The decline of the west under the encroachment of the industrialised east is a major theme in Peckinpah’s movies, illustrated by the preparations for world war one in The Wild Bunch (US, 1969). It is visually revealed in Pat Garrett by the crumbling ruins of Fort Sumner; a key location as it book ends the film. To strengthen this theme, there are numerous motifs for time changing (clocks, the picket fence around Pats house, Sheriff Baker’s unfinished boat and the aged photographs on the walls of Pete Maxwell’s residence). Furthermore, countless tales of the past are recited, including anecdotes of murder and fatality – symbolising the demise of the old era. Peckinpah often supports this theme by peppering his films with emblems of death, such as fire, nooses, coffins and guns. This is intensified in Pat Garrett by Will the coffin maker. He comments that the old west is over: “You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna put everything I own in here. I’m gonna bury it and leave the territory”. Also, the juxtaposition of innocence and death is highlighted when children play on the noose that Billy is scheduled to die on. Coupled with the presence of the US flag, this signifies the impending termination of hope and freedom – vital components of the ‘wild’ west.
In the film, capitalism is pronounced to be violent and honourless. When Billy and Alias hunt for turkeys, a member of Billy’s gang is ambushed and murdered by a large group of Chisum’s employees. The lone rider ideal is being executed by corporate America. The personification of this new rule is John Poe, demonstrated when he stays with three veterans from the west during his pursuit of Billy. He forces the men to disclose the outlaw’s whereabouts by a display of violence and aggression. Nonetheless, when he is given the opportunity, he fails to harm Billy; the spirit of Billy and the old west cannot be eradicated by capitalism. This is reinforced earlier in the film, when Billy tells J.W. Bell how Pat “signed himself over to Chisum and every god damned land owner that tried to put a fence around this country”. This is combined with a shot of wild horses within a pen, highlighting that the west’s spirit can be restricted, but not destroyed.
Peckinpah’s principal characters are often old friends on either side of the law. Their friendship is never lost, illustrated when Steve and Gil fight side by side in the climactic showdown of Ride the High Country (US, 1962). In addition, these relationships contain homosexual undertones, exemplified by The Killer Elite’s Mike and George. Many moments are shared between the two, such as when George seems to admire his partner’s showered naked body.
The audience is frequently reminded of Pat and Billy’s former alliance. The changing of time and values coerces the characters to choose whether they are for the law or against it. Pat opts to join Chisum and become Sheriff: “this country’s getting old and I aim to get old with it”. Billy simply becomes more lawless, planning to stay alive at all costs. Consequently, Billy performs several acts of inequitable violence, like cheatingly killing Alamosa Bill in a showdown. Despite this, Pat and Billy display innumerable likenesses. To emphasise this, they are paralleled in various scenes. During their cross-country journeying, comparable shots depict a mirroring crosscut. Also, as Pat rests at the saloon, Billy relaxes at a similar looking Training Post. Both characters encounter previous acquaintances on their travels, such as Pete, Lemuel and Sheriff Baker. At one point, Pat even visits Billy’s favourite whore, Ruthy Lee. The bond between the two signifies that Pats spirit will always be akin to Billy’s, regardless of his behaviour.
The spirit and freedom that distinguished the west is embodied by Billy, accentuated by his prison escape. His death symbolises the west’s regression – both Billy and his values refuse to conform to the regulations capitalism stipulates. Therefore the west’s spirit stays untarnished. As is usual with Peckinpah, children populate many of the scenes in Pat Garrett, enhancing the youthful essence of the ‘old’ west. Furthermore, Billy and Alias commonly behave child-like, strengthening this theme. Their turkey hunt, for example, results in the pair galloping about playfully. Billy’s naivety also typifies his exposé of youth, believing that his west will never grow old: “times may be [changing], but not me”. The ironic casting of Kris Kristofferson insinuates the notion that Billy believes he too will remain young. Kristofferson is 37 – sixteen years older than his character. The theme of liberty is augmented by Billy’s discussion with Alias regarding Mexico – a motif for freedom in all westerns. The unbound Alias explains, “I could live anywhere…I could leave anywhere too”. This implies that its spirit, which can exist in all places, defines the west. This comment also hints at the films outcome by outlining that freedom can depart areas as well.
Alias is a spectator to numerous events in the movie, like Billy’s prison escape and Alamosa’s appointment as Pat’s deputy. He symbolises a nameless, faceless society watching the surrounding world collapse. He is the pure ‘kid’, representing independence, which exists within Billy. Alias and Billy, clarified by their frequent dialogue swap, display another of the film’s parallels. They mirror each other constantly and both characterize the same things. In many scenes the two have children around them, amplifying their distillation of youth. The pair epitomise the west’s last hope, facilitated by Billy’s mirroring of Christ³. When Billy dies, Alias also appears defeated, purporting that society could do little but accept the west’s deterioration.
Pat deals with the west’s transition somewhat differently. The meeting he attends with Governor Wallace depicts the moral dilemma Pat discovers himself in. Pat does announce that he will capture Billy, stressing his longing for survival. Contrastingly, he rejects the money offered for this deed, indicating his loyalty to the west. This quandary is underlined when he meets Sheriff Baker. Pat declares that “it’s a job!”, but his demeanour suggests that his heart is elsewhere.
A stark contrast is established between Pat and the character of Poe, who was never part of the old west: “I never rode through here before”. He incarnates the capitalist east, possessing differing values to Pat. This is explicated through minor disparities, such as Poe electing to dine at Chisum’s residence. Pat decides against this, enunciating that he is not entirely on Chisum’s side. Pat and Poe display further dissimilarities when they visit Lemuel’s saloon. As they sit down, their hats are positioned diversely on the table – Poe’s facing up, and to the future, and Pat’s facing down to his past. Finally, their distinctions are typified in a discourse they have, articulating their beliefs. Poe remarks “Chisum is a fine man. Country’s gotta make a choice. Time’s over for drifters and outlaws. Just got no backbone”. Pat angrily retaliates, defending Billy and his principles. His fury also insinuates that he observes the truth in Poe’s words. Pat is actually enraged with himself, as he has selected to fight for Poe’s ideals by joining Chisum.
The character of Beaver, another member of Billy’s entourage, also personifies youth. His entire dialogue is constructed of lines he repeats from other characters. In the saloon, for instance, Lemuel complains, “They’ve been patronising me real good”, Beaver then states, “We’ve been patronising him real good!”. By regurgitating dialogue, Beaver depicts a young boy who has yet to learn how to think independently. Moreover, he illustrates how Billy’s gang are echoes of what the older generation were once like.
Lemuel represents a voice of truth in the film. He describes how “Pat was like a daddy to that boy [Billy]” – the only character to comment on their father-son relationship. Lemuel also affirms how Pat is aspiring to make himself feel young again, “like Billy”. This is true as Pats quest for survival is an attempt to regain his youth, elucidated by his orgy with four prostitutes.
The costumes that Peckinpah’s characters wear also offer significance. When a character wears a poncho, a symbol of Mexico, they personify freedom. When Pat initially arrives at Sumner, he dresses in a poncho. Nonetheless, his black suit, a motif for death and capitalism, is resting underneath, accentuating Pat’s juxtaposition of the two ideals. In this scene, Billy wears a black suit, referring to their previous spell on opposite sides of the law – Billy for Chisum and Pat for the outlaws. When Pat arrests Billy, their costumes have exchanged. Billy now spearheads the outlaws and Pat works for Lincoln.
Pat Garrett exhibits an abundance of typical Peckinpah themes. Father-son relationships, for example, are also prevalent in Cross of Iron (UK/Germany, 1977) when Corporal Steiner adopts the young Russian POW. Rudolph Wurlitzer, the writer of Pat Garrett described the film as “a kind of father-son film, with a close friendship and a type of fatalism about death that I think particularly appeals to Peckinpah”4. Pat acts as a father figure to the entire west, referring to Alias and the barber’s son as ‘boy’. Another common Peckinpah theme is loyalty versus betrayal, most palpable in The Killer Elite when the deceitful George makes an enemy out of Mike. Along with Pat’s betrayal of Billy, several other codes of honour are ignored, such as when Billy shoots J.W. Bell from behind. Conversely, many examples of loyalty inhabit the movie. When Billy is asked why he did not kill Pat, he replies, “Why? He’s my friend”. Sheriff Baker also conveys honour when he declines Pat’s gold coin – unlike Pat; he wishes not to sell out.
Self-destruction is another key facet within Peckinpah’s work. In Convoy (US, 1978), it is visually demonstrated as ‘The Duck’ drives his vehicle onto the bridge and into certain explosion. Symbolising a kind of suicide, Pat annihilates his own reflection after he kills Billy – the image of who Pat used to be. The crosscutting during the films prologue/epilogue sequence reinforces this. Editing makes it seem that Billy is shooting Pat. The final shot at Pat comes from Garrett himself, intensifying the theme of suicide.
Masculinity is another customary Peckinpah theme, illustrated through Cross of Iron’s Corporal Steiner. He opts to fight with his friends, rather than settle down with a woman. Often incorporated into this masculinity is the mistreatment of women, exemplified by the double-rape scene in Straw Dogs (UK, 1971). Pat Garrett exhibits macho behaviour when Billy and friends shoot chickens. Furthermore, women are little more than sex objects, expounded by Maria’s lack of dialogue.
The operation of slow-motion violence is the trademark most associated with Peckinpah. He employs this technique to show his fascination and repulsion of violence, providing a different meaning in each movie. In Junior Bonner, it occurs when Ace Bonner’s house is being pulled down, highlighting the tragedy when memories are destroyed. In Pat Garrett, it is expressed when J.W. Bell gets shot and again, when Billy dies, signifying the poignant demise of characters and society.
The films violence also has social connotations. The casting implies that Pat Garrett is in opposition to America’s Vietnam policy. Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, America’s youthful protesters, mirror the wests protagonists. Furthermore, western icons, such as Slim Pickens, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Jack Elam, Richard Jaeckel, Elisha Cook Jr. and Dub Taylor, symbolise the old west. Newcomers to the genre, Barry Sullivan (Chisum) and John Beck (Poe), heighten the launch of capitalism in the west. Most notably was the casting of James Coburn as Pat – an actor positioned between the heroic past and self serving future with films like Major Dundee, The Magnificent Seven (dir: John Sturges, US, 1960) and A Fistful of Dynamite (dir: Sergio Leone, Italy, 1971).
All the above themes portray chief Peckinpah messages: the importance of values and the pain of compromising them and that life is just a game, albeit a serious, deadly one.
Following my investigation of Sam Peckinpah and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, I believe Peckinpah to be a typical auteur, portraying recurring aspects of style and theme in his work. The alternate meanings he conjures from techniques such as slow motion, is his most imperative characteristic as an auteur. From my examination, I believe auteurs to exist in USA and Sam Peckinpah is an example of this.
Word count – 2, 708
¹ Auteurs, taken from Adventures in the Screen Trade, Goldman, W.
² Peckinpah Revisited, taken from The Western Reader, Kitses, J.
³ In The Western Reader, Jim Kitses talks of the comparison between Billy and Christ. In the film, this is emblemised by Billy’s crucifix stance when arrested and later when killed. Many references to Christ are made, such as when Bob Ollinger demands that Billy “repent to Jesus”. Moreover, as he prepares to shoot Bob, Billy comments “How’s Jesus look to you now, Bob?”, suggesting his parallel with Christ. This is intensified when he returns to Fort Sumner after his jailbreak. Billy’s gang are startled he escaped, emulating Christ’s resurrection. In the movie, Pat acts as the Judas figure. This is illuminated by his early confrontation with Billy when Pat warns of his disloyalty. A similar discussion is had between Judas and Jesus before the betrayal of Christ. In addition, smaller references transpire within the film, such as ‘the last supper’ Billy shares with Alamosa prior to their showdown. The importance of the Christ parallel is that it portrays Billy as the saviour of the west, exhibited when he rescues Paco and family from Chisum’s thugs.
4 Sam Peckinpah, taken from Sight and Sound (October 1995)
Filmography
The Magnificent Seven (dir: John Sturges, US, 1960)
The Deadly Companions (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1961)
Ride the High Country (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1962)
Major Dundee (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1965)
The Wild Bunch (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1969)
The Ballad of Cable Hogue (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1970)
Straw Dogs (dir: Sam Peckinpah, UK, 1971)
A Fistful of Dynamite (dir: Sergio Leone, Italy, 1971)
Junior Bonner (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1972)
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1973)
Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US/Mexico, 1974)
The Killer Elite (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1975)
Cross of Iron (dir: Sam Peckinpah, UK/Germany, 1977)
Convoy (dir: Sam Peckinpah, US, 1978)
Bibliography
Adventures in the Screen Trade, Goldman, W., Futura (1985)
Film Art: An Introduction, Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K., McGraw-Hill (2000)
Moments of Choice, Perkins, V. F. (1980)
The Western Reader, Ed. Kitses, J. and Rickman, G., Limelight Editions (1998)
Toward a Theory of Film History, Sarris, A. (1963)
Who Makes the Movies?, Vidal, G. (1976)
Sight and Sound (October 1995)
