James Dean had been preparing to play Billy the Kid in *The Left-Handed Gun*, a role Paul Newman took in the 1958 film after Dean died. The casting connection highlights how Dean’s early death cut short a promising career and left another rebellious young-man role associated with his screen image.

Writer John Gilmore recalled that Dean practised handling a Colt Peacemaker because the character was left-handed, despite Dean himself being right-handed. Dean died in a car accident aged 24; Newman’s 1958 releases also included *The Long, Hot Summer* and *Cat on a Hot Tin Roof*.