]The film""s screenplay, by first-time scripter Bruce Robinson, was adapted from Pulitzer Prize-winningNY Timesreporter Sydney Schanberg""sThe Death and Life of Dith PranfromThe NY Times Magazine.Peckinpah had earlier directed another classic western about the West""s passing,Ride the High Country (1962)and the epic western filmMajor Dundee (1965).Of the film""s two nominations, the ballad won the film""s sole Oscar - for Best Original Song.[Note: Kern""s Best Song victory defeated Cole Porter""s classic "I""ve Got You Under My Skin" fromBorn o Dance.Lois protested the newspaper""s latest format (tabloid-sized), with its most recent headline -- "IS SUPERMAN DEAD?" As she stormed out, she seized Superman""s cape from the desk: "And you certainly have no right to this.He would function as the "bearer of the money" to make a ransom payment of $8,000 in exchange for allegedly-stolen jewels (a jade necklace):Some jewels were taken from a friend of mine in a hold-up.