Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

When I was a mere lad, growing up in a log cabin, I watched a lot of WGN, Chicago's very own Channel 9. They ran tons of movies, which I liked. I remember starting to watch PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID, getting bored and turning it off.

Ah, the folly of youth.

Lately, I've been digging into Peckinpah, catching up on titles I'd always meant to see and didn't, and other titles I'd seen before and wanted to revisit. The other day I watched THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND. It's a great movie, but it's also exactly the kind of thriller that doesn't quite hold together... As soon as the movie was over, I thought, "WOW." And about five minutes later, it was, "Wait a minute. Why did he...? And how did they...? And what was up with that thing with the thing...?"

Last night I watched PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID, and I can now say I have a new title in my personal favorite Westerns of all time. Writing, acting, directing... man, the editing is a huge part of what makes this movie great. (Strong editing is actually a through-line I've noticed in all of Peckinpah's movies... it bears investigation).

The story of these two characters is a microcosm of the story of the West. Is Pat Garrett selling out, or growing up? It seems to depend on the situation, and who you ask. Is Billy the last outlaw hero of the American frontier, or a man-child who'd rather go down guns-a-blazin' because he can't think of anything else to do? Again, it could go either way.

The opening scene is laden with an amazing amount of tension, but also does a swift and strong job of drawing this fulcrum relationship. It's masterful. And it maintains that level throughout -- there wasn't a single clunker scene for me.

I loved this movie. I learned from it, both as a film dude and also on a personal level.

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY is still my favorite Western of all time, followed by THE UNFORGIVEN. There are a bunch of others I sincerely enjoy, but none of them caught me like this one, so it's safe to say PG&BTK is my number three.