JohnHowardReid Director: KURT NEUMANN. Screenplay: Karl Kamb, Robert Hardy Andrews. Story: Robert Hardy Andrews. Photographed in Technicolor by Charles Van Enger. Film editor: Frank Gross. Art directors: Bernard Herzbrun, Emrich Nicholson. Set decorators: Russell A. Gausman, Oliver Emert. Costumes: Rosemary Odell. Make-up: Bud Westmore, Jack Kevan. Hair styles: Joan St Oegger, Ann Locker. Production manager: Dewey Starkey. Music composed by Frank Skinner, directed by Milton Schwarzwald. Camera operator: Lloyd Ward. Set continuity: Connie Earle. Stunts: Fred Carson. Technicolor color consultant: William Fritzsche. Grip: Fred Buckley. Gaffer: Ross Saxon. Assistant director: Joe Kenny. Sound recording: Leslie I. Carey, Robert Pritchard. Associate producer: George C. Bethelon. Producer: Paul Short. Copyright 17 March 1950 (in notice: 1949) by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. U.S. release: 19 March 1950. Australian release: 22 June 1950. 7,032 feet. 78 minutes. U.K. release title: TEXAS KID, OUTLAW. COMMENT: The story is a familiar one, but thanks to an involving and engaging script, it is just as thrilling today as when first presented. Appealing performances from the entire cast also help, and so does direction way above the norm from Kurt Neumann. Production values, including location lensing and a spectacular climax, also prove a considerable asset.

Martin Bradley Had I been born a couple of decades earlier my boyhood crush might have been Errol Flynn but growing up when I did it was always Audie Murphy, that baby-faced non-actor who just happened to be the most decorated soldier of World War 11. (He turned his experiences into a memoir entitled "To Hell and Back" which was filmed in 1957 with Audie playing himself; as a child I must have seen this film countless times). Of course, being the most decorated soldier of World War 11 in itself is no guarantee of or justification for a career in the movies so what did Audie have that enticed producers to hire him? To my childish mind it was the idea of this innocent, fresh-faced kid whose very demeanor radiated gentleness being able to handle himself in a scrap, of not being afraid to stand up to the bad guys. I doubt if it was this that John Huston saw when he cast him as the young soldier in "The Red Badge of Courage". Perhaps Huston thought Murphy still looked young enough to pass himself off as a bewildered boy.That he couldn't act was irrelevant and perhaps because of that it was in a series of second-rate westerns he was usually cast. (There were exceptions; he seemed ideally blank and with just the right degree of annoying priggishness for the title role in "The Quiet American"). In "The Kid from Texas" someone had the bright idea of casting Audie as Billy the Kid, not as villain but as a poor-little-put-upon-me misunderstood youngster. It was an early film in his career and was probably even more of a non-performance than the ones which followed it, (just talking seems like an unnatural act to him). As for the film, it's a lame little Z-Western, brightly coloured and full of corn; Saturday matinée fare of the kind that would have given me a buzz half a century ago, simple and strangely innocent and light years away from the tortured psychology of Paul Newman and Arthur Penn's "The Left Handed Gun".

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) 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.

bob the moo Brought up on the wrong side of the tracks, William Bonney (aka Billy the Kid) is taken in by a kind rancher, Jameson, who is targeted by rival landowners who have key people in their pockets. When Mr Jameson is murdered Billy seeks revenge and, along with other men, is sworn in to bring the men to justice. However when some arrests turn into killings, Billy is cut off from the law and becomes a criminal in the eyes of the law. As his reputation grows the law put Sheriff Pat Garrett onto his trail.Having seen a few Audie Murphy westerns recently I was interested to try and see a few more to get a flavour of who he was as an actor. I watched this film unaware (aside from the clue in the title) that it was another telling of the story of Billy the Kid. As such it is an inherently weak film – especially with time, as we have all seen elements of this story told in a variety of different ways. This recognisable story means that it is too familiar for such a basic film to work with, rather it ends up being duller and feeling rather plodding as a result. This isn't helped by the fact that this film could have had any story in it and it still would have been delivered as any other B-movie western would have been. The script doesn't add anything to the basic story and, if you know the story then there is nothing really different here to justify watching it. The action is the usual fare and will please those expecting a B-movie western but nothing more. The cast is also run of the mill and just what you would expect. Murphy looks good and is reliable but he is far from being a good actor and he delivers the same performance I have seen him give in films that are all the same if you turn the sound down. The support cast are also par for the course and nobody really excels themselves; only Billy's new employer (Alexander) is an interesting character and gives a few good moments for Dekker to work with.Overall this is a very ordinary film that will be passable entertainment for those looking for a basic B-movie western that just fits in with genre tradition rather than trying to do anything special or different. The story is too familiar to really hold the interest and the script, performances, action and direction are all just about par for the course for this type of thing.