Major Dundee

Major Dundee is a 1965 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Harry Julian Fink and Oscar Saul. It stars Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton, James Coburn, Michael Anderson Jr., Mario Adorf, Brock Peters, and Senta Berger. The film is about a Union cavalry officer who leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners, and Indian scouts on an expedition into Mexico during the American Civil War to destroy a band of Apaches who have been raiding United States bases and settlements in the New Mexico territory. The film was shot in various locations in Mexico, filmed in Eastman Color by Pathécolor, print by Technicolor. Major Dundee became notorious for its difficult shoot and post production, which saw the movie greatly cut from Peckinpah's original vision. He later called the film "one of the most painful things that ever happened in my life." The film was released by Columbia Pictures on March 16, 1965. Initial critical response was largely negative, but retrospective reviews have been highly positive, following the release of an extended cut closer to Peckinpah's original vision in 2005.