10 Times Hollywood Regretted Giving Directors All The Freedom

Fans of Sam Peckinpah's violent, revisionist westerns have difficulty settling on a favourite unsung work, but Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia is the current choice by consensus.

For years, Warren Oates had watched his friend and director drink and tussle with studio executives. On the set of the director's previous film, he was reportedly capable of working soberly for four hours a day.

It didn't take long for Oates to realize he was playing the director, so he borrowed his sunglasses to create Bennie, the alcoholic pianist who stumbles upon the corpse of a man wanted by a powerful crime boss.

Peckinpah first handed a few pages of a draft to producer Martin Baum, who had a deal with United Artists. Both Baum and UA got excited, particularly with the fact that Peckinpah said he'd do it for free because he owed one.

Then came reports from the set in Mexico. Not only were most of the crew locals, potentially violating union rules, but Peckinpah was also quoted as saying, "For me, Hollywood no longer exists...I've decided to stay in Mexico because I believe I can make my pictures with greater freedom from here," with unions threatening a boycott as a result.

Critics didn't help. Right-wing pundit Michael Medved included it in The Fifty Worst Films of All Time though some, like Siskel and Ebert, did champion it.