User reviews

Of all the versions of the Billy the Kid saga this is one of the loosest ones with the facts. Even the names are completely changed in this film with only Robert Taylor retaining Billy's most known alias of William Bonney. Even Brian Donlevy does not get to play Pat Garrett, he's Jim Sherwood in this.

But this is the standard Billy the Kid story, a young outlaw who goes to work for a straight arrow rancher during a range war. Then later when the rancher, in this case Ian Hunter, is gunned down at that point the tragic end that Billy will come to is irreversibly set for him.

This was Robert Taylor's first western and it would be another eight years before he did another. After that westerns became pretty standard film fare for him. Taylor, like his good friend, Ronald Reagan, loved horses and probably if MGM hadn't made him a romantic heart throb, he would have loved to have been a cowboy actor. Like Reagan he certainly looked at home hosting Death Valley Days later on.

Jim Sherwood(Pat Garrett)is a different part for Brian Donlevy to play. Donlevy was at the high point of his career as a screen villain and being a good guy for him is almost a case of an alternate universe. But being the professional he was, Donlevy carries off the portrayal in fine style.

Ian Hunter is just fine as the English gentleman rancher who tries to set Taylor on the straight and narrow. And you will not find a sneakier more loathsome villain than Gene Lockhart as the local boss of the area who is provoking a range war with Hunter.

Billy the Kid is not the best western that Taylor ever did, but it certainly opened a whole new career vista for him.

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.

Fine actor Robert Taylor seems to be a bit long in the tooth (although he was only 30 at the time) to portray "The Kid." Still, if you suspend all knowledge of the Billy legend, he does a stalwart job as an older and wiser Billy. Brian Donlevy is great, as usual, though he plays the good guy Sherwood (Pat Garrett in reality and in subsequent Billy the Kid inspired films)instead of his many tough guy badies (Beau Geste - Academy Award nominee, and Destry Rides Again - to mention two). The writers seem to change all the names to protect...well who?Instead of Tunstall, the english gentleman rancher who tries to change Billy's wayward ways, it's Keating. Instead of Murphy, the instigator of the Lincoln County War, its Hickey. And instead of Pat Garrett, it's Sherwood. But, some good shoot 'em ups and some good dialogue make this a pleasant Saturday afternoon at the westerns. Saddle up.

Check out Ivanhoe, Waterloo Bridge, and Knights of the Round Table to see Robert Taylor at his best. For other Billy movies, see Young Guns, Young Guns II, Chisum, and the Left Handed Gun.

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.

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.

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".

"Billy the Kid" was supposed to be a remake of the 1930 classic which starred Johnny Mack Brown and Wallace Beery. About the only things this version has going for it are the beautiful technicolor photography and its supporting cast of recognizable faces.

William Bonney, aka "Billy the Kid" (Robert Taylor) is on the run for gunning down his father's killer some years earlier. He and his sidekick Pedro (Frank Puglia) ride into the town of Lincoln. Billy joins up with local bad guy Hickey (Gene Lockhart) who is trying to drive popular rancher Eric Keating (Ian Hunter) out of business. While on a stampede raid one night, Billy meets up with his childhood friend Jim Sherwood (Brian Donlevy). Sherwood and Keating gradually persuade Billy to come over to their side.

All goes well until first, Pedro and then Keating are murdered. Billy then decides to take matters into his own hands with the predictable results.

Taylor, Donlevy and Lockhart are all woefully miscast. Taylor was just too pretty to be taken seriously as Billy. Donlevy, whose character replaces the Pat Garrett character for some reason, was more at home in gangster films. Similarly, Lockhart did better as evil bankers or corrupt businessmen in contemporary dramas.

Lovers of the "B" series westerns of the period will have fun spotting some of their favorite villains and character actors from that genre. The baddies include Lon Chaney Jr., Grant Withers, Dick Curtis, Cy Kendall and George Cheseboro. On the right side of the law we have Kermit Maynard, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Chill Wills and Ray Teal.

Others in the cast include Henry O'Neill as the newspaper editor, Joe Yule (Mickey Rooney's father) as a bartender, Arthur Houseman (the resident "drunk" in the old Laurel & Hardy shorts) as a drunken janitor (what else?), Connie Gilchrist as a saloon lady and a young John Raitt as a singer in the musical number.

As mentioned previously, the outdoor color photography is breathtaking. Unfortunately, they spoiled it by inserting many of those phony looking close up process riding shots.

I expected better from MGM.

According to this movie the infamous outlaw " Billy The Kid " was left handed and his real name was William Bonney . This is correct . What isn`t correct in this movie is everything else . Bonney was in reality a violent sociopath and if he was born in the mid 20th century his name would be remembered in the same way as people remember Ted Bundy . Only in Hollywood can history be rewritten is such a laughable manner . There`s other instances during this movie that distorts history and facts

1 ) Getting shot in the hand causes mild irritation

2 ) Mexicans are really white people with dark make up on their faces

3 ) The wild west was full of singers

4 ) People still call you " kid " even when you`re obviously over 40 years old

There`s other inaccurate details but I couldn`t be bothered pointing them out ( Besides there`s a 1,000 word limit for reviews ) . I suppose what you think of this movie depends entirely on how you feel about Hollywood re-writing history . I hated every second of it and the only interest to me was the casting of Brian Donlevy and Lon Chaney Jr which is the closest the movie world has got to making QUATERMASS MEETS THE WOLFMAN

QUATERMASS MEETS THE WOLFMAN ! Now that would have been a good movie and probably one hundred times more realistic than this movie

Billy the Kid is the first of many westerns that Robert Taylor starred in, and boy did he find his nitch in the entertainment field. The film was loosely based on the book The Saga of Billy the Kid, by Walter Noble Burns. Although the real Kid was ruthless and a cold blooded killer, it is known that he did find some peace with a rancher who took him in and tried to help reform him. He rides into town to save Pedro, his friend, from jail and falls into the company of Dan Hickey played by Gene Lockhart in a rather ominous role of a crook. Billy goes to work for Hickey, and starts trouble for rancher Sherwood, played by Ian Hunter. Hunter is great as the laid back rancher who takes Billy in and persuades him to stop running. Brian Donlevy is Billy's boyhood friend who is the foreman of the ranch and later the marshal. Mary Howard is Hunter's sister and Donlevy's fiancée, but is strangely attracted to Billy. They never have a romance, but it is refreshing to see Billy's innocence with her. When Hunter is killed by the Hickey people, Billy goes on the rampage and kills all including shooting Hickey in the back. The most outstanding scene is the last when Billy is waiting for Donlevey, his blue eyes the only thing you see in the darkened shed. Of course he dies at the hands of his best friend. I think this role established that Taylor could play good and evil equally well, as he went on to do his best film Johnny Eager a couple of years later. The wonderful color photography is only dimmed by the magnificent looks of a young Robert Taylor, his blue eyes as icy as the role he played. This is a don't miss for all fans of great westerns. A note of interest is that Taylor practiced for months to fast draw with his left hand. In every western he made he would switch from left hand to right hand draw.

In the golden age of Hollywood, films that glorified old West outlaws were common and Billy the Kid and Jesse James were often the subjects in these movies. In all these films, the actual lives of the bandits were rather unimportant and they were mostly fiction. Here with "Billy the Kid" (1941), once again they stray very far from the real story. The most obvious is choosing Robert Taylor for the role--and hearing everyone call him 'Kid' seemed ludicrous. Compared to the only known photo of Billy, Taylor looks practically nothing like him and the well-spoken and urbane actor seemed like an odd choice--especially as he was just too old for the part. Of course, having folks like Roy Rogers and Audie Murphy looked little like him yet they also played him! Heck, considering that it didn't matter, I could have just as soon seen Keye Luke or Willie Best play the guy!

The film supposedly follows Billy's career--his path to becoming a wanted man. There's some nonsense about a friend of his being murdered and he must then oppose some old friend who stands on the wrong side in the conflict. It's all reasonably well acted, mildly interesting and looked nice in color. BUT, historically speaking it was just nonsense. And, as a retired history teacher, I just cannot recommend this bit of 'historic license' (i.e, a total lie). Watchable but wrong.

Robert Taylor in 1941 was a tall, handsome, mature 40-year old man and typically played a hero or authority figure -- such as the leader of the wagon train in "Westward the Women." Here he's cast as a short, fun-loving immature teenage gunslinger. The casting is as hopeless as having Clint Eastwood playing Mary Poppins.

Besides that, none of the story comes even close to the real (and easy to access) story of Billy the Kid -- which is far more interesting than any movie ever made about him.

In 1941, Technicolor westerns were few and much appreciated, as color was new and the 3-strip Technicolor of that era was/is stunningly beautiful and far better than color photography in 2009. Seeing a picture like this would have been special. Actually, if you ignore the mis-casting and the true history, this picture is enjoyable.

For a better look at Billy, seek out Universal's "The Kid from Texas" starring Audie Murphy. Billy's body-count is still inflated, but the story is 80% accurate and Murphy is perfect as Billy.

The best thing about this movie version of Billy The Kid is the color photography. Taylor looks good (he was in his prime at that time), but he's horribly miscast....too old to play the part. There's no Tunstall, no Pat Garrett....and both actors playing the changed parts are far too old. It reminds me of Howard Hughes' The Outlaw, except that the actor who played Billy in that film was much better cast (closer in age, but not much of an actor). There's lots of music, romance, and talk, talk, talk. In short, it becomes extremely boring after awhile. May be worth watching once, but hardly worth a second look. Despite the views of Arizona and Utah, most scenes are obviously shot on a sound stage.

The film suffers from being part of the prettified world MGM wanted to present the movie-going world, at least in this period. On the other hand, "Young Guns" probably got it about right, for those who want to compare. According to Western historical scholars, Billy Bonner could've been well-described as a psychotic teenage killer. Not the noble--though driven--much older figure figure depicted by Robert Taylor. Also, the settings are a little too built up. Anyone who's spent time in the more remote parts of New Mexico knows what I mean. The rancher who's his mentor has a nice ranch house with grass! Finally, the movie is short on action. The photography is fine, but if you want real 1941 Technicolor splendor, drop this one and check out "Blood and Sand".

Not an easy film to rate or review in my opinion. 'Billy the Kid' had real potential to be a good film and really should have been a good film. It was based on a fascinating legendary person, he and his story has been portrayed a lot over the years with varying success. It also had a cast that was interesting and curious, including seeing Brian Donlevy and Gene Lockhart in relatively atypical roles. Did have my doubts as to whether Robert Taylor would work in the title role, not really an actor that would be in my mind for Billy the Kid.

1941's 'Billy the Kid' just didn't live up to its potential in most ways. It looks wonderful, is rousingly scored, has a few good performances and has moments of interest and entertainment. But somehow it didn't really work and that it is wildly inaccurate (to the point of distortion), only one or two things are correct while everything else (including name changes) is fabrication, is only one worry and not even the worst. Just found it too dull and routine and Taylor is not right as Billy.

'Billy the Kid' does have good things. The best thing about it is the photography, it looks ravishing and the three strip Technicolor is superbly used. The setting is suitably grand without being too clean. The score rouses and fits the atmosphere well.

Some of the more action-oriented scenes excite and intrigue, while there is edge and invention in the script and there are reasonably good performances. The best being a sinister Lockhart and likeable Ian Hunter. Interesting to see Lon Chaney Jr.

Taylor however is agreed miscast, not just because of him being too old, too handsome and too well-spoken. Just found more importantly that he lacked the charisma and the grit for the role and he came over as bland. Was a bit mixed on Donlevy, nice to see him in a different role and he is sympathetic in enough places but a bit on the icy side in others.

While the script has its moments, it tends to be too overly-literate and the film would have benefitted from more show and less tell. The direction never rises above workmanlike and the story doesn't really properly come to life, any spark coming in spurts and there is a serious shortage of thrills, tension and grit. The character chemistry can be stilted.

On the whole, a very mixed bag and disappointing. Billy the Kid was a fascinating person and had an equally fascinating story, one that is far more interesting than what is shown here. 5/10

You can count on one hand the things this film has in common with the real story of Billy the Kid, but if you aren't thrown off by inaccuracy, then this is a wonderfully entertaining and finely portrayed depiction of the Kid. Robert Taylor is really superb in a role he's nearly a decade too old for. He's hard-bitten and tough as nails, but the hurt inside is clear without being overplayed. I've never thought of Robert Taylor as ever being underrated, but if ever he was, it's in this. Taylor and the dialog, which is hard-boiled and doesn't always go where you'd expect it to go, are the real points of interest in this movie, along with some geographically wide-ranging Technicolor photography that is luscious to look at. The other aspects of the movie are pretty standard fare, some less bearable than others. But Taylor is a revelation here. This picture is well worth watching. Just don't think you're seeing the true story of Billy the Kid.