Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writer:

Rudy Wurlitzer (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 August 1973 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

History | Western

Tagline:

Best of enemies. Deadliest of friends.

Plot:

An aging Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons--his sole purpose being to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.

Plot Keywords:

Slow Motion | Destiny | Aging | Love | Lincoln County War

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations

Cast

James Coburn	...	Sheriff Pat Garrett
Kris Kristofferson	...	William H. Bonney (Billy the Kid)
Bob Dylan	...	Alias
Richard Jaeckel	...	Sheriff Kip McKinney
Katy Jurado	...	Mrs. Baker
Chill Wills	...	Lemuel
Jason Robards	...	Gov. Lew Wallace
R.G. Armstrong	...	Deputy Sheriff Bob Ollinger
Luke Askew	...	Eno
John Beck	...	John W. Poe
Richard Bright	...	Holly
Matt Clark	...	Deputy Sheriff J.W. Bell
Rita Coolidge	...	Maria
Jack Dodson	...	Lewellen Howland
Jack Elam	...	Alamosa Bill / Kermit

Also Known As:

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (USA) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated R for western violence and sexuality/nudity. (edited for re-rating; originally R)

Runtime:

106 min (Cut theatrical version) | 115 min (2005 DVD Special Edition) | 122 min (1988 restored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1987) (video release) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) | West Germany:16 | Australia:PG | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Rumors began to reach the studio that director Sam Peckinpah was unable to work due to his heavy drinking. So as a joke, a photo was taken which showed Peckinpah on a stretcher being fed whiskey through an IV bottle while cast members carried him.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Cody is lying on a bed, his left arm is over the rifle, with his hand hanging from the bed, and his right hand is leaning on his left shoulder. In the next shot, when Poe touches him, his left hand is holding the rifle and his right hand leaning on the bed.

Quotes:

Billy: [Billy aims a shotgun at Ollinger] How's Jesus look to you now, Bob?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (2004) (TV)

Sporadically brilliant.

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a unique western. Parts of it are just brilliant, other moments are bungled, but it is composed and structured like no other movie from the genre.

Everyone knows the western legend about these two central characters, who went from being friends to sworn adversaries. The leading performances of James Coburn (Garrett) and Kris Kristofferson (Billy) are rather colourless, but the subsidiary characters are beautifully delineated. There are some pretentious moments. For example, near the start Billy is arrested and as he makes his way towards the lawmen who have come to take him, he adopts a Christ-like pose which is presumably meant to signify that he was some kind of martyr among Wild West outlaws (when, in reality, he was probably just a psychopath).

However, there are stunning moments in the film too. In fact, the scene in which Slim Pickens stumbles, wounded and mortally bleeding, to a riverside so that he can die peacefully is arguably the most moving scene ever in a motion picture. The acting, the music and the photography fit together harmoniously to make this a truly magical cinematic moment.

One word of warning: beware of the incoherent, chopped-up 106 minute version of the film. If you're planning to watch it, go for the full 122 minute director's cut, which is immeasurably superior.