Retrospective Film Review

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) • 50 Years Later

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

When Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid was released 50 years ago, anticipation had flooded the moviegoing landscape. Though Westerns had entered their twilight after dominating popular culture for over 30 years, they mattered as a mirror in which many Americans saw themselves during the 20th-century… and this one promised to matter more than most.

The story of Billy the Kid and his slayer, Pat Garrett, is a bit of US history that became lore and legend through numerous fiction, including 15 feature films up to that point. But this latest version promised to be the best, even if it placed the legend over historical fact. But, in a unique twist, while keeping the mythic aspects, it would strip away the romantic sheen. It was a revisionist riff, a countercultural (or “hippie”) take, starring a large cast of veteran Western actors of the era, over whom would tower James Coburn as…