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IMDbPro

The Left Handed Gun

  • 19581958
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 42m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:47
1 Video
44 Photos
Western
After his employer is murdered by rival cattlemen, a troubled and uneducated young cowboy vows revenge on the murderers.After his employer is murdered by rival cattlemen, a troubled and uneducated young cowboy vows revenge on the murderers.After his employer is murdered by rival cattlemen, a troubled and uneducated young cowboy vows revenge on the murderers.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
    • Arthur Penn
    • Leslie Stevens(screenplay)
    • Gore Vidal(play)
  • Stars
    • Paul Newman
    • Lita Milan
    • John Dehner
    • Arthur Penn
    • Leslie Stevens(screenplay)
    • Gore Vidal(play)
  • Stars
    • Paul Newman
    • Lita Milan
    • John Dehner
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 52User reviews
    • 26Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    The Left Handed Gun
    Trailer 1:47
    Watch The Left Handed Gun

    Photos44

    Paul Newman in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman, James Best, and Lita Milan in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman, George Bell, Robert Foulk, and Denver Pyle in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman and Lita Milan in The Left Handed Gun (1958)
    Paul Newman and Lita Milan in "The Left Handed Gun," 1958.
    Paul Newman and Lita Milan in "The Left Handed Gun," 1958.
    "Left Handed Gun, The" Paul Newman on the set,

    Top cast

    Edit
    Paul Newman
    Paul Newman
    • Billy The Kid
    Lita Milan
    Lita Milan
    • Celsa
    John Dehner
    John Dehner
    • Pat Garrett
    Hurd Hatfield
    Hurd Hatfield
    • Moultrie
    James Congdon
    • Charlie Boudre
    James Best
    James Best
    • Tom Folliard
    Colin Keith-Johnston
    Colin Keith-Johnston
    • Tunstall
    John Dierkes
    John Dierkes
    • McSween
    Robert Anderson
    Robert Anderson
    • Hill
    • (as Bob Anderson)
    Wally Brown
    Wally Brown
    • Deputy Moon
    Ainslie Pryor
    Ainslie Pryor
    • Joe Grant
    Martin Garralaga
    Martin Garralaga
    • Saval
    Denver Pyle
    Denver Pyle
    • Ollinger
    Paul Smith
    Paul Smith
    • Smith
    Nestor Paiva
    Nestor Paiva
    • Pete Maxwell
    Josephine Parra
    • Bride
    • (as Jo Summers)
    Robert Foulk
    Robert Foulk
    • Sheriff Brady
    Anne Barton
    Anne Barton
    • Mrs. Hill
      • Arthur Penn
      • Leslie Stevens(screenplay)
      • Gore Vidal(play)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Paul Newman was widely felt to be miscast as Billy the Kid since at 33 he was considerably older than the character. Billy was supposed to be 18 at the beginning of the film.
    • Goofs
      The film is about western outlaw Billy the Kid, who was in fact right-handed.
    • Quotes

      McSween: [about the murdered Tunstall] Lord God, this was a quiet man. He lived the way a man ought to live. He did not lie. He did not hurt. He listened to any man who spoke to him.

    • Connections
      Featured in Legends of the West (1992)
    • Soundtracks
      Rock of Ages
      (uncredited)

      Lyrics by Augustus Montague Toplady and music by Thomas Hastings

    User reviews52

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Entertaining but not challenging
    There have been forty-six feature films made about the life of Henry McCarty, alias William H. Bonner, alias Billy the Kid. All movies mix fact and fiction to a greater or lesser degree but one of the few sympathetic portraits of the young outlaw is Arthur Penn's 1958 film The Left-Handed Gun starring Paul Newman. Newman's Billy is a confused, emotionally unstable personality rather than a cold-blooded killer, and Penn would have us believe that Billy killed because he was forced to defend himself and his honor, not just for the thrill of it. Based on the teleplay, "The Death of Billy the Kid" by Gore Vidal, The Left-Handed Gun is a very entertaining film but feels more like a star vehicle for Newman than a film that strives to be challenging or complex. Newman captures Billy's humor and sense of fun but is too old (33) for the role and his cynical swagger seems inappropriate for the slow-witted teenager.

    Billy the Kid grew up among settlers of the new towns in the American Southwest made up of cattle thieves, gamblers, and murderers. He was an illiterate drifter until John Tunstall (Keith Johnston), a friendly English rancher, took him under his wing and became a father figure. In the film, Billy becomes devoted to Tunstall (in reality Tunstall was only 24) and when the rancher is killed by a deputy and three others sent to take Tunstall's cattle and property because of his partnership with McSween in the mercantile business in Lincoln, Billy vows revenge. Together with his buddies, Tom Folliard (James Best) and Charlie Boudre (James Congdon), they track down the killers one by one until Billy is arrested and jailed by lawman Pat Garrett (John Dehner) after the last of the foursome is murdered on Garrett's wedding night. When Billy escapes from jail, killing his guards in the process, Garrett tracks him to the Chihuahuan Desert where the story of Billy the Kid's life ends and the myth begins.
    helpful•8
    8
    • howard.schumann
    • Dec 21, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 17, 1958 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Haroll Productions
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 42 minutes
      • Black and White

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