Mel Neuhaus

Like John Ford, Sam Peckinpah was a rambunctious, self-destructive, cinematic poet who idolized the American West. His work is generally discussed in terms of graphic violence, sadism, and perversion, and these aberrant forms of human behavior do appear throughout his work.

One was a gregarious actor who became a cultural icon. The other was an erudite, poetic soul hiding in a sadistic, foul-tempered drunk ... and arguably America's greatest director.