The Kid From Texas

Well now, partner, gather ’round the campfire and’ listen up, ’cause this here’s a tale worth spinnin’ slow like over a tin cup o’ coffee.

Picture the notorious Billy the Kid, quickest draw this side o’ the Pecos, brought kickin’ an’ shootin’ to the big screen… but not by no fancy pants actor fella. No sir. They got the real deal: Audie Murphy, the most decorated fightin’ man to come outta World War 2, tougher’n a two dollar steak an’ twice as mean when the chips was down.

That cover caught the eye of hard nosed actor James Cagney, who said, “Son, come out to Hollywood, you got the makin’s.” So Audie traded his M1 for a six shooter and’ lit out west.
The Kid from Texas (1950), was the first time Murphy got to play Billy himself. They started filmin’ back in ’48-’49 at places like the rugged Jack Garner Ranch up in the San Bernardino hills near Idyllwild, plus Universal’s backlots.
Audie struts as the Kid, tangled in the bloody Lincoln County War. Got Gale Storm ridin’ shotgun as his gal, Albert Dekker playin’ the mean ol’ Kain, Shepperd Strudwick as poor doomed Jameson, Frank Wilcox as Pat Garrett, Paul Ford as Sheriff Copeland, and the rest a’ the posse.

Film’s plumb full of action; gun smoke, chases, that big fiery showdown, pullin’ from real history but addin’ plenty o’ Hollywood pepper. The escape from the burnin’ McSween place and that re-jiggered battle in Lincoln. They give the legend a fresh, wild twist.
Even J. Edgar Hoover hisself, big FBI boss and a real Audie fan, offered to narrate the picture in that gravel voice of his. They went with Parley Baer in the end, but reckon how that would’ve sounded.
From foxhole legend to silver screen outlaw, Audie Murphy didn’t just play Billy the Kid, he brought that same iron will and dead-eye courage to the role. A real hero turnin’ outlaw on screen… now that’s the kinda yarn that sticks to your ribs, ain’t it?