The Left Handed Gun (1958)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writers:

Leslie Stevens (screenplay)
Gore Vidal (play)

Release Date:

26 September 1958 (France)

Genre:

Biography | Western

Tagline:

This is William Bonney, a juvenile "tough" from the back-alleys of New York... a teenager wanted dead or alive throughout the West. This is the screen's first real story of the strange teen-age desperado known to legend as "Billy the Kid"...

Plot:

After his employer is murdered by rival cattlemen, a troubled and uneducated young cowboy vows revenge on the murderers,

Plot Keywords:

Cowboy | Billy The Kid | Revenge | Cattleman | Murder

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Billy The Kid
Lita Milan	...	Celsa
John Dehner	...	Pat Garrett
Hurd Hatfield	...	Moultrie
James Congdon	...	Charlie Boudre
James Best	...	Tom Folliard
Colin Keith-Johnston	...	Tunstall
John Dierkes	...	McSween
Robert Anderson	...	Hill (as Bob Anderson)
Wally Brown	...	Deputy Moon
Ainslie Pryor	...	Joe Grant
Martin Garralaga	...	Saval
Denver Pyle	...	Ollinger
Paul Smith	...	Smith
Nestor Paiva	...	Pete Maxwell

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:Approved (certificate #18709) | UK:PG | West Germany:16 (nf) | Spain:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Haroll Productions

Trivia:

First film for producer Fred Coe.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The film is about western outlaw Billy the Kid, who was in fact right-handed.

Quotes:

Moultrie: [to Billy] What is it? What's wrong? You all right? You're not like the books! You don't wear silver studs! You don't stand up to glory! You're not him!
[crying]
Moultrie: You're not him! You're not him!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)

Penn gives you a glimpse of things to come in his first film

The director of Bonnie & Clyde and Little Big Man is off to a promising start with The Left Handed Gun, his first film. The film stars a young Paul Newman as Billy the Kid. Billy, working as a ranch hand, swears revenge on the four men who ambushed and killed his boss.

That's about it for plot. Newman plays Billy well, portraying a man bent on his mission. One senses that he means well, but his short temper and dark past always get the best of him, even during his friend's, Pat Garrett (John Dehner in a nice performance), wedding.

Unfortunately, Newman suffers from a weak supporting cast and little character development. I found it hard to believe that Billy could develop such a strong bond with his boss in such a short time (although the movie doesn't exactly specify how long). With the possible exception of Garrett, the remaining players are there to fill up the screen.

In short, I wasn't disappointed with this film, but if you want to view a great Western about a man driven by revenge, definitely see John Wayne in The Searchers.