Billy the Kid Returns (1938)

Director:

Joseph Kane

Writer:

Jack Natteford (original screenplay)

Release Date:

4 September 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Music | Western

Tagline:

MARSHAL of LAW...MASTER of MEN...he fights for right and the girl he loves! (original poster)

Plot:

After Pat Garrett kills Billy the Kid, Billy's look-alike Roy Rogers arrives and is mistaken for him...

Plot Keywords:

Song | Rancher | Homesteader | Death | Billy The Kid

Cast

Roy Rogers	...	Roy Rogers / Billy the Kid
Smiley Burnette	...	Frog Millhouse
Lynne Roberts	...	Ellen Moore (as Mary Hart)
Morgan Wallace	...	J. B. Morganson
Fred Kohler	...	Matson (as Fred Kohler Sr.)
Wade Boteler	...	Sheriff Pat Garrett
Edwin Stanley	...	Nathaniel Moore
Horace Murphy	...	Mr. Miller - Homesteader
Joseph Crehan	...	U.S. Marshal Dave Conway
Robert Emmett Keane	...	Mr. Page

Runtime:

53 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #4547) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Republic Pictures

Trivia:

An LA Times print ad dated 9/5/1938 shows that this film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Orpheum Theater on that date on a double bill with I'll Give a Million (1938), with a personal appearance by Roy Rogers, "Acclaimed the Screen's Greatest Find of the Year, Singing the Songs of the West ... The Songs You Love Best!"

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Decoys 2: Alien Seduction (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Born to the Saddle

"You need a new Billy The Kid, 'aincha?"

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Western film fans will recognize the characters and locale of "Billy The Kid Returns", though not the spin off tale that forms the basis of this story. Roy Rogers performs double duty as both the legendary badman and his good guy counterpart, a character sharing Rogers' own name. When Billy is gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett, ensuing scenes depict Roy Rogers and pal Trigger riding into Lincoln County, New Mexico. Those who know Billy give a wide berth to Rogers, respecting the reputation of a gunman who had twenty one kills to his credit by the young age of twenty.

I'd never seen it before, but here it was more than obvious. In the shootout scene at the opening, whenever Roy as Billy fired his guns he would close his eyes. This happened four times during the confrontation, and once more when a man challenged Billy for stealing his horse. Perhaps it was a convention used for this particular movie, and wasn't noticed when Rogers became the character Rogers in the rest of the film.

The movie offers more than the usual share of musical numbers for a Roy Rogers effort. Roy himself performs four songs, and with the first, it looks like Trigger is keeping time with 'Born in the Saddle'. Beyond that, Smiley Burnette and his boys turn in three additional tunes to keep things merry. In the story, Burnette's character is Frog Millhouse, utilizing that throaty voice every once in a while during his songs. I find it interesting that the fictional character Frog Millhouse played by Smiley was also used in movies starring other cowboy performers, primarily Gene Autry, but at least once with Sunset Carson in "Call of the Rockies".

Roy Rogers' late 1930's movies usually found Lynne Roberts as the female lead, her character here is Ellen Moore, daughter of a general store owner. You'll see her listed in the film credits as Mary Hart, and she worked with Roy in eight films.

The story itself has a plot used time and again throughout Western movie history, the conflict between homesteaders and range land cattle men. Rogers teams with Pat Garrett (Wade Boteler) to thwart a band of villain ranchers who intimidate homesteaders by stealing their horses and provoking general mayhem. The good guys prevail of course, as Roy and Miss Ellen close the film in a smooch with Smiley literally falling off the wagon.

Roy Rogers wound up portraying a number of historical men of the West in his movies. If you liked this film, you might want to catch him as "Young Bill Hickok", "Jesse James at Bay", and "Young Buffalo Bill", all from 1940/41.