Major Dundee (Peckinpah, 1965): Prince Charles Cinema, 6.15pm
This film is part of the Sam Peckinpah season at the Prince Charles. Full details here.
Chicago Reader review:
Director Sam Peckinpah went over budget during production of this 1965
epic western and was fired, so this restoration, based on a scholarly
assessment of his intentions, can’t really be considered a director’s
cut. But it’s 12 minutes longer, its story is easier to follow, and its
score is closer to what Peckinpah had in mind. Still as flawed as its
title hero and a bit out of control, it’s a powerful and provocative
account of a disgraced Union officer (Charlton Heston) reluctantly
joining forces with Confederate prisoners (including Richard Harris) to
kill or capture an Apache who led a massacre in New Mexico. It may not
approach The Wild Bunch, but after the soldiers cross into Mexico the
film takes on weight and flavor that suggest major Peckinpah, and both
Harris and Heston (who gamely gave up his salary to keep Peckinpah on
board, at least for a while) contribute some of their finest work.
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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