The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC, 16:9 (720x480) VBR | 01:42:13 | 5.15 Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps; French AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English, French, Spanish
Genre: Western, Biopic, Crime, Drama
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC, 16:9 (720x480) VBR | 01:42:13 | 5.15 Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps; French AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English, French, Spanish
Genre: Western, Biopic, Crime, Drama
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.Synopsis by Hal Erickson, Allmovie.com
With this adaptation of Gore Vidal's television play, Arthur Penn made an awkward transition from TV to film, but not without eliciting an interesting performance from a young Paul Newman. Typical of the kind of filmed theater that flourished under producer Fred Coe during the 1950s, Penn's dialogue-heavy film transforms the teenage gunslinger into a soul-searching, misunderstood youth, seemingly tormented by his illiteracy as much as he is by the death of his father figure, Tunstall (Colin Keith-Johnston). Despite the film's lethargic pacing and overall sense of self-indulgence, it gives Newman a chance to stretch out in an extremely Method-influenced performance that's engrossing in itself and well-suited to the script's '50s Freudianism. Hurd Hatfield is effective in the ill-conceived part of a disillusioned pulp novelist who is more a theatrical device than a character, but except for John Dehner, the rest of the cast is truly dismal. Penn's visual sense is little better; the lack of balance and tension in his compositions contribute to the film's abiding feeling of slackness. No one seeing the film would find it easy to believe that within a decade he would be one of the most celebrated film and stage directors in the world.Review by Michael Costello, Allmovie.com
IMDB 6,6/10 from 2 466 users
Wiki
Director: Arthur Penn
Writers: Leslie Stevens (screenplay), Gore Vidal (play)
Cast: Paul Newman, Lita Milan, John Dehner, Hurd Hatfield, James Congdon, James Best, John Dierkes, Wally Brown and other
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
Special Features:
Audio commentary with director Arthur Penn
- Theatrical trailer
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