This unusually gritty Western about gunslinger William Bonney, better known as "Billy the Kid," portrays Bonney as he is historically known to have been: illiterate, unintelligent and homicidal. When a rancher treats Bonney with kindness for the first time in his hard life, Bonney becomes devoted to the man. When the rancher is killed, Bonney goes on a murderous rampage to avenge his friend, which leads head-long to a confrontation with Pat Garrett, the man who would finally gun him down. Based on the play by Gore Vidal, this Western classic stars Academy Award-winner Paul Newman ("Message in a Bottle," "The Hudsucker Proxy") as William Bonney, Lita Milan ("I Mobster," "Never Love a Stranger"), and John Dehner("The Right Stuff," "The Boys from Brazil"). This was the first movie directed by Academy Award-nominee Arthur Penn ("Bonnie and Clyde," "Little Big Man").