Except for the title, this would have been as generic a Western as they come. With the title, virtually everything about it smacks of poetic license taken to the nth degree. Robert Taylor portrays the outlaw of Wild West legend, as other characters in the picture have their names changed while the story itself loosely assembles the history of the Lincoln County War and then just scatters it in all directions. Not only that, but Lincoln County itself has been relocated from the New Mexico Territory to Utah's Monument Valley, which actually is one of the film's redemptive efforts. The gorgeous Technicolor format shows off those rugged structures to maximum effect, even becoming part of the story when Billy's friend Pedro (Frank Puglia) is laid to rest at the base of the 'greatest tombstone in the world'.So if historical accuracy is your thing, you probably don't want to come near this one. For my money, the best portrayal of Billy the Kid remains Emilio Estevez's take on the character in 1988's "Young Guns", where he makes the kid an almost ego-maniacal figure, but with a certain charisma that makes you kind of overlook the fact that he was an outlaw. Here, Taylor goes for a straight on, no-nonsense characterization that's often conflicted as he attempts to choose sides between town boss Hickey (Gene Lockhart) and eventual benefactor Keating (Ian Hunter). Thrown in for good measure is the Pat Garrett stand-in, here called Jim Sherwood, a boyhood friend of Billy's from the old Silver City days, a tidbit the film keeps reminding you of over and over again.For old time Western fans, part of the attraction here is seeing who shows up as the story progresses. In particular, Lon Chaney Jr. and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams meander in and out of a number of scenes, while lesser known veterans like Cy Kendall, Henry O'Neill, Dick Curtis and Grant Withers all appear in bit parts. Actress Mary Howard is written into the script as something of a question mark, the fiancée of Sherwood, but perhaps casting an eye for Taylor's Billy. Hmm, the story didn't go anywhere with that but you had to notice the tease.In short, if you don't take this too seriously, it's an OK picture for Robert Taylor fans, here appearing in his very first Western. He cuts an imposing figure as the man in black, but when you come right down to it, he's no kid, and each reference to Billy's nickname simply reminds us of that fact.

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.

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.

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