Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

seveb-25179 Many Western movies have used Monument Valley as a back drop since John Ford popularised it, in movies like Stagecoach and the Searchers, but none better than this one in my opinion. Director David Miller seems to have spent time working out how to shoot the scenery from every favourable angle, with great attention to composition, finding many new and attractive combinations of the familiar landmark rock formations. Then provides the cast with plenty of opportunities to ride back and forth across in front of it. The movie itself, although not particularly accurate in a historical sense, keeps to the spirit of the more favourable interpretations of Billy's actions and has a sound structure. Robert Taylor, in his prime and decked out in shiny black leather, has rarely looked better, and Brian Donleavy is given a rare opportunity to play a "white hat", instead of his usual role as a leader of the "black hats".

vincentlynch-moonoi When I first began watching this film, I was so unimpressed I almost turned it off. It's a rare Western that today holds my attention. But I'm glad I stuck with it because, on balance, it's a very good film.But let me start with what I don't like about the film. First, it's another one of those movies that try to resurrect the reputation of an outlaw, in this case Billy The Kid. It almost tries to portray Billy as just a poor misunderstood young man. Baloney.And then there is some of the photography. On the one hand, an apparently, big budget Western with beautiful color photography, some of it filmed in Monument Valley and Sedona. On the other hand, some of the closeups of riding horses were so fake looking as to be funny, and some of the matte work was very fake looking.But what makes this film stand apart is the performance by Robert Taylor. It's the main thing that kept me watching. Taylor was able to show Billy's dark nature by a certain look on his face...a slightly disturbed look. He showed great immaturity and petulance. It was quite compelling.The supporting cast is quite good, as well. Brian Donlevy, who I felt had a somewhat uneven career, is quite good as Billy's friend, who shoots him in the end. Ian Hunter as a rancher is excellent, and I have always enjoyed his performances in films. Gene Lockhart has a bit of a different role here -- as the bad guy! Lon Chaney, Jr. is here, as one of the bad guys, but although a typical role for him, not the way I like to see Chaney. And, it's always a treat to see Henry O'Neill in a film, here as a newspaper editor.Of course, there's a question about historical accuracy. I recommend you read a brief history of Billy The Kid (e.g., Wikipedia). Taylor is too old for Billy; Billy was only 21 when he died. However, much of the story loosely follows history. What's depicted is the Lincoln County War in New Mexico; so, wrong state in terms of scenery. Sheriff Pat Garrett, for some reason, has a completely different name here -- Jim Sherwood. And how Billy dies in this film is not anywhere near the truth.However, all considered, this is quite an impressive Western, and well worth watching.

classicsoncall Except for the title, this would have been as generic a Western as they come. With the title, virtually everything about it smacks of poetic license taken to the nth degree. Robert Taylor portrays the outlaw of Wild West legend, as other characters in the picture have their names changed while the story itself loosely assembles the history of the Lincoln County War and then just scatters it in all directions. Not only that, but Lincoln County itself has been relocated from the New Mexico Territory to Utah's Monument Valley, which actually is one of the film's redemptive efforts. The gorgeous Technicolor format shows off those rugged structures to maximum effect, even becoming part of the story when Billy's friend Pedro (Frank Puglia) is laid to rest at the base of the 'greatest tombstone in the world'.So if historical accuracy is your thing, you probably don't want to come near this one. For my money, the best portrayal of Billy the Kid remains Emilio Estevez's take on the character in 1988's "Young Guns", where he makes the kid an almost ego-maniacal figure, but with a certain charisma that makes you kind of overlook the fact that he was an outlaw. Here, Taylor goes for a straight on, no-nonsense characterization that's often conflicted as he attempts to choose sides between town boss Hickey (Gene Lockhart) and eventual benefactor Keating (Ian Hunter). Thrown in for good measure is the Pat Garrett stand-in, here called Jim Sherwood, a boyhood friend of Billy's from the old Silver City days, a tidbit the film keeps reminding you of over and over again.For old time Western fans, part of the attraction here is seeing who shows up as the story progresses. In particular, Lon Chaney Jr. and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams meander in and out of a number of scenes, while lesser known veterans like Cy Kendall, Henry O'Neill, Dick Curtis and Grant Withers all appear in bit parts. Actress Mary Howard is written into the script as something of a question mark, the fiancée of Sherwood, but perhaps casting an eye for Taylor's Billy. Hmm, the story didn't go anywhere with that but you had to notice the tease.In short, if you don't take this too seriously, it's an OK picture for Robert Taylor fans, here appearing in his very first Western. He cuts an imposing figure as the man in black, but when you come right down to it, he's no kid, and each reference to Billy's nickname simply reminds us of that fact.

zardoz-13 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and director David Miller, who later helmed the John Wayne aerial opus "The Flying Tigers" and the last Marx Brothers' comedy "Love Happy," give the notorious legend of Billy the Kid the glamorous treatment in this spectacular-looking Technicolor western epic. Indeed, Robert Taylor looks far too mature to be essaying of role of the murderous young ruffian. Although he was a right-hander in life, Taylor packs his pistol on his left hip, and scenarist Gene Fowler conjures up some clever dialogue to account for his southpaw status. Chief villain Dan Hickey (Gene Lockhart of "Edge of Darkness") makes the pointed observation the first time that he encounters Billy: "Left-handed, eh?" Billy replies with insouciance, "I'm saving my right to shake hands with friends." This left versus right hand theme is concluded in the off-beat ending that ennobles the title character. Meanwhile, M-G-M decks Taylor out in black from Stetson to spurs as the grim, unshaven, lead-slinging lawbreaker. Interestingly, our when ill-fated protagonist—since he is clearly not the hero—joins the underdog cattleman, he curbs his violent urges and the filmmakers reflect Billy's change of nature by allowing him to shed his black-leather jacket. Of course, Billy doesn't stay on the right side of the law for long. Dour but dependable Brian Donlevy—often cast as a villain for the sake of his thin mustache—plays Billy's childhood friend; the two of them grew up in Silver City and Donlevy as Jim Sherwood believes that his friend got the shaft. It seems that somebody gunned down Billy's father in the back and he hasn't forgotten that injustice. Despite the age discrepancy, Taylor turns in an effective, downbeat performance.Scenarist Gene Fowler, who contributed to Twentieth Century Fox's 1939 biography of Jesse James with Tyrone Power, based his script ostensibly on William Barnes Noble's vintage book "The Saga of Billy the Kid," but—not surprisingly—"Billy the Kid" takes liberties with history. Essentially, most of the facts remain intact, though never as authentically as they were depicted in Arthur Penn's "The Left-Handed Gun" with Paul Newman, Andrew V. McLaglen's "Chism" with John Wayne, Sam Peckinpah's "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid" with Kris Kristofferson and the two "Young Guns" movies with Emilio Estevez. The names have been altered. The villainous Hickey stands in for Lawrence Murphy, while British cattleman Henry Tunstall has been renamed Eric Keating. Lawman Pat Garrett is called Jim Sherwood. The action still occurs in Lincoln County, New Mexico territory in the 1880s.The plot opens with Billy stealthily breaking his Mexican partner Pedro Gonzales (Italian actor Frank Puglia of "The Burning Hills") out of jail and then inciting a fight in Hickey's saloon with the distasteful likes of the bouncer played by odious Lon Chaney, Jr., because the saloon doesn't serve Hispanics. After this short-lived scuffle, Hickey convinces Billy to hire on with his outfit and ride with him. Under Hickey's orders, the Kid launches a stampede of Keating's cattle to whittle not the numbers of steers down as well as cut back on their pound per hoof. During the stampede, the Kid encounters his old Silver City friend, Jim Sherwood (Brian Donlevy of "Never So Few") and nearly gets his head shot off. Eventually, he switches sides and joins Keating. One of the primary differences between the wealthy Hickey and the foreigner Keating is that the latter have no objections to Billy's Hispanic partner signing on, too. Not long after Billy has turned over a new leaf, he discovers Pedro dead in the corral where they were gentling a horse for Keating's sister. Inevitably, when Keating takes his case to the territory governor and convinces the lawmakers to give in a U.S. Marshall's badge. Not only does Keating swear in Jim Sherwood as U.S. Deputy Marshall, but he also secures a pardon for Billy the Kid that later will serve as a basis for his pardon. Just everything is looking optimistic, Keating rides off from his ranch one day and his rider horse returns without him. Neither M-G-M nor Miller filmed Keating's murder at the hands of Hickey's henchmen with their own deputy badges. Primarily, they shot down Keating because he was harboring a fugitive—Billy the Kid—and Keating's death puts Billy on the prod.Classic western helmer John Ford photographed his best oaters in scenic Monument Valley with its flat, sagebrush studded terrain with buttes crenellating the horizon. Evidently, what was good enough for Ford proved good enough for Miller. Sadly, Miller lensed too much of "Billy the Kid" on indoor soundstages with the actors straddling ersatz horses. In the exterior long shots, we see horsemen pouring across the wilderness, then for the closer shots we are transported to a soundstage with the characters riding either fake nags or real ones slowed down to a walk with back projection of Monument Valley. In an interesting scene between Keating and the Kid outside on the trail, the Kid learns that Keating has no love for firearms. However, Keating's non-violent ideology doesn't preclude him from being a crack shot. As vultures circle overhead, Billy knocks one out of the skies and Keating borrows the Kid's six-shooter and knocks down two birds. The vultures are unmistakably animated as are several backdrop shots of the mountainous terrain. Ian Hunter, who played King Richard the Lion-Heart in the Errol Flynn swashbuckler "The Adventures of Robin Hood," is solidly cast as the transplanted Englishman. Mary Howard, who went on to appear in "Riders of the Purple Sage," is flat as Keating's sister Edith that the Kid has a crush on but who is destined to marry Sherwood. Appropriately, Miller saves Billy's death scene for the last few minutes and Billy gives his friend Sherwood an edge on him by wearing his six-gun on his right hip so that he cannot win in a fast-draw competition. "Billy the Kid" is okay for what it is, but it is no classic.