Overview

"It all began in the summer of 1973, when the author--then a young man fresh out of film school--traveled to Mexico in pursuit of the man behind a list of motion picture masterpieces that include ""Ride the High Country"", ""Major Dundee"", ""The Ballad of Cable Hogue"", ""Straw Dogs"", ""Junior Bonner"", ""The Getaway"", ""Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid"", and the classic western epic that revolutionalized the face of global cinema, ""The Wild Bunch"". Simmons' seminal 1982 biography of Sam Peckinpah, published by the University of Texas Press and updated in the 1998 Limelight Editions release, is central to this current edition. With more than 100 pages of additional material and photos from the author's private collection providing even greater in-depth analysis of the director's films, this edition looks back on ""The Wild Bunch"" five decades after its theatrical release to gauge its lasting impact on filmmakers who have followed in Peckinpah's footsteps. Beyond the creative analysis in this new edition, Simmons shares with the reader his personal reflections of the man, the myth, and the legend he came to know as mentor and friend. More than mere biography, more than a mere recitation of events in the life of extraordinary filmmaking talent, this book provides a deep understanding of Hollywood's movie-making process. As such, it serves as both inspiration and cautionary tale. One cannot presume to have an appreciation of American Film without reading what the author shares within these covers."

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9780578560052

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Reviews

A richly entertaining book. Sam Peckinpah is... a director who needs adversity to get the juices flowing. Fortified by booze and shots of vitamin B12, [he] rides the whirlwind... firing the incompetents beneath him, baiting the ones over him and bullying and testing and goading the rest... [This book reveals] the complex interplay of power and art or movie and mythmaking as practiced by Peckinpah, an idiosyncratic but skillful manipulator. Molly Haskell, The New York Times Book Review Simmons'... anecdotal approach to Peckinpah's life and work... takes off and soars into a very interesting overview of one of our more brilliant and 'difficult' directors, and of the system in which he works... G. William Jones, The Southwestern Review Excellent study of the director, exhaustively researched, thoroughly detailed. Quarterly Review of Film Studies The first book of substance on Sam Peckinpah's life's work. Widely quoted around the world. Max Evans-Author: Goin' Crazy with Sam Peckinpah

Author Information

"Garner Simmons has been a member of the Writers Guild of America since 1978. He received his BA from Colgate University (English/Fine Arts) before becoming what his father liked to call ""the best-educated bartender in Chicago."" He served in the US Army National Guard on the streets of Chicago during the riots surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the 1968 Democratic Convention, and Kent State among others. A graduate of Northwestern University's School of Communication in Radio/TV/Film, he is an internationally recognized authority on the life and films of the late Sam Peckinpah. He has spoken at various festivals and retrospectives of Peckinpah's work including Bologna, Italy (2006), the Locarno (Switzerland) International Film Festival (2015) and New York's Lincoln Center (2016). A member of the Directors Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and of the Writers Guild of Canada, he is a multiple-winner of the WGA Feature Writer Access Competition (2015, 2016). As a member of the Dog Brothers, he has done the audio commentary on all of the DVDs of Peckinpah's films except Cross of Iron and Deadly Companions (both unavailable due to rights issues). A member of the Sisyphean School of screenwriting, he lives with his wife, educator Sheila McHugh Simmons, in Los Angeles, California, where he has recently completed his first novel."

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