Cast:
William Holden … Pike Bishop
Ernest Borgnine … Dutch Engstrom
Robert Ryan … Deke Thornton
Edmond O’Brien … Freddie Sykes
Warren Oates … Lyle Gorch
Jaime Sanchez … Angel
Ben Johnson … Tector Gorch
Emilio Fernandez … Gen. Mapache
Strother Martin … Coffer
L.Q. Jones … T.C.
Albert Dekker … Pat Harrigan
Bo Hopkins … Clarence ‘Crazy’ Lee
Dub Taylor … Wainscoat
Paul Harper … Ross
Jorge Russek … Zamorra
Alfonso Arau … Herrera
Elsa Cardenas … Elsa
Sonia Amelio … Teresa
Aurora Clavel … Aurora
Lilia Castillo … Lilia

Runtime: 145 min.

Music: Sonny Burke

Memorable lines:

Clarence “Crazy” Lee, about customers in the bank being robbed that he has at gunpoint: “I’ll hold ’em ’til hell freezes over. Or you say different.”

Deke ThorNton: “Tell me, Mr. Harrigan, how does it feel? Getting paid for it? Getting paid to sit back and hire your killings? With the law’s arms around you? How does that feel to be so god dammed right?
Harrigan: “Good.”
Thornton: “You dirty son of a bitch.”
Harrigan: “You’ve got 30 days to get Pike or 30 days back to Yuma. You’re my Judas goat, Mr. Thornton.”

Gorch, realizing the loot they got from the bank are bags of washers: “We shot our way out of that town for a dollar’s worth of steel holes!”

Pike Bishop: “We gotta start thinkin past our guns. Those days are closing fast.”

Pike Bishop to Tector: “We’re gonna stick together, just like it used to be. When you side with a man, you stay with him. And if you can’t do that, you’re like some animal. You’re finished. We’re finished. All of us.”

Elderly Mexican villager: “We all dream of being a child again. Even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all.”

Angel: “Would you give someone guns to kill your father? Or your mother? Or your brother?”
Pike Bishop: “Ten thousand (dollars) cuts a lot of family ties.”

Deke Thornton to his posse: “You think Pike and Sykes aren’t watching us? They know what this is all about. And what do I have? Nothing but you egg-sucking, chicken-stealing gutter trash. With not even 60 rounds between you. We’re after men. And I wish to God I was with them. The next time you make a mistake, I’m going to ride off and let you die.”

Dutch: “Damn that Deke Thornton to hell.”
Pike Bishop: “What would you do in his place? He gave his word.”
Dutch: “He gave his word to a railroad.”
Pike: “It’s his word!”
Dutch: “That ain’t what counts. It’s who you give it to.”