Dec 29th
The Wild Bunch**
(US 1969)

A gang of ageing robbers on the Mexican border are gradually pursued by one of their former gang who is forced to hunt them down, if the authorities don't destroy them first.
The first Western of its kind to probably make no distinction between black hats and white hats, as most of the heroes are semi-villains (as in subsequent influences like The Godfather) and the actual side of the law is rather sleazy or just disillusioned and world-weary. As such, probably an accurate indication of the actual turn of the century Wild West itself, made at a similar time of disillusion and uncertainty for America in the late 1960's. The incessant action and cynicism often comes at the expense of the characterisation, where the real star is the director.

Written by: Walon Green, Sam Peckinpah.
Producer: Phil Feldman.
Director: Sam Peckinpah.
Starring: William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, Edmond O'Brien, Jaime Sanchez, Srother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Albert Dekker, Bo Hopkins.
Photography: Lucien Ballard.
Music: Jerry Fielding.