A version of the Billy the Kid story, adapted from a Gore Vidal play by Leslie Stevens. From the get go I didn't understand scenes and motivations. Why does William Bonney take it upon himself to avenge the murder of a cattle man he barely knows? Why is a house set alight? Why attack the soldiers with flour? And so on. It makes for a frustrating experience; in fact we didn't even finish it.
Paul Newman is OK giving a Methody performance. The antics of him and his two buddies are nothing short of childish. I didn't know anyone else in the cast, which includes Lita Milan, John Dehner (Pat Garrett), Hurd Hatfield (OK, I do know him), James Congdon, James Best.
Photographed by J Peverell Marley and edited by someone called Folmar Blangsted. The film was apparently taken out of Penn's hands by Warner Bros. and recut without him.
William Boyd referred to Bonney as 'a revolting scumbag of a human being'. Now his version I'd love to see...
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