The Kid from Texas (1950)

In New Mexico, Billy the Kid is involved in the Lincoln County War, kills many rivals and eventually becomes a wanted fugitive.

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

Robert Hardy Andrews (screenplay), Robert Hardy Andrews (story)

Stars:

Audie Murphy, Gale Storm, Albert Dekker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Audie Murphy	...	William Bonney ('Billy the Kid')
Gale Storm	...	Irene Kain
Albert Dekker	...	Alexander Kain
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Roger Jameson
Will Geer	...	O'Fallon
William Talman	...	Minninger
Martin Garralaga	...	Morales
Robert Barrat	...	General Lew Wallace (as Robert H. Barrat)
Walter Sande	...	Crowe
Frank Wilcox	...	Sheriff Pat Garrett
Dennis Hoey	...	Major Harper
Ray Teal	...	Sheriff Rand
Don Haggerty	...	Morgan
Paul Ford	...	Sheriff Copeland
John Phillips	...	Sid Curtis

Storyline

Billy the Kid becomes embroiled in Lincoln County, NM, land wars. When rancher who gave him a break is killed by rival henchman, Billy vows revenge. New employer takes advantage of his naivety to kill rivals, lets the Kid take rap. Kid takes to the hills with friends until caught. Escapes hanging but remains in area to be near employer's young wife with whom he's infatuated.

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Plot Keywords:

billy the kid | reference to god | reference to ecclesiastes | escape from jail | husband wife relationship | 

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Taglines:

The true savage story of BILLY THE KID!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is "the last picture show" in Larry McMurtry's novel "The Last Picture Show." Sonny and Duane don't stay for the whole movie, as it doesn't hold their interest and they are distracted by memories. (In Peter Bogdanovich's film adaptation "The Last Picture Show," the last picture show is Howard Hawks' "Red River.")

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Quotes

Sheriff Brand: Suppose I told you there were half a dozen warrants out for his arrest right now. One for killing a man out of Silver City, Colorado, eight years ago with a knife. Another for killing four Chiricahua Indians.
Alexander Kain: Eight years ago? Well, that's ridiculous. The boy couldn't have been more than twelve years old!
Sheriff Brand: You don't judge a rattlesnake by his age. He's a rattler whether he's got one rattle or a dozen.

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Connections

Featured in Legends of the West (1992)

User Reviews

Audie fans won't be disappointed - a nice little movie, in color too!

I have a lot of respect for Audie Murphy, the most decorated US solder of WW II. However I have to admit that what I find most memorable about him are his acting roles, particularly in Westerns. He always played a deceptively young-looking gunfighter and had the real-life moves to back him up on camera. One excellent example is early in the film Duel at Silver Springs where he shoots the gun out of Lee Marvin's hand while sitting at a saloon card table - he was lightning fast on the draw.

I like Murphy here as Billy the Kid because he's still young-looking enough to be reasonably convincing. There is another movie called Billy the Kid from 1941 with Robert Taylor in the title role and he doesn't look anything like a kid - shortly after I started watching that one I switched it off. Taylor was over 30 years old and looked possibly even older than that. (On the other hand the opening scenes of To Hell and Back have Murphy at age 31 playing himself as a military inductee of 18, and to me, that also did not work.) Here, Murphy at 25 or so still looks young enough to pull off the role of a "kid".

Anyhow, back to this movie, it's one of the versions of Billy the Kid I enjoy watching because Murphy plays his part convincingly. And it has the added bonus of having been shot in Technicolor, making it easy on the eyes too.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

1 March 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Kid from Texas

Filming Locations:

Idyllwild, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1