I wasn’t that bothered by historical inaccuracy but I did feel some of the fictional choices were strangeand I think The Left Handed Gun was a big influence. I also couldn’t see the point of the Liberty Valance twist ending.
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid is my favourite Billy the Kid movie although it’s more about Garrett than the Kid. Young Guns is my second favourite.
I agree with your point about revisionist films. Historical inaccuracy in a revisionist western like Doc (about Wyatt Earp) bothers me more than it does in something like My Darling Clementine because it seems to be trying to pretend to be ‘the truth’ whereas MDC isn’t really about Wyatt Earp at all but using him as a symbol (and I’d say Peckinpah’s movie is the same).
‘A Few Bullets More’ opened in North Carolina and South Carolina on December 18 1968.
Sources below: (Durham Sun, [NC], December 18, 1968) (Charlotte Observer, [NC], December 21, 1968) (Charlotte News, [NC], January 2, 1969) (Clarksville Leaf Chronicle, [TN], December 7, 1969)
The UK kept the original title and ‘The Man Who Killed Billy the Kid’ premiered at Classic Victoria on 12th April 1973 in a late night double bill with ‘Captain Singrid’ (starring Robert Woods), where it played (Fri/Sat) for the next three weeks. It then reappeared at Classic Brixton and Scala Cinema, Liverpool (7 days) in late Dec '73, followed by a 7 day run at Futurist Cinema, Birmingham, 14th Apr 1974.
Source below: (Sunday Mercury, [Birmingham], 14th April, 1974)
Very interesting reading, in particular PLL’s sister’s attitude to living in the USA …
‘Europe is 10 years behind in everything!’ … Really! LoL … but people did have that idea back in the 1960s and 70s , almost like proclaiming ourselves as Europeans, backward, or 2nd class citizens. I do remember this POV from 1970s, unfortunately.
The Billy the Kid title was used to cash in on the anticipated Sam Peckinpah movie which was released a few months later. Although not much was cash in I guess, given the limited release.
