I remember an early Sam Peckinpah film—still for me his best—called Ride the High Country. It opened in New York as the bottom half of a double bill with a European Mongol-type picture. It got some sensational notices, and when I saw it, I couldn’t believe the way it was handled. I eventually tracked down an executive at the studio and asked why it had been dumped. He explained: “Sure we previewed it. And the preview cards were sensational. But we decided to send it out the way we did because that way we were sure to pick up a little money. We didn’t believe those preview cards. The movie
...more
