Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writer:

Rudy Wurlitzer (written by)

Release Date:

31 August 1973 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

History | Western

Tagline:

Best of enemies. Deadliest of friends.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Billy The Kid | New Mexico | Pat Garrett | Friend

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations

Cast

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
Jack Elam	...	Alamosa Bill
Emilio Fernández	...	Paco (as Emilio Fernandez)
Paul Fix	...	Maxwell
L.Q. Jones	...	Black Harris
Slim Pickens	...	Sheriff Baker
Jorge Russek	...	Silva
Charles Martin Smith	...	Bowdre (as Charlie Martin Smith)
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Luke
Claudia Bryar	...	Mrs. Horrell
John Davis Chandler	...	Norris (as John Chandler)
Michael T. Mikler	...	Denver (as Mike Mikler)
Aurora Clavel	...	Ida Garrett (as Aurora Clavell)
Rutanya Alda	...	Ruthie Lee
Walter Kelley	...	Rupert
Rudy Wurlitzer	...	O'Folliard
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Cody
Gene Evans	...	Mr. Horrell
Donnie Fritts	...	Beaver
Dub Taylor	...	Josh
Don Levy	...	Sackett
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sam Peckinpah	...	Will (uncredited)

Directed by
Sam Peckinpah

Writing credits
Rudy Wurlitzer		(written by)

Produced by
Gordon Carroll	....	producer

Original Music by
Bob Dylan

Cinematography by
John Coquillon		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Berlatsky
Garth Craven
Tony de Zarraga		(as Tony De Zarraga)
Richard Halsey
Roger Spottiswoode
Robert L. Wolfe

Casting by
Patricia Mock

Art Direction by
Ted Haworth

Set Decoration by
Ray Moyer

Makeup Department
Jack Wilson	....	makeup artist (as Jack P. Wilson)
Herbert Smith	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Jim Henderling	....	unit production manager
Alfonso Sánchez Tello	....	production manager: Mexico (as Alfonso Sanchez Tello)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Newt Arnold	....	assistant director (as Newton Arnold)
Gordon T. Dawson	....	second unit director (as Gordon Dawson)
Jesus Marin Bello	....	assistant director: Mexico
Lawrence J. Powell	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Robert J. Visciglia Sr.	....	property master (as Robert John Visciglia)

Sound Department
Harry W. Tetrick	....	sound
Charles M. Wilborn	....	sound
Bill Wistrom	....	supervising sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Augie Lohman	....	special visual effects (as A.J. Lohman)

Stunts
William H. Burton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary Combs	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Gatlin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Hart	....	stunts (uncredited)
Whitey Hughes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Harrold Laswell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walter Scott	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Herbert Smith	....	camera operator
Gabriel Torres	....	director of photography: second unit (as Gabriel Torres G.)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Michael Butler	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Dan Carlin Sr.	....	music editor (as Dan Carlin)
Dan Wallin	....	scoring mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
Katherine Haber	....	production staff (uncredited)
'Chema' Hernandez	....	head wrangler (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents) (as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1973) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• MGM-EMI (1973) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1973) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (????) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Encore Avenue (2009) (Canada) (TV)
• Esselte Video (1988) (Finland) (video)
• EuroVideo (19??) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1987) (1997) (2004) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1992) (2008) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)  this picture made under the jurisdiction of (as I.A.T.S.E.)
• Turner Entertainment  package design

Also Known As:

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (USA) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated R for western violence and sexuality/nudity. (edited for re-rating; originally R)

Runtime:

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

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1987) (video release) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) | West Germany:16 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Canada:14A (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Monte Hellman was supposed to direct the film as a follow-up to Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) (which was also written by Rudy Wurlitzer). His first choice to play Billy was James Taylor (who starred in "Blacktop").

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Richard Jaeckel (Sheriff McKinney) wears a very obvious wig in all his scenes.

Quotes:

Garrett: Bob, what else do you believe in, besides God?
Ollinger: Me!
Garrett: Just like old Ollinger - has the minority opinion on everything.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

I want to be a hippie

I was very eager to see this classical Western for which I'd heard so many recommendations.

To my big disappointment it turned out to be a completely boring movie about men trying to be as "masculine" as possible, i.e. drinking whiskey, looking fierce, dirty and cynical, using women, shooting each other for no reason and leading non-content conversations. Come on, that's not enough to turn a film into a legend! In the 70s all this might have gone through as an innovative look on the Western genre; today it just looks completely dated and offers a distinctive hippie interpretation of what life in the "good old West" meant, and which is all but convincing. James Coburn does what he is expected to do, the rest of the acting is quite poor, including Kris Kristofferson's.

And then, there is Bob Dylan himself -- what the hell is his appearance good for other than simply promoting the film? His character is almost as embarrassing as Madonna in most of her movies.

This film would have deserved a '4' but I give it a '6' for the slight but unlikely chance that I might have missed something important.