Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid ****½ (1973, James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Jaeckel, Bob Dylan, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Slim Pickens, Jason Robards Jnr, Jack Elam, John Beck) – Classic Movie Review 2480

Director Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 retelling of the legend of Sheriff Pat Garrett (James Coburn) hunting down of his former friend and travelling buddy, the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) makes for a fascinating if flawed movie.

In 1881, a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons hire the aging Garrett as a lawman to rid the territory of Billy. Garrett assembles a posse after Billy escapes, and gives chase, culminating in a climactic confrontation at Fort Sumner.

The two stars give excellent, iconic performances, there is colourful support from a stupendous range of vintage character actors, and Peckinpah shows he is clearly engrossed in his material, producing a loving, fine farewell to a dark and dangerous West plus some of his best, violent action set pieces.

The problems are Bob Dylan’s anachronistic appearances, though his songs like ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ are well used, and Peckinpah’s lack of an urgent narrative drive, with longer average shot lengths than some of his other movies.

Nevertheless, overall, this is a noble, key Western, made at a time when they were going out of business by a legendary director who was one of the last exponents of the genre. It was cut to 106 minutes for its original muddled release version, but the 1988 restored director’s version, running at 122 minutes, is highly satisfying and shows on British TV. And, as time goes by, the movie seems much more fascinating than flawed. The 2005 DVD Special Edition runs 115 minutes.

Also in the cast are Richard Jaeckel as Sheriff Kip McKinney, Katy Jurado, Slim Pickens, Chill Wills, Jason Robards Jnr, Jack Elam, John Beck, Rita Coolidge, Richard Bright, Matt Clark, L Q Jones, Charles Martin Smith, Harry Dean Stanton, John Chandler, Gene Evans, Sam Peckinpah, Elisha Cook Jr, R G Armstrong and Luke Askew.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2480

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com