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American Experience: Billy the Kid DVD

$24.99
Item #: WA9352
On April 28, 1881, just days from being hanged for murder, 21-year-old Henry McCarty, alias Billy the Kid, outfoxed his jailors and electrified the nation with the last in a long line of daring escapes. Just a few weeks later, he was finally gunned down by an ambitious sheriff, and the felling of one of the most notorious criminals of the age made headlines ... ... More
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On April 28, 1881, just days from being hanged for murder, 21-year-old Henry McCarty, alias Billy the Kid, outfoxed his jailors and electrified the nation with the last in a long line of daring escapes. Just a few weeks later, he was finally gunned down by an ambitious sheriff, and the felling of one of the most notorious criminals of the age made headlines across the country.


First demonized by the lawman who killed him, the Kid was soon mythologized by a never-ending stream of dime store romances and big-screen dramas. But with each telling, Billy the Kid's real story was further obscured. Born to impoverished Irish immigrants, the Kid led a hardscrabble, itinerant life that became harder still when his mother died of tuberculosis. He came of age in a lawless corner of New Mexico, caught in the middle of a many-centuries-old Irish-English conflict playing out on the Southwest plains. But despite his reckless violence, the Kid's fascination with Mexican culture, his flare for Spanish, and his disdain for the Anglo authorities made him a hero of sorts to the Hispanic community, who hid him when the law came looking and mourned him most when he was gone.

Producer: John Maggio, Sharon Grimberg
Executive Producer: Mark Samels
Production Year: 2012
Copyright Year: 2012
Rating: TV-PG
Narrator: Michael Murphy
Writers: John Maggio
Number of Discs: 1
Length: 60 minutes
Subtitled: Y
Subtitle Languages: English (SDH)
Audio Format: 5.1 Surround
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 Widescreen


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Jerrylite reviewed American Experience: Billy the Kid DVD
5.0 star rating
I expect the truth was told.
Review by Jerrylite review stating I expect the truth was told.
The PBS Billy the Kid story was most likely very close to the real truth of his story. Most people feel that Billy was in the class of Bonnie Clyde, John Dillinger, etc. This show presents him as an immigrant whose Mother passed away in NM in 1874, leaving him completely alone as a 15-16 year old. He did wrong things, but most of them were for the protection of himself and the revenge of people in a lawless NM that had treated him right, only to be trusting of the law and be killed by this law. He tried to go straight, but the lawless lies given to him, finally changed his young life forever. He has killed at 20-21 by the lawless law in NM. A great story is told in this video.

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