The Forgotten Western
"I really love Billy the Kid - always have and, as I said, my grandfather grew up in some of those areas and what he told my father was that you had to go way around some of these canyons in all of Lincoln County because it was really, really Hole in The Wall gang style of living. People didn't...My grandfather apparently killed...was involved in a big shootout because you couldn't afford to find out if someone was a good person or a bad person. It just...Also Billy the Kid was one of the first superstars in our country that was abstract to patriotism. He was always, always something to do with our country in that way and he was outside of the realm in that he was a hero but an anti-hero."
~Val Kilmer
Before Kilmer was Doc Holliday he played another famous western outlaw, William H. Bonney in Gore Vidal’s Billy the Kid.
This made-for-TV movie was filmed at Old Tucson Studios in Arizona for Turner Home Movies. There have been more than 48 movies made about Billy the Kid, more than any other character in western history. This version is both classy and intelligent.
It first aired on May 10 1989, and has only been released as a VHS tape. Because this movie can be hard to find, it has become Kilmer’s semi-forgotten western. And that is too bad. Diligent fans can still track down used copies of the tape. And it is a worthwhile search.
This is an iconic New Mexican story.