Deliverance by Sam Peckinpah starring Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, and Charlton Heston

Deliverance was released in 1972. A classic film, adapted from one of the few novels written by poet James Dickey, the film covers a weekend trip of four friends which goes drastically wrong. Originally, director Sam Peckinpah was interested in making the film, but the studio went with John Boorman who had a lot of cache due to the success of the films Point Blank and Hell in the Pacific. Peckinpah would go on to direct Straw Dogs, an equally uncompromising and violent film that dealt with horrific themes. Boorman sought to have Lee Marvin and Marlon Brando in the picture before the suggestion was put forth to use younger actors. Among those considered for various roles included: Donald Sutherland, Henry Fonda, Warren Beatty, George C. Scott, and Robert Redford. It's difficult to imagine the movie with a cast other than the actors who would go on to star in the film. While The French Connection was released the year before, let's say Gene Hackman had gone continued to go a different route with his career. So, perhaps we would have had this version: