© DR- Pat Garrett & Billy the kid de Sam Peckinpah p3 par tellurikwaves blog (75 Paris)

Sam Peckinpah's alcoholism was so advanced during the making of this film that he would have to start the day with a large tumbler of neat vodka to stop his shakes. By mid-afternoon he would have moved onto grenadine. After that, he was too drunk to work. James Coburn recalled that Peckinpah was only really coherent for four hours a day.

Kris Kristofferson and Sam Peckinpah had several heated arguments during the making of the film, and others on the set often thought it would end up in a fight. Peckinpah, always very confrontational, wanted to fight Kristofferson but said that he feared Kristoffersonm, a former Army Airborne Ranger, would "kill him". Kristofferson answered, "Yeah, Sam, I think you're right". In spite of this, Peckinpah referred to Kristofferson as a "fucking great guy" and said that working with him was "one of the greatest experiences of my life".

A bent flange on a lens of one of the Panavasion cameras caused all the shots made with that one camera (all of them master shots) to be out of focus on the right side, and thus rendering them totally unusable. Because MGM had refused Sam Peckinpah's request for a camera mechanic to be on duty during the shoot in Durango, and because all the footage was first sent back to Los Angeles for processing, the crew didn't discover the problem for weeks. Only after the faulty lens was replaced did MGM send a camera mechanic down; and by that time, the film was several days over schedule, and several hundred thousand dollars over budget.

Rumors began to reach the studio that director Sam Peckinpah was unable to work due to his heavy drinking. So as a joke, a photo was taken which showed Peckinpah on a stretcher being fed whiskey through an IV bottle while cast members carried him.

According to Kris Kristofferson, director Sam Peckinpah so detested the studio cut of this film he actually urinated on the screen.

Film debut of Bob Dylan.

Governor Lew Wallace (Jason Robards) was the author of "Ben-Hur".

Sam Peckinpah had Roger Miller (singer of "King of the Road") in mind for the soundtrack, but Kris Kristofferson suggested Bob Dylan.

Kris Kristofferson fell in love with on-screen love interest Rita Coolidge and the two were married shortly after filming.

At various stages of the film's gestation, there was talk of Marlon Brando and Jon Voight, Robert Redford and Sam Shepard, and Jack Nicholson and John Denver playing the lead roles.

After seeing Kris Kristofferson perform at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and his appearance in Cisco Pike (1972), Sam Peckinpah decided to cast him as Billy the Kid in this film.

Barry Sullivan (Chisum) had played Pat Garrett in the TV series The Tall Man (1960). And James Coburn (Garrett) will play John Chisum in "Young guns II" (1990).

*Kris Kristofferson was 36 at the time of filming, playing a character of 21.

Monte Hellman was supposed to direct the film as a follow-up to Macadam à deux voies (1971) (which was also written by Rudy Wurlitzer). His first choice to play Billy was James Taylor (who starred in "Blacktop").

Average Shot Length (ASL) = 4.5 seconds (2005 DVD Version). This is fast by most 1970s' film standards, but quite slow for Sam Peckinpah. For example, La horde sauvage (1969) has an A.S.L. of three seconds, Junior Bonner (1972) 3.5 seconds, Tueur d'élite (1975) four seconds.

According to Kris Kristofferson, Sam Peckinpah hired Donnie Fritts, a log-time collaborator of Kristofferson's as a favor, and cast him as Billy the Kid's gang member, Beaver. Because Fritts had no scripted lines, all he *does is repeat whatever anyone says in the movie.

According to David Weddle's book on Peckinpah, "If They Move, Kill 'Em", many of the scenes in the movie were shot almost guerrilla style by the second unit director Gordon Dawson at various times and on various singular locations to make up for the originally shot footage that was rendered unusable by the bent lens flange and the subsequent focus problems.

Bo Hopkins was Sam Peckinpah's first choice for the role of Billy.

CINEMA :Les blessures narcissiques d'une vie par procuration

© DR- Pat Garrett & Billy the kid de Sam Peckinpah p3