The Wild Bunch ‘How does it feel to be so god damned right”

I’ll be quoting from Sam Peckinpah’s masterpiece, and my all-time favorite Western, The Wild Bunch extensively in the scenic series. But right now this scene just seems so right. Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), a “Judas goat,” confronts the railroad detective Harrigan (Albert Dekker) about his unrepentant abuse of power and concomitant righteousness. And for me it just nails everything about the struggles of being compromised by and working within a system premised on the eradication of all threats and alternatives. What’s more, how can you beat those musical transitions, Jerry Fielding’s score is brilliant.