The Left Handed Gun is a 1958 American western film and the film directorial debut of Arthur Penn, starring Paul Newman as Billy the Kid and John Dehner as Pat Garrett. The screenplay was written by Leslie Stevens from a teleplay by Gore Vidal, which he wrote for the television series The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse 1955 episode The Death of Billy the Kid, in which Newman also played the title character. Vidal revisited and revised the material in 1989 with a TV-movie entitled Billy the Kid. The title refers to the belief that Billy the Kid was left handed, and he shoots left handed... in the film, though it is possible that this was a false conclusion drawn from a reversed photograph. William Bonney , known as 'Billy the Kid' befriends a man known as 'The Englishman'. His friend is murdered by corrupt businessmen. Bonney's plan for revenge, hunting down and killing all responsible, endangers not only his surviving friends, but the territorial peace set up for the entire territory.
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| Release date: | 1958 |
| Directed by: | Arthur Penn |
| Runtime: | 102 Minutes |
| Producer: | Fred Coe |
| Music by: | Alexander Courage |
| Cinematography: | J. Peverell Marley |
| Screenplay by: | Leslie Stevens |
| Genre: | Western |