Which of these films was Sam Peckinpah's motion picture directorial debut?

The 1961 American Western war film "The Deadly Companions" was directed by Sam Peckinpah and stars Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran, and Chill Wills. Based on the novel of "The Deadly Companions" by A. S. Fleischman, this film is about an ex-army soldier who accidentally kills a woman's son. The soldier then tries to make up for it by escorting the funeral procession through dangerous Indian territory. As Sam Peckinpah's motion picture directorial debut, the was a learning process for Peckinpah. Unable to rewrite the screenplay or edit the picture, it became known that Peckinpah vowed to never again direct a film unless he had total script control.

In this instance concerning the overall story, it starts when a bank heist goes wrong, outlaw Yellowleg (Keith) inadvertently kills a 9-year-old boy, the son of saloon girl Kit Tilden (O'Hara). Plagued by guilt over the shooting, Yellowleg vows to help her bury the boy beside his father in the now-derelict town of Siringo, Arizona. With criminal cohorts Billy (Cochran) and Turk (Wills), Yellowleg embarks on a dangerous journey into Apache territory to lay the boy in his final resting place.

Generally, this film enjoyed success. Its critical reception was positive, with acting, and storyline receiving good praise. Particular praise went to Maureen O'Hara for her performance. O'Hara had personally complained about Peckinpah's behavior on-set; she said, "He (Peckinpah) didn't have a clue on how to direct a movie".