Terra selvaggia

This movie is Billy the Kid in name only. Anyone who has any kind of fascination with the Wild West or the historical William H. Bonney would do well to shy away from this flick. Almost all of the names have been switched around, the plot shares only a marginal familiarity with the true Billy and the lead actor Robert Taylor seems better suited for playing a 1930's era Chicago gangster than he does playing one of the most famous outlaws of all time.

Now that I've got my historical accuracy niggling out of the way - I still find myself unable to say many positive things about this film. But I'll give it a shot.

Some of the dialogue is rather inventive - and I do actually appreciate the relationship that Billy shares with ranch herder Eric Keating. There's an interesting exchange during Keating's introduction wherein he explains to a wary-eyed Billy why he doesn't carry a gun. Keating's naiveté rests upon a mythological ideal of frontier honor - an ideal that comes with a heavy price.

The movie itself is also wonderfully shot. The Technicolor treatment produces stunning visuals that can easily compare to westerns that are produced ten, fifteen, sometimes even twenty years after Billy the Kid.

Sadly, there simply isn't a lot of material available for Billy the Kid enthusiasts. Again, do NOT refer to this movie if you are looking to find insight into the true story of Billy the Kid. The closest you will probably come towards finding the definitive Billy story is in the 1988 fluff film, "Young Guns" and its subsequent continuation in "Young Guns II" - and even they take great spoonfuls of poetic license with history.

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".

There is a lot more to this predominantly lyrical account of an episode in Billy the Kid's life than action and brainless swagger. Hardboiled, embittered Billy gets a job as a cowhand for a pacifist farmer who rhapsodizes about how being unarmed protects a man by the usual Wild West code of not shooting a man in the back. When the farmer, Billy's new guardian, is killed, though, Billy's new-found love of peace and order must give way to a desire for revenge on the bad guys.

Somewhere along the line this film gets to sanctimonious and preachy to be entirely enjoyable, and Brian Donleavy as Billy's childhood pal turned born-again marshall deputy is the most unbelievable thing about it. Robert Taylor is a handsome devil in tight-fitting black leather, and it is honestly a relief when he finds back to his old bad ways, and things start happening again.

The Technicolor location cinematography is gorgeous.

BILLY THE KID's outdoor photography of handsome exterior settings gives this western a rugged flavor and ROBERT TAYLOR makes an acceptable Billy the Kid. MGM obviously wanted to toughen his appearance on screen as one of filmdom's handsomest male stars and chose to cast him in this rugged role. Most of the time his tough expression ranges from petulant to suspicious and not much else, but this was before his acting took on more dimension in other sturdier western roles.

However, nobody in the cast can overcome the fact that the screenplay is rather routine. BRIAN DONLEVY is sturdy as the Marshall who grew up with Billy and MARY BRIAN is fine as the love interest. GENE LOCKHART is effective as a cowardly villain and others in the cast give the story some flavor despite a screenplay full of western clichés.

Nice to look at, but easily forgettable as a story of Billy the Kid.

This early film follows the exciting life of Billy Bonney . This is an interesting but flawed Western . With Robert Taylor in title role , in one of his first movies , and Donlevy as his friend and later marshal , but the movie fails to gel overall . Robert Taylor as the title character gives a decent performance . Right-handed Robert Taylor spent weeks perfecting his ability to draw a gun with his left hand in preparation for this film . Brian Donlevy as an alike-Pat Garrett is good , and Ian Hunter who plays a look-alike to Tunstall ; although some acting seem badly dated today . Sweeping and glimmer cinematography by William L. Skall . Great musical score by David Snell , including Mexican songs almost make you forget the screenplay ain't so hot . The director David Miller creates some fine action scenes , he posteriorly directed a classic Western, 'Lonely are the brave' .

Other known films about this legendary outlaw were the followings : 'Billy the Kid(1930)' by King Vidor with John Mack Brown and Wallace Beery; 'The left-handed gun (1958)' by Arthur Penn with Paul Newman; 'Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (1973)' by Sam Peckinpah; 'Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid' with Val Kilmer ; 'Young Guns(1988)' by Christopher Cain with Emilio Estevez ; and 'Young Guns 2(1990)' by Geoff Murphy.

The picture was partially based on real events . The actual deeds are the followings : The most famous outlaw-gunslinger of the South-west , Billy the Kid was known by several names, but mostly as William Bonney . Believed have been born in New York City , Billy moved west with his family and eventually became a cowboy in Lincoln county, New Mexico, for cattleman J.H. Tunstall (in the movie similar role played by Ian Hunter) . In February 1878 Tunstall was killed by a cattle rival (played by Gene Lockhart) and this started the Lincoln County war, in which Billy played a leading part and was one of the group that shot dead Sheriff Brady . After his preceptor has been murdered he seeks vengeance for his death . He became an outlaw with a price on his head. Pat Garret(named in the film as Sherwood and played by Brian Donlevy), a former friend of the Kid, was elected sheriff of Lincoln County and set out to capture the young outlaw . He caught him and sentenced to be hanged. But Bill, although shackled hand and foot, managed to escape from jail by shooting dead the two deputies guarding him . Garrett went after him again and on 15 July 1881 tracked him at Fort Sumner, and there shot him dead by surprise in a darkened room.