Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: The 50th Anniversary Cut (1973/2023)

Sam Peckinpah’s haunting Western tells the story of lawman Pat Garrett (James Coburn) and his fateful pursuit of Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson). The film is as much about the passing of the Old West as it is about their doomed relationship, suffused with Peckinpah’s trademark fatalism and bursts of sudden violence. A famously troubled production, the movie was heavily re-edited by the studio, only to be reconstructed multiple times in later decades. The 50th Anniversary Cut represents the latest attempt to restore Peckinpah’s intended balance of grit, lyricism, and elegy, securing its reputation as one of Peckinpah’s most personal—and haunting—works.

This screening is part of our series Dead or Alive: Billy the Kid at the Movies, held in conjunction with the exhibition The Resurrection of Billy the Kid.

True West Executive Editor Bob Boze Bell will introduce the film and lead a post-screening discussion with the audience.

Program Info:

Sunday, October 29, 2025
2 p.m.
2 hours 2 minutes
Rated R
FREE for Museum Members (Members, log-in first to reserve tickets)
FREE with Museum Admission
$10 for just the program