Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage. Doc is trailing his stolen horse, and it is discovered in the possession of Billy the Kid. In a surprising turnaround, Billy and Doc become friends. This causes the friendship between Doc and Pat to cool. The odd relationship between Doc and Billy grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girl Rio's place after Billy is shot.
Cinematography
Gregg Toland's shadow-drenched vistas that barely hide the subtext.
Costume
Russell's cantina outfits designed to break the Hays Code.
Direction
Hughes's obsessive reshoots created accidental queer poetry.
Director
Howard Hughes
Jack Buetel
Billy the Kid
Jane Russell
Rio McDonald
Thomas Mitchell
Pat Garrett
Walter Huston
Doc Holliday
Mimi Aguglia
Guadalupe
Joe Sawyer
Charley Woodruff
Gene Rizzi
Stranger
Martín Garralaga
Mike the Waiter (uncredited)
Ben Johnson
Deputy (uncredited)
Dickie Jones
Boy (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw
Deputy (uncredited)
William Newell
Drunken Cowboy (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hughes spent seven years fighting censors; the film's notoriety made Russell a star before anyone saw it.
The real controversy wasn't Russell's chest—it was two men choosing each other over the woman between them.
US
