Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage [Paperback]

Garner Simmons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2004

"Sam Peckinpah is, by his own admission and that of almost everyone else in this richly entertaining book, a director who needs adversity to get the juices flowing. As shooting goes on, complications multiply and tensions increase. The wild man, fortified by booze and shots of vitamin B12, rides the whirlwind he creates firing the incompetents beneath him, baiting the ones over him, and bullying and testing and goading the rest...[This book gives] a nuts and bolts account of the...complex interplay of power and art or movie and myth-making as practiced by an idiosyncratic but skillfull manipulator." -New York Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Sam Peckinpah is, by his own admission and that of almost everyone else in this richly entertaining book, a director who needs adversity to get the juices flowing. As shooting goes on, complications multiply and tensions increase. The wild man, fortified by booze and shots of vitamin B12, rides the whirlwind he creates firing the incompetents beneath him, baiting the ones over him, and bullying and testing and goading the rest...[This book gives] a nuts and bolts account of the...complex interplay of power and art or movie and myth-making as practiced by an idiosyncratic but skillfull manipulator." -New York Times Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions; 3rd edition (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087910273X
• ISBN-13: 978-0879102739
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,509,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peckinpah - just the facts, November 21, 1999

By 

Robert Young (Rio Grande Vally, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage (Paperback)

Peckinpah, written by Garner Simmons and published by the Universtity of Texas Press in 1982,is a no-nonsense, non-opinionated look at the life and work of director Sam Peckinpah. The first few chapters are devoted to his early life: parents, childhood, growing up, early TV work, etc. The rest of the book is presented in a movie-by-movie format, with one chapter being devoted to each film. The chronological discussion of each film pays great attention to detail form pre to post production. Lots of good insight from cast and crew members help make this book really special! There is little info on Peckinpah's final film, "The Osterman Weekend", as it had not been released at the time of this book's publication. The book is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Fielding, the extremely talented composer who worked with Peckinpah on several films.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Peckinpah biography, December 16, 2003

By 

L. Ketzer (Almelo, Overijssel Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage (Paperback)

This is one of the first and best Peckinpah's biographies. Written a few years before his death but with a new preface and postscript it is a superb account about the life and films of Sam Peckinpah. Garner Simmons talked to many friends, family, actors and producers to make this a wonderful readable experience.If you are in the films of Sam Peckinpah get this book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid and fair-minded., February 2, 2006

By 

Bad Dude "Brian" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage (Paperback)

This is the kind of bio that should be written about every important film director. Simmons is just detached enough to be objective, but not cold and removed so as to miss the color and flavor of this remarkable man. Highly reccommended for all interested in films - not just Peckinpah geeks.

Someone should get this guy to do a series of books on directors.