Product Details

• Actors: PAUL NEWMAN
• Directors: ARTHUR PENN
• Producers: FRED COE (WARNER BROTHERS)
• Format: Subtitled, Black & White, Anamorphic
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000KNL2DQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,859 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The Left Handed Gun was adapted by Gore Vidal from his own TV play, The Death of Billy the Kid. 33-year-old Paul Newman stars as 21-year-old William Bonney, the hotheaded gunslinger known as Billy the Kid. Avoiding the usual Hollywood glamourization of this controversial character, Newman portays Bonney pretty much as he was: an illiterate, homicidal cretin. Treated with kindness for the first time in his life by rancher Tunstall (Colin Keith-Johnston), Bonney becomes devoted to the rancher; in fact, it is virtually a love affair. Soon after, however, Tunstall is killed, prompting Bonney to go on a murderous spree. In the end, Bonney must face down the other important father-figure in his life, Pat Garrett (John Dehner). In case anyone should miss the Freudian subtext in The Left Handed Gun, the closeups of Bonney fondling his six-shooter will make things crystal clear.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cool Hand Luke As Billy The Kid, September 26, 2008

By 

R. Webb "minstrel man" (u.s.a.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: THE LEFT HANDED GUN (DVD)

Directed by Arthur Penn, 1958, THE LEFT HANDED GUN, is the story of Billy the Kid, alias William Bonney, the kids real name Henry McCarty, as Paul Newman portrays the outlaw true to realistic, yet in the Newman way which makes Paul Newman an exceptional actor, at some points in the movie, you get the feeling Newman's a New York thug or reminiscent of his great role as Rocky Graciano in, "Somebody Up There Likes Me", adding the rebellious ingredient for the part of Bonney as a young desperado trying to grasp the meaning of life and death, while searching for the revenge of his mentor's murderers, at the same time running and hiding from the law. This film is partly truth and partly fiction and also making his directional debut, Arthur Penn, director of "Bonnie and Clyde", showcases a young Paul Newman on the top of his game and an adequate supporting cast, this is a Warner Bros. DVD, black and white, full screen or 16x9 anamorphic widescreen, at a cheap reasonable price, a forgotten western classic.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent portrayal of Billy the Kid, December 28, 2010

By 

Israel Drazin (Boca Raton, Florida) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: THE LEFT HANDED GUN (DVD)

This black and white 1958 version of the life of Billy the Kid is very well acted by Paul Newman, who portrays Billy as a somewhat backward, impulsive, childish young man - he died at age 21 - who was unable to read. Billy is taken in by a kind rancher who is transporting his rather large herd of cattle to Lincoln, New Mexico. Some of the ranchers in Lincoln want the sheriff to stop the kind rancher, a man who hates the use of guns, so that the market will not be glutted and the prices lowered. The sheriff and three of his deputies go out to the herd and shoot the rancher. Billy is outraged and swears revenge against the four murderers. The film tells how he and two fiends take revenge, how he is befriended by Pat Garrett, how he is offered amnesty but refuses it because he has not yet finished taking revenge, and why Pat Garrett decides to become the sheriff and arrest him.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good film, July 15, 2011

By 

L. Monstuart - See all my reviews

This review is from: THE LEFT HANDED GUN (DVD)

The reviews here seemed ho-hum, but decided to give film a try anyway and am glad I did. I thought it excellent, Paul Newman good but the real performance goes to John Dehner as Pat Garrett. A face any filmgoer will immediately recognize, but wouldn't have guessed his name for a million dollars. A wonderful performance, body language, eyes, and deliberate delivery coming together perfectly. There's not a lull in the script, and it gives both sides of the story. Bonney's collecting of books he cannot read a great metaphor for an unrealized life.