The Kid from Texas


The Kid from Texas is a 1950 American film starring Audie Murphy in his first Technicolor Western. It was directed by Kurt Neumann and features Gale Storm and Albert Dekker.

Plot

In Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory in 1879, a group of men who work for Major Harper, led by gunslinger Minniger, attempt to arrest rancher Alexander Kain and his English partner Jameson. They are stopped by William Bonney, also known as Billy the Kid, who shoots and injures them.
Jameson offers Billy a job as a ranch hand. A drunken group of Harper's men attack the ranch and kill Jameson. Billy embarks on a killing rampage, encouraged by the manipulative Kain, who publicly decries Billy's efforts. Governor Lew Wallace offers Billy a pardon, which he declines. Pat Garrett is sent to catch Billy.

Cast

The film fictionalizes the true events of the Lincoln County War but follows the basic facts. Jameson is based on John Tunstall and Alexander Kain on Alexander McSween.
Audie Murphy was cast after his performance as a juvenile delinquent in Bad Boy. J. Edgar Hoover offered to narrate the film, but Parley Baer was selected as the narrator.

Reception

In a contemporary review for The [New York Times], critic A. H. Weiler wrote: "he redoubtable Billy picked mighty nice country in which to operate even if those operations were not especially exciting.... But despite an occasional bit of gunplay and the facts as supplied by the commentary, 'The Kid From Texas' doesn't give special stature to a noted saga. Anyway, that saga isn't dead."