Another very early talkie western, King Vidor's version of the story of Billy the Kid.
It was a big production, filmed on location. The landscapes look great. Apparently, it was also filmed in widescreen version, but that has unfortunately been lost.
The storytelling is mostly gritty, although interspaced with comic relief scenes with the supporting cast and some singing. I found the combination strange, but it did not prevent me from enjoying the movie.
The two male leads do a good job, although Johnny Mack Brown, who plays Billy the Kid, is not really a kid here, but a grown man. I particularly enjoyed Wallace Beery's performance as an understated, surprisingly good-natured Pat Garrett. Kay Johnson is not given much to do, since the romance is rather routinary
The Kid had a nice badass moment when he lights a cigarette from the collapsed burning rafters of the roof.
Quite entertaining, and without the stilted interpretations that some of the early talkies have.
It was a big production, filmed on location. The landscapes look great. Apparently, it was also filmed in widescreen version, but that has unfortunately been lost.
The storytelling is mostly gritty, although interspaced with comic relief scenes with the supporting cast and some singing. I found the combination strange, but it did not prevent me from enjoying the movie.
The two male leads do a good job, although Johnny Mack Brown, who plays Billy the Kid, is not really a kid here, but a grown man. I particularly enjoyed Wallace Beery's performance as an understated, surprisingly good-natured Pat Garrett. Kay Johnson is not given much to do, since the romance is rather routinary
The Kid had a nice badass moment when he lights a cigarette from the collapsed burning rafters of the roof.
Quite entertaining, and without the stilted interpretations that some of the early talkies have.