Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)

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

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writer:

Rudy Wurlitzer

Stars:

James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Jaeckel

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Coburn	...	Pat Garrett
Kris Kristofferson	...	Billy The Kid
Richard Jaeckel	...	Sheriff Kip McKinney
Katy Jurado	...	Mrs. Baker
Chill Wills	...	Lemuel
Barry Sullivan	...	Chisum
Jason Robards	...	Governor Wallace
Bob Dylan	...	Alias
R.G. Armstrong	...	Ollinger
Luke Askew	...	Eno
John Beck	...	Poe
Richard Bright	...	Holly
Matt Clark	...	J.W. Bell
Rita Coolidge	...	Maria
Jack Dodson	...	Howland

Storyline

It's 1881 in New Mexico, and the times they are a'changing. Pat Garrett, erstwhile travelling companion of the outlaw Billy the Kid has become a sheriff, tasked by cattle interests with ridding the territory of Billy. After Billy escapes, Pat assembles a posse and chases him through the territory, culminating in a final confrontation at Fort Sumner, but is unaware of the full scope of the cattle interests' plans for the New West.

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Plot Keywords:

manhunt | flogging | dying | female nudity | orgy | 

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Taglines:

Best of enemies. Deadliest of friends.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for western violence and sexuality/nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Coburn was forty-four at the time of filming, although Pat Garrett was thirty to thirty-one during the events shown.

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Goofs

In 1881, while Pat Garrett and his posse are shooting at Billy and his gang, who are holed up in a remote stone building, Garrett calls to Billy and says that he is wanted for the killing of Buckshot Roberts. Billy yells back that the Roberts shooting had taken place a year ago. In fact, Roberts was shot and killed in 1878 - three years earlier - by Charley Bowdre, another member of Billy's gang.

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Quotes

Chisum: Why did you ride all the way out here?
Poe: We thought maybe you'd heard something.
Chisum: Yeah, I'll tell you what I heard. Billy the Kid is in Tascosa. Billy the Kid is in Tombstone. Billy the Kid is in Mexico, Tularosa, Socorro, White Oaks. *And* - Billy the Kid is at my table, right at this moment, eating tacos and green chili peppers with my niece, just like old times. You staying for supper?

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Alternate Versions

The 1973 UK cinema version featured the shorter 106 minute print and was cut by the BBFC for violence. Video releases featured the restored 116 minute print (known as the "Turner Preview Version") which contained the violence but lost 16 secs of BBFC cuts to a forwards horsefall and shots of cockfighting. DVD releases include both the Turner Preview print and the 2005 110 minute Special Edition, both of which suffer the cockfight/horsefall cuts.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Lawmen in Westerns (2015)

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Soundtracks

Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Written by Bob Dylan
Performed by Bob Dylan
Soundtrack CD track 7, by Bob Dylan

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

USA Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$4,638,783 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,717

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1