The Kid from Texas (1950)

To me, this movie is perfection.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Biographic movie about the real-life of Billy of Kid living in Texas and he , subsequently , becomes embroiled in Lincoln County war . The film gets spectacular shoot em'up , thrills , exciting horse pursuits ; it's entertaining , although nothing new but displays an ordinary pace and with no originality . This is an in interesting look about the known story of the West's greatest bandit . When a baron cattle called Roger (Shepperd) who gave him an employment is shot by rival henchman , Billy vows vendetta . Kid takes to the mountains with his colleagues until caught . Billy is detained but he escapes hanging . Meanwhile , he's infatuated by a lawyer's (Alfred Dekker) wife (Gale Storm) .This moving movie is an epic portrait of the historic story about the celebrated gunfighter . The movie is plenty of action , shootouts , adventures and is pretty entertaining . The plot is plain and simple , as the story follows Billy the Kid taking authentic events , but changing names and chronology . This passable Western packs lots of thrills , shootouts , and explosive action . Taut excitement throughout , beautifully photographed and with spectacular crossfire but realized with some flaws .It's one of very few Audie Murphy Westerns based on historic deeds . Murphy won more tan 20 medals , being the most decorated American soldier , including the Congressional Medal of Honor and he was also awarded five decorations by France and Belgium . Murphy starred a great number of Westerns as ¨The kid from Texas¨, ¨Cimarron Kid¨, ¨Gunpoint¨, ¨Night Passage¨, ¨The Gunrunners¨, ¨Posse from Hell¨, ¨Gunfight at Comanche¨, ¨Rifles Apaches¨, ¨The Unforgiven¨, ¨Red badge of courage¨, ¨Legend of Sam Ward¨, ¨Whispering Smith¨, ¨40 Guns at Apache pass¨ , ¨Texas kid¨ , among others . Being usually directed by Jesse Hibbs who directed various Audie Murphy vehicles such as : ¨To hell and Back¨ (1955) , ¨World in My Corner¨ (1956) , ¨Ride a Crooked Trail¨ (1958) , ¨Medal of Honor¨ and ¨To Hell and Back¨. Casting is frankly good with usual Western actors as Alfred Dekker , Walter Sande , Dennis Hoey , Ray Teal , Don Haggerty and Frank Wilcox as Sheriff Pat Garrett . The motion picture was well made by Kurt Newmann (The fly , Mohawk , Watusi) , including acceptable performances and professional direction . The picture obtained limited successful but results to be enough agreeable . It's a good stuff for young people and adventures lovers who enjoy enormously with the extraordinary dangers in the far west.This one is based on facts about William Bonney, alias Billy the Kid , these are the followings : Billy became a cowboy in Lincoln County (New Mexico) for cattleman Tunstall allied to Chisum , but Tunstall is killed and started the Lincoln County war against Murphy as main enemy . Billy seeks revenge for his death and he converted a nasty gunfighter with a price on his head and an outlaw pursued by several posses . Then Billy along with a young group have their own ethic codes and undergo a criminal spree . The bunch is besieged but they went out firing his gun and made his escape . However , the Kid was caught and convicted of killing and sentenced to be hanged ; though shackled foot and hand , he managed to getaway from prison by shooting dead the deputies guarding him. Pat Garret , a former friend, was elected sheriff and set off in pursuit to capture him and on 1881 tracked at Fort Sumner and there shot him dead by surprise. It is said that Chisum was instrumental in making Billy the Kid an outlaw killer, he used his considerable influence in getting Garret elected Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1880 and it was Pat who hunted down and killed the young outlaw . Garret and his gang pull off a hot chase against the outlaws. Legend says that Billy murdered 21 men in his 21 years of life but is really thought to be much less. After Pat Garrett was not reelected sheriff of Lincoln County, however he was commissioned a captain in the Texas Rangers. On 19 February 1908 he was driving his buggy on a lonely desert road, he stepped down to urinate and was shot in the back by a hired killer. A man stood trial for the murder but was acquitted. Controversy still surrounds the end of Pat Garrett .

The Kid from Texas (AKA: Texas Kid, Outlaw) is directed by Kurt Neumann and written by Robert Hardy Andrews and Karl Kamb. It stars Audie Murphy, Gale Storm, Albert Dekker, Shepperd Strudwick and Will Geer. Music is by Milton Schwarzwald and cinematography by Charles Van Enger. 11th July 1879, Lincoln County, and a young man born of the name William Henry McCarty Junior is about to write his name into the annals of infamy... "I'll get every man who had a hand in this killing if it's the last thing I do" It's a "B" feature in production terms and it's a hodge-podge of historical facts, but in the trajectory of Western movies it's a rather important piece. It also happens to be great entertainment for the Western fan. It would be the film to launch Audie Murphy on the road to Western iconography, whilst simultaneously becoming a valid early addition for cinematic representations of the Billy the Kid legend. Historically the core basis of the film is accurate, though the chronology is all over the place. There's also a bizarre decision to use different character names for McSween, Tunstall and Dolan, three of the major players in the Lincoln County War. However, the portrayals of the principal real life people is surprisingly well balanced, there's no attempts at romanticising the issues, no side picking, because both sides are equally driven and culpable for the carnage and misery that would play out during this time in Western history. As an Oater on entertainment terms it delivers wholesale, there's some staid acting, not least from Murphy, who you can see is feeling his way into how he should react in front of a camera. Yet there's a magnetic charm to Murphy that would serve him well in this specialist genre field. It also helps to have a very reliable supporting cast backing him up, be it the wonderfully named Gale Storm's beauty, or Dekker and Geer being acting professionalism personified, there's a lot to enjoy here on the thespian production front. The requisite amount of action is in full effect, as are key moments in the real story that provide some great scenes; such as the infamous jail break, while the colour photography is most pleasant. Ultimately it's a revenge story for the "B" Western loving crowd, where the villains are slippery and the anti-hero a damaged dandy. Sometimes you gotta peer through the gloss to get the facts, but what fun that proves to be. Yee- haw. 7/10

Audie Murphy was the best Billy the Kid. It is not easy for a young man with a baby face to play a famous outlaw and be convincing. The fact that Murphy was a hero in the second world war must have given him that confidence. The story starts as Billy begins working for an Englishman (Tunstall, with his name changed to Jameson), but his partner Kain does not like Billy who also becomes fascinated with Kain's wife (Gale Storm). Governor Lew Wallace who is present in this film more than in any other about Billy, tries desperately to stop the Lincoln County War. Billy ends up on the wrong side of the law and his gang here is reduced to two guys, one is a Mexican and the other does not stop singing "Streets of Laredo". Murphy is very fast when he draws, he must have done a lot of training. Even though not an ambitious production as the 1941 film with Robert Taylor, overall this is much better. There are good shootouts, a lot of action and a great Billy.

An excellent but non-too-accurate story, given strong production, and featuring Audie Murphy, in his first starring role. Murphy's a bit wooden, but he delivers. Entertaining.