Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Summary

Introduction by scholar Garner Simmons, author of Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage – The Definitive Edition: 50 Years After “The Wild Bunch” from the Writer Who Knew Him Best:

With the success of The Getaway, Sam Peckinpah turned once more to the Western genre intent on creating the quintessential retelling of the legendary story of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid.  The script, written by Rudolph Wurlitzer for producer Gordon Carroll, had originally been set up at MGM as a project for cult director Monte Hellman, who had collaborated with Wurlitzer on Two Lane Blacktop.  But when that film failed at the box office, MGM decided to abandon the project. It was then that Gordon Carroll offered it to Sam Peckinpah.  The cast included James Coburn as Garrett and Kris Kristofferson as the Kid.  In addition, Peckinpah surrounded them with a number of actors whose careers had meant something to the Western genre, actors like LQ Jones, Slim Pickens, RG Armstrong, Luke Askew, Matt Clark, Katy Jurado, Richard Jaeckel, Chill Wills and Jack Elam to name a few.  At Kristofferson’s suggestion, Peckinpah cast music icon Bob Dylan, who would also score the picture.  As a location Peckinpah selected the Western town of Durango, Mexico and the surrounding countryside to double for Lincoln County, NM where the actual events had taken place. It seemed like an ideal opportunity for the director to recreate his vision of the dying West.  Unfortunately, the head of MGM James T. Aubrey had other ideas which in turn led to an open conflict between Peckinpah and the studio. Despite this, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid is an unforgettable film – a flawed masterpiece that examines the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and the ways in which money and politics corrupt those values. 

Review

“Ol’ Pat… Sheriff Pat Garrett. Sold out to the Santa Fe ring. How does it feel?”

“It feels like… times have changed.”

In 1973, Sam Peckinpah was a hot commodity again. After the tremendous success of The Getaway, Peckinpah was able to focus his attention on a project that he felt passionate about. Working for MGM, Peckinpah set to work on filming Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Like many of Peckinpah’s films, especially when working with MGM, there was a lot of trouble on the shoot. One of the major issues was a bent flange on a lens on one of the Panavision cameras that rendered several master shots unusable. On top of that major issue, studio head James T. Aubrey butted heads with Peckinpah and Peckinpah was said to have been drinking far too much on this production. Like other films by Peckinpah his original vision was cut down by the studios after the fact. In this case, Peckinpah was so upset that he essentially denounced the film and tried to remove his name from it. Thankfully the film was restored in 2005 to reflect better the original vision of the director and deliver a much better film than the truncated version that had been released against the will of Peckinpah.

The film begins near Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1909. Pat Garrett (James Coburn) is shot to death in an ambush by some of the same men who had employed him to track Billy the Kid. The film jumps back to Old Fort Sumner, New Mexico in 1881. William H. Bonney aka Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) shows off his shooting skills to a group when Pat Garrett arrives. Pat warns Bill that he will become sheriff in five days and that he will be tasked with getting rid of Billy. The men had been friends. Six days later, Garrett and his gang of deputies surround Billy and his gang. Billy’s gang is killed and he is taken prisoner. Through a chain of events, Billy is able to escape and he leaves a couple men dead in his wake. The film traces the paths of the two men as Pat tracks down his old friend and as Billy meanders towards Mexico.

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is undoubtedly a flawed film. There were many aspects that drew criticism – some deservedly and some not. One of the biggest criticisms of the film revolved around the casting of Kris Kristofferson to play the Kid. Kristofferson was 37 when he was tasked with playing a man who died at age 21. Similarly, James Coburn was in his forties and playing a man who was in his thirties when these events took place. For myself, this didn’t bother me very much, because I like both of the actors and thought they both turned in good performances in the film – especially Coburn who is excellent in the movie. Another criticism leveled at the film was that the music of Bob Dylan was overbearing. Well – I’m a Bob Dylan fan so I enjoyed the soundtrack quite a bit. I mean – this was Dylan playing songs in the same mode as his John Wesley Harding era with hints of his great work to come with The Band! That is good stuff, so I disagree with the critics there also. Where I tend to agree with the critics is in terms of the film feeling somewhat disjointed. The film meanders in some directions that help the film and in some directions that hurt the film. For example, I am not sure that the film necessarily needed to have a long sequence in the whorehouse with Pat Garrett. I know that the scene itself is interesting, but I am not sure if it really added much to the proceedings. Even within that scene is a scene of abuse towards a woman that could have just as easily been left out. Similarly, there is a scene of violence against a Mexican family that is really interesting, but the scene of violence against a woman could have been left out. Probably when people view the film, they will form their own opinions on why certain sequences make the cut. It is not like any of these sequences are dull, it is just that their inclusion makes the film feel looser than some of Peckinpah’s other films.

That said, within the meandering nature of the screenplay are some of my favorite Peckinpah sequences. A scene where Garrett faces off briefly with a man who is trying to shoot a bottle while rolling down the river ranks as one of my favorite scenes from Peckinpah – a really great way of evoking the West without overemphasizing the point being made. Another sequence with L.Q. Jones and Slim Pickens stands out just as firmly in my mind to the tune of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” (which Bob Dylan wrote for this film.) The finale of the film is wonderful – very well constructed and meaningful.

The acting in the film features some great performances. As I mentioned above, James Coburn is great in the film. He delivers a good amount of gravitas in playing Pat as a man who basically sells out. I have always respected Coburn’s acting in films like Affliction, and this ranks as one of his best roles. Kris Kristofferson brings a loose and playful vibe to the proceedings by consistently keeping a smile on his face as Billy. Bob Dylan plays a mysterious character simply named Alias in the film, and by keeping Dylan to a minimum amount of lines it works. R.G. Armstrong gives a memorable performance as a Biblically charged shotgun wielding deputy. L.Q. Jones and Slim Pickens both have memorable sequences in the film. Harry Dean Stanton is in the film, but is sadly underutilized in his role. 

The cinematography of the film by John Coquillon, who had worked with Sam on Straw Dogs, looks really nice to my eyes – especially the final sequences of the film. I hope that in the near future we will get a proper Blu-ray of this film so that we can see it in an even more detailed fashion.

Overall – Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid has a lot to admire and a lot to question. It is not a perfect film by any means, but is worth seeing for the memorable sequences, Bob Dylan soundtrack, and the great ending. I would argue that the film is an important piece of Peckinpah’s filmography that should not be dismissed by fans of the director’s work.

Supplements:

• Disc 1: 2005 Special Edition feature Re-Cut Edition; Peckinpah Trailer Gallery. 
• Commentary by Peckinpah biographers/documentarians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle
• Disc 2: 1988 Turner Preview Version; Featurettes Deconstructing Pat and Billy and One Foot in the Groove: Remembering Sam Peckinpah and Other Things; One for the Money and Sam’s Song – Original songs performed by Kris Kristofferson and Donny Frits.
• Commentary by Peckinpah biographers/documentarians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle

Overall Scores:

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4/5

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is certainly a flawed film, but it is also a throughly enigmatic one. There are some of the most amazing sequences that Peckinpah ever dreamt up in the film, but the film also feels more disjointed than his best work. The fact that his work was reassembled so wonderfully in 2005 to capably present a case for the film’s merit is incredible. Similarly, the supplemental package on the 2-Disc DVD set is very attractive. Currently the DVD is the only way to see the film in its best available format, and for a DVD it looks pretty good, but we can hope that Warner releases the film on Blu-ray through its Archive Collection sometime in the near future. Fans of Peckinpah will definitely want to form their own opinion and check the film out, whereas newcomers to Peckinpah may want to ease their way towards this film. It is certainly one of the most distinct and memorable Westerns ever made.