IMDb > Billy the Kid (1941)

Billy the Kid (1941) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
5.7/10   334 votes
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Director:
David Miller
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Writers:
Walter Noble Burns (book)
Howard Emmett Rogers (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Billy the Kid on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 May 1941 (USA) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama | Western more
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 ! more
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
User Comments:
Robert Taylor in his first western, plays the role of the outlaw with icy assurance. more (13 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
94 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
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 more
Company:
Loew's more

Fun Stuff

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. more
Quotes:
Jim 'Holy' Sherwood: Don't you get fed up sometimes?
Billy: Fed up with what?
Jim 'Holy' Sherwood: Oh, rollin' around like a tumbleweed, being hunted, and never knowin' who's behind the next rock. I mean...
Billy: I know what you mean. I like it!
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Great American Mug (1945) more
Soundtrack:
Viva La Vida more

FAQ

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User Comments

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12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful.
Robert Taylor in his first western, plays the role of the outlaw with icy assurance., 22 February 2005
10/10
Author: mamalv from United States

Billy the Kid is the first of many westerns that Robert Taylor starred in, and boy did he find his nitch in the entertainment field. The film was loosely based on the book The Saga of Billy the Kid, by Walter Noble Burns. Although the real Kid was ruthless and a cold blooded killer, it is known that he did find some peace with a rancher who took him in and tried to help reform him. He rides into town to save Pedro, his friend, from jail and falls into the company of Dan Hickey played by Gene Lockhart in a rather ominous role of a crook. Billy goes to work for Hickey, and starts trouble for rancher Sherwood, played by Ian Hunter. Hunter is great as the laid back rancher who takes Billy in and persuades him to stop running. Brian Donlevy is Billy's boyhood friend who is the foreman of the ranch and later the marshal. Mary Howard is Hunter's sister and Donlevy's fiancée, but is strangely attracted to Billy. They never have a romance, but it is refreshing to see Billy's innocence with her. When Hunter is killed by the Hickey people, Billy goes on the rampage and kills all including shooting Hickey in the back. The most outstanding scene is the last when Billy is waiting for Donlevey, his blue eyes the only thing you see in the darkened shed. Of course he dies at the hands of his best friend. I think this role established that Taylor could play good and evil equally well, as he went on to do his best film Johnny Eager a couple of years later. The wonderful color photography is only dimmed by the magnificent looks of a young Robert Taylor, his blue eyes as icy as the role he played. This is a don't miss for all fans of great westerns. A note of interest is that Taylor practiced for months to fast draw with his left hand. In every western he made he would switch from left hand to right hand draw.

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