Major Dundee

The Director's Chair Network · Mar 18, 2026 · 1h 33m · transcript

Major Dundee (1965): Sam Peckinpah's troubled Civil War Western starring Charlton Heston & Richard Harris! In this episode of Bloody Sam: A Peckinpah Fan Podcast, host Scott Murphy and guest Adam Thornton dive deep into the film's chaotic production (budget battles, on-set fights, drunken chaos), the differences between the 1965 theatrical cut and 2005 extended restoration, Heston's heroic-but-flat Major Dundee vs. Harris's nuanced Confederate Tyreen, moral ambiguity (Ahab-like obsession, questionable mission), violence levels, and how this "warm-up" foreshadows The Wild Bunch.

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