Steve Martin Movie:

Editorial Review:
With its small cast, character-driven story, and modest production values, Sam Peckinpah's first feature film seems very like another of his TV Western dramas--just one that happened to get shot in Panavision. The director's favorite TV actor, Brian Keith, plays a surly loner named Yellowleg who ventures into Indian country with a dance-hall girl (Maureen O'Hara), the corpse of her little boy, and a pair of marginally human specimens (Steve Cochran and Chill Wills) who more than justify the title. Everybody has, or seems to have, a guilty or shameful secret: Why does Yellowleg keep his hat on? Was Kit (O'Hara) a widow, or a whore? Action, menace, and ethical dialogues come and go pretty much according to TV rhythms, and the visuals and editing are conventional. But there's enough quirky character work and offbeat mood-making to hint at the singular filmmaker soon to arrive big-time. --Richard T. Jameson

Deadly Companions Reviews:
Five stars for the movie, zero stars for the DVD
2009-03-06 - What a shameful presentation of the first great Peckinpah. 1961 the directorial debut of Sam the Man anticipated not only the Italo Western but most of the other great Westerns to come until Tombstone and Deadwood. The relation of a man who helps a mother to bury the son he killed is one of the strongest love stories ever filmed in Apache county and beyond. Two bruised souls shine bright in the dirt. Maureen O`Hara and Brian Keith, the deadly companions fully deserve a fully restored widescreen release.

WOW
2009-01-12 - I have to really be in the mood to sit & watch a western unless it cantains John Wayne, but I really did like the story line and ENJOYED the movie more than I thought I would. I suppose being a fan of more than one star in this movie allowed me to truly enjoy the movie.I think this movie is better than a LOT of the garbage they try to have us pay to see now. Maureen O'Hara is as always...dedicated and pure in her portrayal. Brian Keith ...I have to admit he does serious well. Chill Wills GREAT.If you just want to relax and root for Justice, this has it. If you want to see a love story bloom, this has it.

Peckinpah's apprenticeship film is fascinating for fans
2009-01-09 - There are many flaws in Peckinpah's first feature (a low budget Western) but it is fascinating for fans of this director. So many of his fingerprints are here:
- Peckinpah's unsympathetic handling of the lead female character. He always struggled to portray women in anything but one dimension. Peckinpah's sympathies definitely lie with he-man male played by Brian Keith who is brilliant.
- A slimy companion (Chill Wills) who is the prototype for so many other slimy sidekicks in Peckinpah films.
- Those telling little Peckinpah details.
The music in the film is mostly terrible and the script banal but Peckinpah striking direction makes it interesting as he builds the film to a surprisingly satisfying conclusion.

As other have stated it is simply criminal that this film is presented on in Full-Frame.

Verging on "Deadly Dull"
2008-06-05 - This 1961 Western has a lot going for it: It stars Brian Keith and the beautiful Maureen O'Hara, who had such great chemistry in "The Parent Trap," released the very same year. It's Sam Peckinpah's directorial debut in motion pictures; most people reading this know that Peckinpah went on to become a highly acclaimed director with such notable efforts as 1969's "The Wild Bunch." In addition, "The Deadly Companions" was filmed on location in Arizona (including Old Tucson); you can't beat Arizona for fine, authentic Western locations. Lastly, the picture only runs 90 minutes, so it won't likely wear out its welcome.

THE STORY: Keith's character vengefully searches for a scumbag who tried to scalp him alive 5 years earlier and accidently kills a beautiful saloon girl's son. Feeling guilty, he offers to escort her to the ghost town where the boy's father was buried so she can bury the son as well. There's two problems: They have to go through injun territory and two lowlifes accompany them most of the way.

BOTTOM LINE: On paper this sounds like it would be a worthwhile Western, unfortunately it never rises above mediocre, and dangerously verges on being deadly dull. Plus the viewer can hardly see what's going on during the numerous (brief) night sequences. Moreover, two of the main characters are incredibly unlikable (which can be defended on the grounds that they're the real villains of the story). Hence, I can only recommend "The Deadly Companions" to uber-fans of Keith and O'Hara or Peckinpah completists.

With all that said, there are some worthwhile aspects, like the church service in the saloon and the depiction of O'Hara as a social outcast amongst the church folk (for legitimate reasons).

NOTE: There are numerous editions of this film by different dvd companies; my dvd is from PDC Home Entertainment and the picture quality is great for such an old film; the main menu is kind of cheap, but who cares about that?

3/5 Stars is generous. Grade: C

The Masters First feature movie...and a comment on the format
2007-11-29 - This is Peckinpah's first feature film,a western, and a quite enjoyable 1:st. I find it odd that there do not seem to be other dvd releases available in the US than a full screen pan-and-scan version, with not so good picture quality, plus ditto from Canada, with an even more terrible quality. This said, because I recently, 28oct07, bought an official Nordic/Scandinavian release by Futurefilm here in Finland, with a marvelous fine picture quality AND in wide-screen anamorphic format! And seen this way, this is truly lovely movie. So if this state of things is not corrected over in the US, it is truly a shame and a cultural scandal.