WILD ROVERS

WILD ROVERS William Holden, Ryan O'Neal (1971, MGM/UA, wide-screen, PG, $39.98) Pink Panther director Blake Edwards concocted this amiable Western out of familiar elements-John Ford's desert vistas, Sam Peckinpah's slow-motion violence, Butch and Sundance's comic camaraderie. But Edwards' literate script and superb Panavision compositions, and strong performances make this deliberately paced tale of two cowboys-turned-bankrobbers seem engrossing rather than secondhand. A documentary that follows the picture-with grossly cropped scenes of Monument Valley that are uncropped in the film itself-also provides a convincing argument for MGM/UA's fine wide-screen disc transfer. B+- Steve Simels