The Hollywood Western remains among the most iconic of American storytelling, beginning with 1903’s “The Great Train Robbery.” Yet, for decades it generally presented a very black-and-white take on the American frontier. That changed in the 1960s, as new directors more accurately offered stories that were truly in shades of gray — where it was sometimes harder to tell the good guys from the bad guys. This culminated with 1969’s Revisionist Western classic “The Wild Bunch.”
Directed by Sam Peckinpah, it was also unique in that instead of being set in the traditional 1860s to 1880s time period, the film takes place in 1913. Moreover, whereas many Westerns featured clearly defined characters who were either outlaws or lawmen, this one blurred the lines.
Decades before Taylor Swift would sing about an anti-hero, this Western was overrun with characters that were often good at being bad, and yet the audiences were meant to root for them.
One Last Job… Not Quite
The film begins as several characters, including William Holden’s Pike Bishop and Ernest Borgnine’s Dutch Engstrom, ride into a traditional frontier mining town. They are dressed in U.S. Army uniforms, and they’re armed with Colt 1911 .45 pistols and Springfield M1903 bolt action rifles. To the viewer, it would be easy to assume these men are part of the U.S. military during the so-called Bandit War that saw Mexican rebels conducting raids in Texas.
If it was a John Wayne film that’s likely what we would have gotten.
Instead, Bishop is actually the leader of a gang of aging outlaws who seek to retire after a final robbery of a railroad payroll office. Things don’t go as planned, however, as the corrupt railroad agent has hired a posse of bounty hunters who are led by Bishop’s former partner Deke Thornton (played by Robert Ryan) to ambush the gang.
Even that doesn’t unfold as Thornton would have liked.
The result is arguably one of the most excessive shootouts seen in a Hollywood Western to that point. Director Peckinpah utilized his signature quick cuts to show the action from multiple perspectives, further intensifying the action. Neither the gang nor the posse seems to care whether the town’s innocent bystanders are caught in the crossfire. The violent mayhem was likely as shocking to viewers in 1969 as the opening sequence of “Saving Private Ryan” was in 1997.
On the run from Thornton and without any loot from the robbery, the gang heads to Mexico, where they are forced to take a job from a corrupt general of the Mexican Federal Army, who has become a de facto warlord practically enslaving a frontier town. The gang proceeds to steal a trainload of weapons from the U.S. military, while the film concludes with another shootout that results in another bloodbath.
Though almost tame compared to some of today’s over-the-top action films, some critics in the era criticized its excessive violence. Yet, “The Wild Bunch” is now seen as a true classic.
In 1999, the Library of Congress selected it for perseveration in the United States National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant,” while it is considered to be among the top ten Westerns by the American Film Institute. The film’s influence can be seen in the works of directors such as Walter Hill and John Woo.
Not Your Typical Western Guns
Even as it is set at the sunset of the frontier, a number of iconic Western firearms can be seen in “The Wild Bunch,” including Colt Single Action Army and Colt New Service revolvers, Winchester Model 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine and Winchester Model 1892 lever-action rifles, and even a Sharps 1874 rifle — the latter perhaps to indicate the advances of firearms technology in the latter half of the 19th century. This selection of “older” firearms also helps date the gang, reinforcing that they’re from an era that has come to an end.
Those “traditional” Western guns are used alongside a number of small arms that aren’t typically seen in films set in the Old West. These include a Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver, a Colt M1911 .45 pistol, and even a German Luger P08 pistol. The latter two are actually appropriate for the era, although it is incorrectly noted in the film that the Colt M1911 wasn’t generally available to civilians at the time. That fact isn’t actually true. However, the M1911 was likely more expensive than many civilians could have afforded.
Yet, as Bishop’s gang is dressed in Army uniforms and is carrying Springfield M1903 rifles, it can be suggested these items were stolen from an armory.
Anachronistic Firearms
As with many Hollywood Westerns, “The Wild Bunch” features a few anachronistic firearms — notably the Spanish-produced Star Model B pistols that stand in the Colt M1911 in a few scenes. The reason is that the handguns are externally similar, although the Star Model B is chambered for 9mm instead of .45 ACP. The 9mm handguns were simply more reliable with blanks.
Likewise, a couple of characters can be seen with a Springfield M1903A3, a version of the rifle that was produced during the Second World War. It can be noted by the particular rear aperture sight that wasn’t present in the original M1903 models.
The Mexican Federal Army soldiers that appear in a few scenes are also equipped with the M1936 Mauser instead of the M1910 or M1912 rifles that would be correct for the period. Such out-of-place weapons were common in Hollywood productions of the era when viewers were less informed — not to mention the fact that such details couldn’t be easily seen in the days before widescreen high-definition TVs that allowed viewers to pause on a particular scene.
The Browning M1917 Machine Gun
However, another weapon that is incorrect for the time period of the film (1913) is the Browning M1917 .30 caliber water-cooled machine gun. The gun is stolen by the Wild Bunch and presented to the Mexican general as a gift. It also plays a significant role in the film’s climax.
At issue is the fact that the gun wasn’t yet developed by prolific American gun maker John Moses Browning, and it wasn’t even introduced into service until 1917. However, it is an important plot point — and there really isn’t an alternative weapon that would have made sense in the film.
The U.S. Army didn’t use British Vickers or German MG08 machine guns, so the gang couldn’t have stolen one of those. Moreover, the Colt Browning M1895 “Potato Digger” was already considered somewhat antiquated by 1913. Even the upgraded version produced by the Marlin Company wasn’t developed until 1917. Hence, there really is no weapon that would have truly made sense for the film. It is an acceptable anachronism — although setting the film in 1917 could have solved the issue!
A Remake?
There has been talk of a remake for years, with everyone from Will Smith to Mel Gibson reportedly interested in pursuing a modern adaptation. However, this is a case where it would be impossible to outdo the original. “The Wild Bunch” was a film made when the era of the traditional good guy vs. bad guy Western had largely been played out, and it fittingly was about the last of the outlaw gangs.
No remake could do it justice.
