The Wild Bunch - Looking Back on Peckinpah's Classic After 50 Years

William Holden in The Wild Bunch.

Fifty years ago, two of American cinema's most influential Westerns were released: the revisionist Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. Neither film staved off the decline of the Western genre, but each impacted Hollywood in significant ways. The former may not have been the first "buddy picture," but the pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford revitalized those kinds of films. As for The Wild Bunch, while more violent and bloody films preceded it, they weren't mainstream movies with big stars and a major director. Many critics and filmgoers considered its violence shocking at the time.

Indeed, The Wild Bunch opens and closes with beautifully choreographed and edited scenes of carnage. It was enough, according to one Peckinpah biographer, for some audience members to walk out of the film when it was first released. However, sandwiched between those bloody scenes, Peckinpah presents a carefully-crafted tale of family loyalty and changing times.

Robert Ryan as Deke Thornton.

The Wild Bunch opens with Pike Bishop and his gang riding into a bustling town to rob a railroad office. Bishop (William Holden) has no idea that it's a trap set by a former pal, Deke Thornton, whose permanent release from a brutal prison hinges on his capture of Bishop. By the time, the outlaws realize it's a set-up, it's too late and their only option is to shoot their way out of town. The ensuing gunfight leaves the streets littered with dead bodies, including many innocent townspeople caught in the hail of bullets.

When Bishop regroups after a narrow escape from the town, his gang has been reduced to just five members. Moreover, their loot from the robbery turns out to be bags of worthless metal washers and Thornton is leading a gang of bounty hunters in pursuit. With few alternatives remaining, Bishop and his men journey to Mexico, where they make a deal with a ruthless revolutionary leader to steal guns and ammunition from a heavily-guarded train for $10,000. It's a decision that will ultimately result in the demise of the quintet.

Except for the bookend shoot-outs and a splendid train robbery scene in the middle, The Wild Bunch is a dialogue-driven film. Bishop repeatedly emphasizes the importance of family loyalty, for make no mistake that these outlaws are a family. They bicker, threaten each other, and talk of splitting up, but ultimately they abide by Bishop's code: "When you side with a man, you stick with him." It's enlightening when Bishop reveals to Dutch (Ernest Borgnine), his closest companion, that he feels responsible for Thornton's capture in the past. For his part, Thornton has nothing but respect for Bishop--although he's willing to capture or perhaps kill him to avoid returning to prison.

Pike's gang leaves a poor village that provided them with a moment of peace.

Set in 1913, The Wild Bunch also explores one of Sam Peckinpah's favorite themes: the end of the Wild West. Bishop and his gang marvel when they see an automobile and talk about machines that can fly in the air. The days of horse-riding outlaws are coming to an end and Bishop knows it: "We got to start thinking beyond our guns. Those days are closing fast." It's a theme that Peckinpah visited earlier in his elegant classic Ride the High Country (1962) and would return to again in The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970).

Peckinpah wanted Lee Marvin to play Pike, but Marvin instead chose Paint Your Wagon (1969), which offered a hefty payday. That was fortunate for The Wild Bunch, for William Holden gives one of his finest performances as the weary, gritty Pike. According to most accounts, the star and the director clashed often on the set, arguing about issues such as whether Holden should wear a fake mustache (he initially refused, but finally agreed...and it's hard to imagine his character without it).

Ernest Borgnine as Dutch.

The supporting cast is exceptional, especially Borgnine, Robert Ryan as Thornton, and an unrecognizable Edmond O'Brien in his last great role as an old-timer who is fiercely loyal to Pike. The camaraderie between Holden and Borgnine seems so genuine that the two were paired again in the 1972 Western The Revengers (which is strictly a standard oater).

Sadly, the graphic violence in The Wild Bunch doesn't seem as horrifying as it once did. Slow-motion shots of bullets entering into bodies and blood spurting everywhere have become too commonplace on the silver screen. However, it is still jarring to see children participate in the violence, whether they're playfully reenacting the opening gunfight or actually picking up guns and shooting people in the climax. One has to wonder what will become of these desensitized youngsters as they grow into adults.

The Wild Bunch makes their final walk.

While The Wild Bunch may be Sam Peckinpah's most famous film, it's not his best (that would be The Ballad of Cable Hogue). But fifty years later, one can appreciate The Wild Bunch as a landmark motion picture that showcases its director's visual flair and love of the Western genre. It also contains one of the most iconic images of 1960s cinema:  the shot where Thornton's men are seemingly suspended in air for a split-second when Pike blows up both ends of a bridge. It's a brilliant metaphor for the end of the Old West, which is literally slipping away from men like Thornton and Pike. It's also a reminder that--when he wanted to be--Sam Peckinpah could be a truly great director.

The bridge collapses out from under Thornton's men.

This post is part of the Classic Movie Blog Association's (CMBA) Anniversary Blogathon. Click here to check out all the other great entries as the CMBA celebrates its tenth anniversary.

The Five Best Western Directors

Stewart in Winchester '73.

1. Anthony Mann - Mann helped define the "Adult Western" of the 1950s with his seminal work Winchester '73. His output included five outstanding Westerns with James Stewart and classics with Gary Cooper (Man of the West) and Henry Fonda (The Tin Star). His heroes were often hard men with a questionable past seeking redemption (e.g., Bend of the River). He painted his tales against a backdrop of an American West in transition, in which budding towns would compete with the cattle empires.

2.  John Ford - Ford was a dominant figure in the Western genre for four decades. He brought prominence to the Western with Stagecoach, paved the way for Adult Westerns with his Cavalry Trilogy, and directed two iconic films late in his career (The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance). Ford's incorporation of Western landscapes (he shot several masterpieces in Monument Valley in Arizona) became his trademark. In fact, a popular lookout was named after him: John Ford Point. I suspect many film fans would have Ford at No. 1.

Eastwood in For a Few Dollars More.

3.  Sergio Leone -With Mann, Ford, and Hawks in the twilight of their careers in the '60s, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone reinvented the Western genre visually and thematically. His protagonists were morally questionable men who usually did the right thing, even while portraying themselves as profiteers (e.g., Clint Eastwood in For a Few Dollars More). He showed the big towns, but also the decrepit shacks amid the dusty, windswept plains--where a bounty hunter or an outlaw could buy a shot of cheap whiskey. Like Mann and later Peckinpah, Leone was intrigued with the last days of the Old West and the men who didn't want to tame it.

4.  Sam Peckinpah - An uneven director, Peckinpah was at his best when working in the Western genre. While his films also took place in the dying days of the Old West, they focused on the relationships among the characters:  two old friends in Ride the High Country, a band of outlaws in The Wild Bunch; and an unlikely businessman, a prostitute, and a would-be preacher in his masterpiece The Ballad of Cable Hogue. In the former two films, most of the characters are unwilling to adapt to the coming of civilization. However, the hero of Cable Hogue embraces it and finds happiness in doing so (though the ending is bittersweet).

Delmer Daves' The Hanging Tree.

5.  Howard Hawks and Delmer Daves (tie) - A tie may be a bit of a cheat, but it was impossible to omit either of these two from our list. Neither director specialized in Westerns, but they made important contributions to the genre. Hawks' Red River (1948) paved the way for Mann's dark Westerns. His Rio Bravo is one of the most fondly remembered Westerns of the 1950s. And after other Western directors had hung up their spurs, Hawks continued to make Westerns with John Wayne up until 1970. Delmer Daves, another versatile director, dabbled in the Western genre often, his films ranging from intriguing (the Shakespearean Jubal) to unique (Cowboy with Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford). He secured his place on this list, though, with two beautifully-crafted classics: the thriller-like 3:10 to Yuma and The Hanging Tree, a tale of redemption and love.

Honorable Mentions:  Budd Boetticher, John Sturges, Clint Eastwood, and Henry Hathaway.

Sam Peckinpah's TV Series "The Westerner"

Brian Keith and Spike in The Westerner.

Produced in 1960, The Westerner is a tough, realistic TV Western that befits its creator, Sam Peckinpah. The director  was already a TV veteran, having written and directed episodes of Gunsmoke, Broken Arrow, and The Rifleman in the 1950s. In fact, he is often credited as the creator of The Rifleman, having written the pilot which first appeared on Zane Grey Theater.

The Westerner stars Brian Keith as an illiterate drifter named Dave Blassingame, who travels from town to town with his dog Brown. While not openly affectionate--indeed, Dave criticizes Brown for not helping out on more than one occasion--there is a strong bond between man and dog. They're both independent souls; Dave describes Brown as "being his own dog." Hence, it's not a surprise when Dave turns down a hefty sum of $200 when a dandy tries to buy Brown (the same episode features what may be one of the longest fist fights in broadcast TV history).

Diana Millay and Brian Keith.

The Westerner, though, is not about Dave and Brown. They're the protagonists that keep the plots moving, but Peckinpah is more interested in the people they meet while roaming the frontier. In the first episode, Dave almost dies trying to rescue a young woman from the apparent clutches of a manipulative older man. It's not until the closing scene that Dave learns she really doesn't want to be rescued.

Peckinpah earned his reputation as a director, but he was a good writer, too. He has a hand in many of the scripts with Bruce Geller (creator of Mission: Impossible) also penning several of them. The second episode includes some great examples of the series' first-rate writing, such as this exchange between Dave and a dead man's brothers played by John Anderson and Williams Tracy.

Brother #1:  It must take a lot of stomach to ride into a man's kin and tell them you killed their brother. (To the other brother) Go find the book.

Brother #2 (to Dave): Proud of it, he is.

Dave: Don't point at me as being proud. I don't take no pride in killing.

Brother #1: You ain't sorry.

Dave: You bet I am. I'm sorry if I had to kill him I didn't get there a couple of minutes earlier. I'm sorry he was ever born.

Sadly, NBC cancelled The Westerner after 13 episodes due to low ratings; it was up against Route 66 on CBS and The Flintstones on ABC. I suspect the show may have experienced some challenges with the network's censors, too. Some episodes feature sudden violent outbursts (e.g., a schoolteacher attacked and accidentally killed) that remain potent today.

Peckinpah tried to revive the series in 1963 with an episode of The Dick Powell Theatre called "The Losers." It was a contemporary "Western" and starred Lee Marvin as Dave Blassingame (who still has a dog as a companion).

In 1967, Tom Gries adapted an episode he wrote of The Westerner ("Line Camp") into the motion picture Will Penny. The critically-acclaimed movie starred Charlton Heston as a aging cowboy who befriends a young woman and her son. Heston has often claimed it was his favorite among his film roles.

Spike in Old Yeller.

By the way, if the dog playing Brown in The Westerner looks familiar, then you may recognize the work of canine actor Spike. He is best-known for portraying the title role in Walt Disney's Old Yeller. My favorite of his scenes in The Westerner is when Dave is trying to get Brown to chew the ropes tying his hands--and the canine is too busy sampling leftovers on a dinner table. That sounds like my dogs.

Sam Peckinpah Goes Kung Fu in "The Killer Elite"

At the outset of The Killer Elite (1975), Mike and George appear to be two happy-go-lucky mercenaries that work for a CIA contractor. That changes when George (Robert Duvall) kills a defector they're protecting--then shoots Mike (James Caan) in the knee and elbow. As George stands over his bleeding pal, he states flatly: "(You) just retired. Enjoy it."

As Mike recovers from extensive surgery, his two bosses (Arthur Hill and Gig Young) visit him to deliver good news and bad news. The good is that he will receive $1500 in disability a month (a tidy sum compared to government employees). The bad news: "Given a year, maybe you'll be able to walk up a flight of stairs. That leg of yours will never be anything but a wet noodle."

George (Duvall) and Mike (Caan)
prior to Mike's "retirement."

Fueled by determination and perhaps a little revenge, Mike makes an impressive recovery, but now wears a brace on his left arm and walks with a cane. However, he still wants to get back in the business. Mike gets his opportunity when he's asked to protect an Asian diplomat from an assassination attempt by none other than George.

Unlike most of his films, Sam Peckinpah was not involved with The Killer Elite from the beginning. He joined it when his plans for a thriller called The Insurance Company hit a snag. In fact, in the book Peckinpah, author Garner Simmons includes this telegram sent by studio executive Mike Medavoy to Peckinpah: "I am confirming to you, per your note of January 27th that you are not to do any writing on the script."

The Japanese poster emphasized
the kung fu!

Instead, Marc Norman (Shakespeare in Love) and Stirling Silliphant (In the Heat of the Night) penned the screenplay. Although Robert Hopkins' source novel Monkey in the Middle took place in England, the film's locale was shifted to San Francisco. Silliphant, a martial arts enthusiast who trained under Bruce Lee, added several kung fu elements. Caan's character practices martial arts as part of his rehabilitation and Ninja assassins also try to kill the Asian diplomat played by Mako. Silliphant even wrote a role for his wife Tiana Alexandra, who held a brown belt at the time (and also studied under Lee).

Given his lack of involvement in the script, it's surprising that The Killer Elite comes across as a typical Peckinpah film. In fact, it works as a thematic sequel (of sorts) to my favorite Peckinpah movie: The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970). In both films, the protagonists are betrayed by a friend (or friends) and left to die (one could argue that Mike "dies" when his profession is apparently taken away from him). And both films focus on the rehabilitation and, ultimately, reinvention of their protagonists. In the concluding scene of The Killer Elite, it's obvious that Mike has undergone a life-changing transformation.

Director Sam Peckinpah.

While The Killer Elite doesn't rank with Sam Peckinpah's best films, it remains an interesting outing that makes outstanding use of the San Francisco locales. Plus, Caan gives one of his best performances. My only real criticism centers on the martial arts fight sequences. While I love a good kung fu fight, Peckinpah's attempts come across as pedestrian--especially compared to the action films being made during the same period by Bruce Lee and others in Asia. Peckinpah should have mandated the substitution of a couple of good shootouts. With this film, though, he probably didn't have the clout to do that.

Susan George Chats with the Café about "Straw Dogs," Her Arabians, and the Love of Her Life

Best known for the controversial Straw Dogs (1971) and the drive-in classic Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974), Susan George has acted in film and television for six decades. She met fellow British actor Simon MacCorkindale (Death on the Nile) at a charity event in 1977 and the two became best friends. Seven years later, the "best friends" married in Fiji. In 1993, Susan George, a lifelong horse lover, and her husband founded Georgian Arabians, a stud farm in Exmoor, England. Sadly, Simon MacCorkindale died in 2010 after a five-year battle with cancer. Susan George has carried on with their stud farm and still occasionally appears in films. She was gracious enough to stop by the Café today for an interview.

Café:   You made your stage debut at age 12 in The Sound of Music and was a regular in the family TV series Amazons and Swallows a year later. What led to your interest in acting at such a young age?

Susan George:  My mother was the one who thought that an acting career was the profession for me. My father, on the other hand, was terrified at the thought, as he believed that my heart was way too soft for the industry.

Café:   You were 21 when you played the female lead opposite Dustin Hoffman in Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs. How would you describe your relationships with Hoffman and Peckinpah?

Dustin Hoffman and Susan in Straw Dogs.

SG:  I had a love-hate relationship with Sam, but he was a brilliant director and a genius of his time. Dustin was a generous actor to work with, who could be intense at times but had a great personality and an incredibly mischievous sense of humour. Making the film was a fantastic experience and one that I cherish to this day.

Café:  Forty-three years after it was made, Straw Dogs remains a controversial, potent film. What is your assessment of it today?

SG:  I think even years on, it hasn’t lost one ounce of its power.

Café:   You gave one of your best performances in the entertaining car chase classic Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry. How did an actress from London come to be cast as the film's "white trash heroine"?

Susan in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974).

SG:  It was English director John Hough who was adamant that I should play Dirty Mary. We had worked together on several films before and when he called me in the States to offer me this zany part, I didn't think twice and loved the challenge. The film was such fun to make and became a cult hit over the years. It was a backpack movie and made for next to nothing, but turned out to be a huge financial success for Twentieth Century-Fox.

Café:  You've appeared in several British TV series, such as EastEnders, The Castle Adventure, and Cluedo. Do you have a favorite and, if so, what made it a fave?

Kirk Douglas as Mr. Hyde.

SG:  In terms of television projects, there were several dear to my heart. One was the musical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which had a fantastic cast and a great score. Kirk Douglas was our Dr. Jekyll and we filmed it all in England at Shepperton studios for NBC. My memories of that time are all of laughter.

Café:  You've acted with the likes of Charles Bronson, Michael Caine, Dustin Hoffman, Peter Fonda, Ralph Richardson, and Boris Karloff. Who were some of your favorite leading men and why?

SG:  I have been fortunate to work with some really great actors over the years and there are no favourites. Although playing Michael Caine’s daughter in the The Jigsaw Man was a real treat and spending hours of time in Sir Laurence Olivier’s company was something I will never forget.

Café:  How did you meet your future-husband Simon MacCorkindale and what was your first impression of him?

Simon MacCorkindale and Susan.

SG:  I met my Simon for the very first time at a charity benefit and we became the best of friends for years after. So I married my soul mate and hand through life. He was a stunning-looking man, but the true essence of Simon was his heart, acres wide and full of jewels. He loved me more than he loved himself and put me first in everything. I remain devastated at losing him but am also aware that some people in a lifetime never touch upon the love and happiness we found in each other. I am the luckiest, to have shared with him for 26 wonderful years.

Café:  What led the two of you to take the plunge and pursue your dream of breeding Arabian stallions?

Susan with one of her Arabians.

SG:  I had been gifted an Arabian horse by a boyfriend at 23 when living in California. At the time, working a lot and never in one place for long, I would come home to her after months away and she’d see me at the gate of her field and come running. It hurt so much at times to realise that she lived for my visits and they were becoming so sporadic. Arabian horses are particularly loyal and she was always there for me, but I didn't feel I was for her. So eventually, I made a heartfelt decision to give her away to a good friend, a great home. My husband knew this story and promised me that when the time was right, I would again have my Arabian horse. We moved home to England to run our production company, Amy International, and within months, we found a gorgeous chestnut mare that later became the foundation mare of my stud farm in England, Georgian Arabians.

Café:  We read where you were working on your autobiography. Is there a projected publication date?

SG:  I am working on my autobiography and it’s expected to be published in 2014. However, I am penning it myself and with the breeding season and full time running of the stud farm, it’s a huge undertaking, but I’m chapters deep.  It’s an exciting project that Simon, more than myself, wanted me to complete. He used to say that there were so many incredible stories within my lifetime that I needed to share and they were just too good not to.

Café:  You still continue to appear in films. What kinds of roles draw your attention these days?

SG:  I have always said that what would encourage my return to the screen would be a role offering a true challenge. I love music and comedy and would like to be able to combine the two. It’s by no means out of the question that a special something might come along. I have a fabulous agent who “yearns to get me out of Georgian Arabians barns” and doing what he feels I do best !!!

You can learn about Georgian Arabians online at www.georgianarabians.com. You can "like" Susan George on Facebook and follow her on Twitter at @TheSusanGeorge.

James Drury Chats with the Café about "The Virginian," Sam Peckinpah, and "The Yank"

Television Western icon James Drury starred as The Virginian on NBC from 1962-71. The 90-minute series aired 249 episodes, making it one of television's most enduring Westerns. The series continues to air today and attract new fans. Mr. Drury, who was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, graciously agreed to sit down for a chat at the Café.

Café:  Prior to The Virginian, you appeared in Ride the High Country (1962), directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea (who once played The Virginian in a movie). What was it like working with that group?

James Drury:  It was a wonderful experience. Working with two such prominent and well-known actors as Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea was a great honor and privilege for me. And of course, Sam Peckinpah, who went on to direct The Wild Bunch and many other great movies, was just starting out in his career. I guess he’d done some movies before that, but this was his first major studio-backed movie. It was made at MGM, which at that time was a big, big studio. Everything involved in the film was first-class. Sam Peckinpah had a vision about a movie he was directing that he always kept at the forefront of his mind. We were never really told about the whole vision, but we trusted him because he was so easy to understand and easy to communicate with. He gave us all sterling direction and it turned out to be a classic film. It’s shown at least once a week somewhere on television and I’m always proud to hear about it. I was very delighted to get that role.  That role, I think, partly influenced my selection as an actor to play The Virginian.

Mariette Harley and James Drury in Ride the High Country.

Café:  Before being offered the lead in The Virginian, you made a pilot for a 30-minute Western series called The Yank. What would have been the premise of that show?

Nick Adams as The Rebel.

James Drury:  The Yank was a story of a man who had been a medical doctor before the Civil War. He had left his medical career behind and had gone to war with the Northern army as an artillery captain. The show takes place in a decimated South. Most of the Southern doctors had been killed in the war. There were only a few of them left. The lead character took to heart the words of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural speech when he said: “We must bind up the nation’s wounds." The Yank went to the South and offered his services as a doctor; the show would have consisted of stories of his adventures in the South. It was a spinoff of a very popular series with Nick Adams called The Rebel. Andrew Fenady was the producer of both shows and he wrote a wonderful script. At that time, the networks were going to one-hour shows and they were abandoning the half-hour Western format. Since we were a half-hour pilot, we weren’t picked up. It was a heartbreak to me when it didn’t sell, but if it had sold, I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to play The Virginian. So, everything worked out for the best.

Café:  During the nine-year-run of The Virginian, your ranch foreman worked for Judge Garth (Lee J. Cobb), Morgan Starr (John Dehner), John Grainger (Charles Bickford), Clay Grainger (John McIntire), and Colonel MacKenzie (Stewart Granger). Who was your favorite owner of the Shiloh?

The Shiloh's first owner in the opening credits.

James Drury:  All those lead characters played the owner of the ranch at various times in the nine-year run and I enjoyed working with all of them. They all brought something different and unique to the roles. And, of course, Lee J. Cobb was the catalyst that got us started off as a series. Because of Lee J. Cobb’s name being immensely important, we were able to start a ninety-minute series with continuing characters, which had never been done on television before without even making a pilot. We went right into production because Lee J. Cobb was associated with the project. It was a success from the very first show. Lee was wonderful in the role of Judge Henry Garth--but he didn't like the series. He stayed for three years and then opted out. We missed him a lot, but John Dehner came along. He had another take on the ranch owner. He was very strong and very wonderful and I liked him a lot. Then, we came to John Grainger, played by Charles Bickford. He had been a big, big star in motion pictures, a very knowledgeable and wise actor. I learned a great deal from him, things that I use everyday. John McIntire, who played Clay Grainger, was, of course, a monumentally gifted actor. He and his wife, Jeanette Nolan, usually worked together; they did so in The Virginian as man and wife. They brought another important dynamic to the show. Then, we came to Colonel MacKenzie (Stewart Granger) in the last year. I really had very little to do with him. I think we were in one or two shows together; most of the time he was off doing another episode. Of them all, I couldn't pick a favorite and I wouldn't pick a favorite. They were all valuable in their own way.

Café:  The Virginian's name was never mentioned in Owen Wister's novel, but that must have created occasional challenges for the TV series' script writers. Was there ever any discussion about revealing the Virginian's name?

James Drury:  No, there wasn't because we were maintaining the framework of The Virginian novel (The Virginian, Horseman of the Plains, written by Owen Wister in 1902) as much as we could. Now, we changed everything else, but we didn't change the fact that the original author did not give the Virginian a name. I believe he did that as a very sound dramatic device, because the Virginian was a mysterious character. When he came into a room and people whispered behind the back of their hand, "There’s the Virginian over there," it gave him an aura of  mystery that you couldn't achieve in any other way. That gives the character a mysterious potential. There is no other character that I know of in Western fiction that has had that characteristic. If you notice, the Virginian has been influential in so many of the Western films that were made; in fact virtually all of them. Where did we get The Man with No Name? Where did we get the title to The Redheaded Stranger? Where did we get the title to all the great Westerns that were made, The Searchers and The Plainsman, The Magnificent Seven and The Professionals? All these movies had main characters that either obscured their name or did not give a name. That harkens right back to the original book published in 1902--a great dramatic device. I enjoyed playing the role.

Café:  A lot of regular cast members came and went over The Virginian's long run, with you and Doug McClure being the only constants. Who were some of your favorite fellow regulars?

Roberta Shore as Betsy.

James Drury:  Gary Clarke and Roberta Shore started with the show and then Randy Boone and Clu Gulager came in and they all brought a unique perspective to their characters and to the series. They were all my favorites. We changed and Diane Roter came in and then Sara Lane and Don Quine came in. They all did a marvelous job in what they were assigned to do. L. Q. Jones played several guest star roles and then he came on as a regular character, Belden in the bunkhouse. He was a great source of humor and pride. I was really happy he was there because he had been one of my brothers in Ride the High Country.  Also, John Anderson, who was my older brother in Ride the High Country, played several guest star roles. I just enjoyed working with all of them. I love them all.

Café:  Given the current TV landscape, it's hard to fathom the making of a 90-minute TV series with 30 episodes a season.  That's like a movie a week. What was the filming schedule like?

James Drury and Doug McClure.

James Drury:  The majority of The Virginian episodes were shot in eight days. When we started out, they took about ten days. They decided they couldn't afford that much time because we aired the episodes every five days (excluding weekends). To keep up with the airing schedule, we had to run multiple units--as many as four or five different episodes filming at the same time. I would ride my horse or take the studio limousine back and forth between the sets to do my two line piece in one episode, ten pages of dialogue in another episode, do a cattle drive in another episode, a wild horse drive in another, and then a gunfight and a robbery in yet another episode. I had to keep everything straight and it was absolutely no problem and a joy to do. I would do it all over again tomorrow. It was a horrendous amount of time. I usually got to the studio about 6 AM and usually got out of there around 9 or 10 PM. And then I had to learn my lines for the next day, if I had any time at all. But, I have several gifts that helped me with that, the most important of which is my photographic memory for dialogue. I can’t remember my phone number half the time, but I can remember dialogue from plays I did forty years ago that I’d rather forget.

Café:  During season 9, The Virginian was restructured as The Men from Shiloh with a format in which you, Doug McClure, Stewart Granger, and Lee Majors rotated starring in episodes. What did you think of the changes?

L.Q. Jones and Drury (with long sideburns)
in The Men from Shiloh.

James Drury:  At the time, it seemed like a good idea. Everybody liked it, everybody endorsed it. I went along with it and thought it would be a good thing to give the show a new look. We all got new costumes and longer sideburns. I got a 7 ½ inch barrel Colt instead of a 5 ½ inch barrel Colt and a new horse. It all seemed bright and new as a new penny. But the American audience was looking for The Virginian in the ninth season and they couldn't find it on their TV. They never heard of Men from Shiloh and we went off the air. So, that just goes to show you, as the cowboy said when he jumped into the prickly pear bush: “It seemed like a good idea at the time”.

Café:  You've stayed busy after The Virginian, appearing in films and television series, providing the voice talent for audio books, and appearing at classic TV and Western conventions. Are there any upcoming events or projects that you'd like to share with our readers?

James Drury (photo from his FB page).

James Drury:  All my personal appearances are listed on my website: www.thevirginian.net. I have a schedule of personal appearances that I keep nearly every year. We’re going to the Memphis Film Festival in Tunica, MS (June 13-15, 2013), Cowboy Up for Veterans Horse Show in Swanton, OH (July 20-21, 2013), and Western Legends Round Up in Kanab, UT (August 22-24, 2013). This year, I'll attend some new festivals: Spirit of the Cowboy at Chestnut Square in McKinney, TX (October 11-13, 2013) and Weird West Fest in Giddings, TX (December 7, 2013). There will probably be other event requests as the year progresses. We try to go everywhere that is reasonable to get to and where the event organizers are able to come up with my requirements. I would like to be working in motion pictures every day of my life. At the age of 79, there don't seem to be too many inquiries in that direction. So, I do what I can and hope for the best. That’s about all we can do any day of our life.

In addition to his website, you can learn more about James Drury at the following Facebook pages:

James Drury-The Virginian II 

James Drury’s Virginian Posse – Fan Group