Billy the Kid (1941)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

David Miller

Writers:

Walter Noble Burns (book)
Howard Emmett Rogers (story) ...

Release Date:

30 May 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Western

Tagline:

Roaring out of the blood-swept pages of history . . . comes the only authentic life story of the Southwest's last outlaw . . . and his colorful career !

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Brother Sister Relationship | Murder | Mexican | Friendship

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Billy Bonney
Brian Donlevy	...	Jim Sherwood
Ian Hunter	...	Eric Keating
Mary Howard	...	Edith Keating
Gene Lockhart	...	Dan Hickey
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	'Spike' Hudson
Henry O'Neill	...	Tim Ward
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Ed Bronson (blacksmith) (as Guinn Williams)
Cy Kendall	...	Cass McAndrews, Sheriff
Ted Adams	...	'Buz' Cobb
Frank Conlan	...	Judge Blake
Frank Puglia	...	Pedro Gonzales
Mitchell Lewis	...	Bart Hodges
Dick Curtis	...	Kirby Claxton
Grant Withers	...	Ed Shanahan

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7138) | Spain:13 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Maureen O'Sullivan was initially cast in the role of "Edith Keating" but left to be with her husband, director John Farrow, who was with the RCAF in Canada.

Quotes:

Billy: Yeah, I'll play along, Hickey. You just keep four aces in the deck.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Great American Mug (1945)

Soundtrack:

Lazy Acres

Do not look to this movie for historical accuracy

This movie is Billy the Kid in name only. Anyone who has any kind of fascination with the Wild West or the historical William H. Bonney would do well to shy away from this flick. Almost all of the names have been switched around, the plot shares only a marginal familiarity with the true Billy and the lead actor Robert Taylor seems better suited for playing a 1930's era Chicago gangster than he does playing one of the most famous outlaws of all time.

Now that I've got my historical accuracy niggling out of the way - I still find myself unable to say many positive things about this film. But I'll give it a shot.

Some of the dialogue is rather inventive - and I do actually appreciate the relationship that Billy shares with ranch herder Eric Keating. There's an interesting exchange during Keating's introduction wherein he explains to a wary-eyed Billy why he doesn't carry a gun. Keating's naiveté rests upon a mythological ideal of frontier honor - an ideal that comes with a heavy price.

The movie itself is also wonderfully shot. The Technicolor treatment produces stunning visuals that can easily compare to westerns that are produced ten, fifteen, sometimes even twenty years after Billy the Kid.

Sadly, there simply isn't a lot of material available for Billy the Kid enthusiasts. Again, do NOT refer to this movie if you are looking to find insight into the true story of Billy the Kid. The closest you will probably come towards finding the definitive Billy story is in the 1988 fluff film, "Young Guns" and its subsequent continuation in "Young Guns II" - and even they take great spoonfuls of poetic license with history.