THE WILD BUNCH! RETURN OF THE JEDI! RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK! On Location with Howard Kazanjian!

Before producing RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, before RETURN OF THE JEDI, acclaimed producer Howard Kazanjian was 1st AD on another classic. The film was THE WILD BUNCH in 1969. Today director Sam Peckinpah’s western is heralded as a breakthrough, a game-changer, and most definitely a classic! The stories of over half the crew being fired during the tumultuous shoot in Mexico are legendary. Howard says they are true.
Young Howard Kazanjian was hired as the 1st Assistant Director on THE WILD BUNCH and lasted all the way through the shoot!
How did he do it? How did Howard keep from getting fired? What was Bloody Sam Peckinpah really like? Was Sam a mad man, a gifted filmmaker or both?
Find out the answer to those questions and learn many more intriguing facts about the beloved, and controversial, classic western film with Howard, who joined Rob Word at The Autry for A WORD ON WESTERNS Nov 8, 2022, to discuss what it was like to be an eager young filmmaker who was on his way to becoming an award-winning producer, author and mentor to budding movie makers.
If you'd like to learn more about Howard's incredible filmmaking journey, order a copy of his in depth biography, "Howard Kazanjian, A Producer's Life," written by J.W. Rinzler with Howard. It's a (very thick) handbook that every budding filmmaker and film fan should have in their home library. Like it says on the cover "...from HITCHCOCK and PECKINPAH to SPIELBERG and LUCAS: 50 Years of Collaboration."
Thanks for watching our show. Don’t forget to Subscribe and Share this episode of A WORD ON WESTERNS. If you’re one of our Patreon Members, you are helping deliver quality programs and, as a member, can watch them with no commercials. We appreciate your support.
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#interview #robword #thewildbunch #wildbunch #sampeckinpah #williamholden #benjohnson #howardkazanjian #filmhistory #filmdirector #filmdirecting #western #westernfilm #classics #classicmovies #mexico #classicwesternmovie #awordonwesterns #characteractor #stuntman #stunts #starwars #returnofthejedi #georgelucas #usc #filmschool #stevenspielberg #raidersofthelostark #indianajones #serial #serials #classicmovies

[@michaellazzeri2069]

My all-time, #1 film ! And, THE best Western ever made. 6----------count'em, 6 ----------actors who won Oscars or were nominated for an Oscar. Holden--------Borgnine--------O'Brien------Ryan-------Oates & Johnson. ---------All-time, classic ! ---------------MJL, 77 y/o

[@buddylobos5277]

I happened to be waiting alone, with some time to kill, downtown on a Saturday afternoon. So, I went into a nearby movie theater to watch this. When I got home, I rounded up a bunch of buddies and we all went to watch this that night. Front row, balcony, 8 rowdy, loud high school seniors. But, nobody told us to be quiet. It still occasionally comes up today, in conversation, when we get together. Rated by all as the best ever! I'll spread the Word about this. Thanks Rob. Really a Great one.

[@dcw1467]

Best Ever ........ABSOLUTELY 100%👍👍👍

[@nerblebun]

My high school Drama teacher, Don Levy, was Sam Peckinpah's room mate in college & remained friends throughout his life.

[@MIKEKELLEY12000]

Ernest Borgnine had a KZbin channel late in life. He drove around the country in his big RV bus and never met a stranger.

[@hiramnoone]

I watched that series too. Seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

[@TERoss-jk9ny]

I hope there is a PART 2!

[@cbamr]

I agree. This was great 👍 😊

[@archstanton4365]

Absolutely!

[@KyleCowden]

Seconded!

[@paulkitt2376]

Fascinating insight into how it was possible to make a classic. Peckinpah will go down in film history as one of the great directors. Even his later films junior Bonner and Alfredo Garcia have moments of magic.

[@OdeeOz]

This is more great, _Behind the scenes,_ insight, on more of Hollywood's A-List names. 💯⭐&👍 Ride Boley, ride! 🤠🐄🐄🐎🐎🐎

[@AWordonWesterns]

Glad you enjoyed it,OD. More to come.

[@garymckee8857]

They produced a masterpiece under very adverse conditions, it's my favorite western film since seen it on the late show when I was 10 years old.

[@MsBenlane]

i became a peckinpah fan from seeing the tv show the westerner and remember stag gering out of the theatre after seeing the wild bunch. it was one thing to see something like 7nsamurai which you had read of. a masterpiece. but it was another thing to see this , unhearlded and know it was a masterpiece and being awestruck. i met him at a preview of bring me the head of alfredo garcia and seeing him standing in the audience. i told him how much i liked it and it reminded me of things like gold medal books with people like david goodis and jim thompson. i asked if it was the pic he wanted to make and he said yes.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks. Lucky you to chat with Sam.

[@daryljacobson7462]

I enjoy the interviews with the crews just about as much as cast members. Great job you're doing. I always look forward to them. Thanks.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks, Daryl

[@tectorgorch8698]

Oh boy, I see Wild Bunch, I get in here quick!

[@AWordonWesterns]

Splish splash, Tector.

[@tectorgorch8698]

@@AWordonWesterns What's in Agua Verde? Messicans, what else? It's a miracle that quoting TWB all these years hasn't gotten my ass kicked. THANKS, ROB!

[@davidhewitt6868]

Great movie great actors and Sam Peckingpah great director

[@jimross7648]

This was a very different take on Sam Peckinpah and The Wild Bunch. The usual take is about the hard drinking and argumentative and difficult to work with director. Sam Peckinpah is considered brilliant, but hard to work for or with. This explains how and why Peckinpah was the way he was, and how to work with him. The elements that were inherent in making the film the classic it is now acknowledged to be. Howard Kazanjian explains in a straight forward manner how to work for and with Peckinpah, and how the movie came together. I really enjoyed how this interview was less about the usual razzle dazzle in regards to this film, and more about the nuts and bolts of making the film. An extremely interesting and well crafted interview.

[@elizabethbeckman1947]

Thank you for your comment, Jim; insightful for me. So good to have Howard Kazanjian's POV.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks, Jim.

[@Labor_Jones]

I agree with you of course, but no-one remembers that Mr. Kazanjian never ever worked for him again... which means that Peckinpah's way of work wasn't the kind that build Teams either. And so it seems, many of his opportunities might have been 'not near misses' if he had a TEAM of PROFESSIONALS that went from film to film as say Howard Hawks could & was able to do, but was Hard to work for too, or I've heard! Just sayin' - m.

[@elizabethbeckman1947]

@@Labor_Jones I understand a (tested, tried and true) team, project to project as well, was the way of Director, John Ford....

[@artisaprimus6306]

I used to not respect the art of movie making until I really understood how movies are made. The more I learned, the more I appreciated the artistry, hard work and talent it takes to create something memorable. The Wild Bunch is one of those movies. I've watched it dozens of times over the years and come to appreciate it more each time.

[@Rick1959]

Fantastic! Thank You!!

[@Tordogor]

Really like you bringing to your show the technical professionals to tell about the 'behind the scenes' stuff of these milestone movies in such a lively and authoritative way. 👏👍👏👍

[@richb313]

I just love these stories about legendarily difficult people like Peckinpah seen from another perspective. Thanks Rob.

[@tombankwel4822]

Great interview and the movie, so good, the wild bunch, i saw it at the opening in this huge theater called the imperial, i Was 16 years old and this movie Was awsome, thanks lord Rob Word of Word on Westerns laird of Word manor, from tom your friend now and always, your outfit is so cool 🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠😊😊

[@AWordonWesterns]

As always, thanks for the kind words, Tom.

[@MojaveEast]

Excellent interview. As for the greatness of the movie, my favorite too, I have read that Peckinpah did not drink at all during filming, like he knew this was it, and if he was going to put his mark on film history at all this was his last chance. Boy did he ever!

[@hiramnoone]

Back when writing essays was a thing you were often forced to do in school, I wrote one on my opinion of The Wild Bunch and why it was a hit while another ambitious Peckinpah effort, Major Dundee, was a near miss failure. Even in the director's cut version. I don't have it anymore but I do remember mentioning how Dundee seemed to stray from one interesting premise about mid way rather jarringly to another, while "The Bunch" pretty much stayed on point to a logical, even inevitable conclusion. And that in the end, being the deal breaking difference between the two. Today The Wild Bunch with much justification is nearly unanimously regarded by critics and genre aficionados as Peckinpah's master work. It *is* a great picture and makes a great statement on history within the genre's mythology (hey, I own both the VHS and two of the DVDs, including the director's cut of Dundee btw).... But for me, Ride the High Country which pretty much plays out the same message as The Bunch, but does so more eloquently, in large part because of the presence of two genre icons bidding their own farewells and taking their own final bows to both the genre and their careers, makes as I see it, Ride the High Country more effective, its message more powerful. And more poignant. So remains my own personal favorite Peckinpah western, as well as for me his best.

[@nealhathaway2004]

I know I could be wrong but, I think, Charlton Heston was a miss cast in that part. But I don't know who should have been.

[@MsBenlane]

@@nealhathaway2004 i thought harris was miscast, should h ave been someone like rod taylor who could do a southern accent. but it had tha t scene with warren oates.

[@hiramnoone]

@@nealhathaway2004 You're never wrong with your opinion. Something brought you to it, it's the way you feel, and that inherently makes you right no matter who disagrees. I for instance prefer Ride the High Country to The Wild Bunch which certainly places my opinion in the minority, but hey, that's *my* opinion and you might disagree Again, your opinion, and I would respect it just as I'd hope you'd do with mine.

[@nealhathaway2004]

@@hiramnoone I quite agree! Ride the High Country was one of his best films. To be honest, The only films of his I like are Ride the High Country and Pat Garrete and Billy the Kid. The rest are ok.

[@hiramnoone]

@@nealhathaway2004 Yeah, I liked Pat and Billy too.

[@nicoletanis3703]

Rob, this interview is not only fascinated but absolutely amazing. I enjoyed it very much. Thanks!

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks, Nicole.

[@capscow_5398]

sam was a guy who saw his canvas as a work in progress...a true genius..rip sam❤

[@grahamhill6340]

Great interview with HOWARD KAZANIJAN... he was the Second Assistant Director on THE WILD BUNCH, and that thankless job has to do with knocking on trailer doors and getting the actors ready for the scene for the First Assistant director. Howard would also have to prepare the call-sheets each day, and do so much more specially when the schedule keeps changing minute to minute. Believe me, on so many shows that I worked on, it was always the AD's that would get fired before anyone... assistant directors and craft service. And if the first AD gets fired it usually results in the whole AD team going with him, as the next first assistant would want his team in to support him. But all that aside, a Second Assistant Director is a difficult job on any production as Howard stated, you're always walking on eggshells and taking blame for anything and everything, even if it wasn't your fault, and then to have to do your job with the notorious Sam Peckinpah -well, as Rob said Howard deserves a gold medal! Howard did well and rose up to work on so many iconic movies and TV shows, check his credits on the IMDB. He went on to become a producer, but despite the test-of-fire shoot of THE WILD BUNCH, the fact that he survived that and that it became such a classic probably made him so in demand for directors like Robert Wise, Billy Wilder and Steven Spielberg, because he knew how to take care of business against impossible odds!

[@eileenallen1986]

Ilove westerns. I love all these stories of the making of the movies. It is all a part of what happens that becomes the final result of the people that come together and work so hard to make these wonderful movies.

[@rosezingleman5007]

I got a degree in art history because I could see a painting as a snapshot of its time period. You can see the different threads of events and influences-movies are that way and then some because they’re collaborative. I should’ve skipped art history and just stuck with my true love. Films are really the way to study a culture, and a lot of fun besides. I’ve been a film buff for over sixty years now and never seem to get enough.

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

Fabulous

[@kdevinturner8778]

Great interview. Howard is a gentleman.

[@arlineabdalian8974]

Another interesting interview. Many thanks, Rob, RJ and Team AWOW.

[@KyleCowden]

Fantastic story by the GREAT Howard Kazanjian. Right, Arline? 😁

[@AWordonWesterns]

LOL

[@douglashall2141]

Another excellent interview thank you Rob

[@beerdrinker6452]

It is a bummer that you only have about 150k subscribers. Everyone needs to see your work. True Americano. Thank you.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks again for the kind words, BD. Just keep pushing these episode links out to your friends. We're just a word of mouth western film channel.

[@franksnyder1038]

AWOW keeps getting better and better.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks, Frank. We keep trying!

[@Slick2462]

Another great interview! It always amazes me that you have such great guests who bring so much. Thank You, Rob.

[@alananderson5929]

Sam gave us the wildest and most memorable scenes ever filmed. Several of his make my top 10. From the Wild Bunch to Ballad ofCable Hogue. I played tennis with Stella and she had a few funny stories and warm memories of that shoot. Thanks for another great interview, Rob.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Stella's a doll, and hot, too.

[@jaketanner20001]

Always amazing what great stories are shared by your guests.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Glad you like them, jake. Thanks.

[@gerrydooley951]

what a great interview

[@tarnsand440]

Thank you Rob as always. Any recollections of Wild Bunch movie set always appreciated. Howard's interview fits with interviews with LQ Ernie Borgnine. Especially how Sam would stall to rethink next scene also the constant firing. I'm sure if some staff wld've pretended to leave come back as new hire Sam wldn't have known the difference in some cases. Brilliant man!! One wonders; is there such a thing as not being able to mentally control your genius in film making so you turn to alcohol drugs🤔

[@Paladin1873]

Seems he became a textbook paranoid manic depressive.

[@marshasullivan4074]

Another great interview Rob and well directed by you. You are a master of steering the interviewee with gentleness.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks, Marsha. Sweet!

[@pjoe1950]

Love the Wild Bunch and have seen it many times. Enjoyed hearing Mr. Kazanjian.

[@beevee4445]

You are the best "interviewer" (is that a word) ever. I love when they say something amusing and you give the honest little laugh. Often I don't know the names of people you interview, but definitely recognize their face.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks BV. Guess I'm pretty easy to amuse. I sure enjoy laughing and hearing these marvelous on location stories.

[@SusanH4626]

I hope you have him back, I would love to hear stories about the actors! The Talented Bunch!

[@Labor_Jones]

Sweet! - A great Movie with someone who had a different take on Sam Peckinpah. Mr Kazanjian's observations show more, tell more, and increase how Peckinpah used his reputation to achieve a final product. Most of the time 'Mr. Peckinpah' seems to achieve his greatest work in spite of his personality and devils. Instead, Mr. Kazanjian sews together how 'Sams' actions were intentional and successful choices to make a movie great. --- I appreciate that a lot! THANKS ROB :) - m.

[@AWordonWesterns]

thanks, Marv

[@joeburns4294]

Great interview Rob. I could listen to this guy all day long!

[@AWordonWesterns]

Yes, Joe. An amazing career and storyteller.

[@Drunkenmaster2000]

Brilliant interview!

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks, Lee. Classic film!

[@briangoldy8784]

I Believe "THE GETAWAY" is Sam's Masterpiece....Although Sam might have been Fired ....Thanks Rob........For another Great Interview an Insight.....

[@odfarmboy]

Boy! I want to hear more!

[@buckjones6334]

I’ll stop what I’m doing to watch any of his movies! Straw Dogs! Is almost as powerful as Wild Bunch! And I know I’m in the minority but Junior Bonner is a touching movie about family rodeos and aging! When McQueen put his brother thru the plate glass window with one punch, his comment, “Damn what a lick” is so memorable! Bonner’s old white Caddy with his young rival’s new black caddy! That’s taken right out of the early westerns with hero on the white stallion! I could go on so many great scenes in all of his movies!

[@HyperspacePictures]

Keep it up with the Sam P. Stuff! I’ve been LA for 15 months and it’s full of nerds! I am just like Pekinpaugh and I can’t take it. I may have to train a whole film crew to give me the that 1968 feel. Oh well, I digress…Great interview as always!

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thank you, Joe. Have some fun this year!

[@stevenhall2408]

The stills and clips accompanying this interview were a great plus. I have a still of Paul Harper he signed for me probably shot at the time of the bounty hunter group pic. Well done!

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks, Steven. Paul sure took advantage of being there and was able to document a classic. Sam liked him.

[@waverly2468]

Mr. Kazanjian has a great book in print about his career in movies. He said he was given some chances to direct but they weren't projects he was passionate about.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Howard's book should be on every film fan's shelf and every library. What an amazing journey and fantastic guest. Thanks, waverly

[@gregdavis19]

Great interview, Rob, can’t wait to see the rest of it. By the way, Happy New Year, buddy!

[@AWordonWesterns]

Thanks, Greg. It's gonna be a good year. More to come from Howard, too.

[@mjemigh3304]

Hey, Rob, a million thanks for this one!! Unlike you, I'm not really a fan of "The Wild Bunch," but you mentioned something very special. I have the two books you talked about at the start of this interview, but I had no idea that he has a book about Margaret Dumont out there. It will be delivered by 4:00 tomorrow. I guess we've all heard Groucho's stories about her, but there's gotta be more to her story. Enough to fill a book, apparently!

[@thedoxinator3934]

Rob 🤠, yet another compelling interview…..take the rest of the day off 😅

[@neildaly2635]

It is a great movie. I saw it on the big screen when it was reissued in 1995 (I was in diapers in 1968) and have seen it several times since. I think essentially it is a Robert Ryan movie, given his story arc and the classic ending. “It ain’t like the old days, but it’ll do.” Love to get your opinion, Mr Word and thank you for all the great content!

[@AWordonWesterns]

Robert Ryan was always good. You're right, Neil. Ryan's character arc helped give the narrative yet another layer. Fabulous script! Thanks.

[@toinimoore3463]

I was 16 and everything he said is true in 68 it’s over 50 years ago you really do have to think about what we were doing then,

[@fenwaypark1725]

Thank you Rob. Another great interview. Let’s go Brandon. Oops 🇺🇸🖖

[@davidstewart4825]

great stuff..a Legend

[@joansmith5870]

Sam's reported heavy drinking may of caused his early death at age 59 from heart failure. He was the co creator of The Rifleman and directed the first few episodes.

[@bak-mariterry5180]

And some of the best episodes.

[@waynemcauliffe2362]

Great film mate

[@dcw1467]

"BEST WESTERN EVER"

[@Paladin1873]

I'm probably in the minority, but my favorite Peckinpah movie is "Major Dundee". I know it is considered a mess by many critics (much like the director himself), but critics don't make movies, so I prefer the dictates of my own senses. I've read there are different versions of the film and that the one Peckinpah wanted was never assembled. Even so, what is presented shows so many elements of 19th century Americana, that I admire what he was trying to do. My takeaway is that it is only natural for such a diverse people to bicker and fight among themselves, but when the chips are down, we pull together as one lean, mean fightin' machine. I hope that never changes. I rate it higher than "Cross of Iron", which is another film that seems not to have reached its potential, but is still good. "Ride the High Country" is a masterpiece and a fitting farewell to two of the silver screens greatest western stars.

[@hiramnoone]

"Cross of Iron" was a big miss with me. Coburn, an actor whose stuff I mostly liked played an unconvincing German I thought, his missing accent Aussie in The Great Escape being equally so. He, and guys like Cagney, Bogart, Gable, Cooper, Wayne, great actors all, having such strongly American personas made them impossible to accept as anything else. Also Maximilian Schell's 1970s sideburns were a glaring, attention distracting flaw in such a period film. For the sorta rabidly committed Nazi he played would certainly have sported nothing but white sidewalls. And to top off the stereotype maybe? Even a ciggy smoked between index finger and thumb, and a monocle.

[@Paladin1873]

@@hiramnoone I liked the attempts at realism, such as using real T-34 tanks. Of course the story could have been about any troops in any war. When it comes to having a love-hate relationship with a war movie, I would pick "Kelly's Heroes". The Sherman tanks and mock Tigers were intriguing, but Oddball and his crew were completely unbelievable and dated the movie to the 1970s. Much of the equipment was genuine to the WWII period and much of it was not, but the biggest flaw was the time period and location. I doubt many American troops were disillusioned by war in the summer of 1944 when we had the Germans on the run in France. Had they moved the timeline and location forward to 1945 and changed the setting to Germany, Austria, or western Czechoslovakia, it would have made the story more plausible.

[@hiramnoone]

@@Paladin1873 Yeah, like you I found "Kelly's Heroes" to be too 70's anachronistic and the characters too oddball and unbelievable too. So mostly hate and little love at my end for that film. Didn't care much for The Dirty Dozen, either. Of WW1&2 and Korea films, I'd rank Battleground, 12 O'clock High, Men in War, Attack!, All Quiet on the Western Front (the 1930 version), Guadalcanal Diary, Paths of Glory and Patton as some of my favorites that I found few flaws in, either in realism or characterization. A Walk in the Sun is another if it weren't for representing American vehicles as German merely by putting German markings on them, and for the unforgivable sin of trying to pass off a strafing P-51 Mustang as an attacking Messerschmitt.

[@Paladin1873]

@@hiramnoone All excellent films. I would add "They Were Expendable" and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".

[@hiramnoone]

@@Paladin1873 Yep. Also Run Silent Run Deep, Steel Helmet, and Between Heaven and Hell ("That's where Waco is." Brod Crawford, He never shoulda put on those Captains bars and insisted on that salute).

[@MsBenlane]

the westerner is on dvd. i wish they would do noon wine he directed. i saw it at a sf film festival with peckinpah.

[@AWordonWesterns]

Me, too, MsBen. I remember seeing NOON WINE only once, when it premiered on network TV.

[@davidstewart4825]

never seen Major Dundee,,,Cross of Iron and The Getaway..a must

[@douglasturner6153]

That was great. I like how this guy doesn't denigrate Sam at all. But Rob stop teasing us man. Where's the rest of the interview?

[@AWordonWesterns]

The rest of the interview is about Howard's non-western work producing RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and Eastwood in THE ROOKIE. I'm planning on editing them together into a new episode. Don't worry, Doug, I always use EVERYTHING for our shows.

[@douglasturner6153]

@@AWordonWesterns Ok. But it sounded like he was about to talk about his experiences with all the stars on the Wild Bunch.

[@douglashall2141]

In those days, in the 60s oh, it was always thought and said that you don't drink the water in Mexico. Therefore that could be the reason why they drank so much beer, or alcohol. I really enjoyed that movie and still do to this day. It's hard to find any more oh, it appears everything is sold online. And I'm not on a computer online. And I don't like to order things online either. I've done that before on it be scammed

[@howardjohnson2138]

Good Flick. Thanks

[@AWordonWesterns]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@wesmcgee1648]

Peckinpah was my favorite director, but doggone he could screw up with people. I think he wrote or directed the first three Rifleman episodes which I think were the best, then got fired.

[@douglashall2141]

So far from what I've heard it sounds as if the assistant director made the director's job so much easier. Because it appears he was doing most of the work. So whose job was really more stressful. Of course I know there was a lot of stress upon mr. Peckinpah. But a lot of it he put on himself. And of course we all know that if a director doesn't do a good job he won't be directing very long.

[@desertfox3860]

Great interview but I sure wouldn't want his job!

[@courtneyhall7140]

another outstanding video,this is one of my most favorite films ever made. i had just been discharged from the navy after having been in a helecopter combat support squadron and spending 18 months in asia.i thought i had seen some rough times,but those boys put me to shame.any way this is a great interview and great movie.thanks rob. ty santee

[@AWordonWesterns]

You bet, ty. Thanks for your comment and your service to our country!

[@seymourwrasse3321]

a real shame all the actors are gone from these older movies

[@Rick1959]

True, but it is wonderful that they were able to capture this amazing work for posterity!

[@seymourwrasse3321]

@@Rick1959 It always seemed it would be bad in one to be an actor, you get old and wore out like me and see yourself inn a movie you made when you were young and conquering the world

[@Rick1959]

@@seymourwrasse3321 Since time never stops, I'm happy to catch a slice of time to remember 🙂

[@seymourwrasse3321]

when our teachers asked for volunteers to make mimeograph copies, they got more volunteers then anything else, I still can remember the smell, and we got to see a test in advance

[@hiramnoone]

Yeah, I used to be chosen to work that thing too. And loved the smell.

[@seymourwrasse3321]

back when we had to go to the movies to see violence, instead of on the big city streets, simpler times!