Billy the Kid (1930)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Walter Noble Burns (book)
Wanda Tuchock (continuity)

Release Date:

18 October 1930 (USA)

Genre:

History | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Cattle-thief, outlaw, 2-gun man, Don Juan - was this the youth who ruled the lawless west with a flame-tipped gun and iron courage?

Plot:

In this version of the Billy the Kid legend, Billy, after shooting down land baron William Donovan's henchmen for killing Billy's boss...

Plot Keywords:

Legend | Billy The Kid | Escape | Sheriff | Killing

Cast

Johnny Mack Brown	...	William H. 'Billy the Kid' Bonney (as John Mack Brown)
Wallace Beery	...	Deputy Sheriff Pat Garrett
Kay Johnson	...	Claire Randall
Karl Dane	...	Swenson
Wyndham Standing	...	John W. 'Jack' Tunston
Russell Simpson	...	Angus McSween
Blanche Friderici	...	Mrs. McSween (as Blanche Frederici)
Roscoe Ates	...	Old Stuff (as Rosco Ates)
Warner Richmond	...	Bob Ballinger (as Warner P. Richmond)
James A. Marcus	...	Colonel William P. Donovan (as James Marcus)
Nelson McDowell	...	Track Hatfield
Jack Carlyle	...	Mr. Dick Brewer
John Beck	...	Butterworth
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Don Esteban Santiago (as Chris Martin)
Marguerita Padula	...	Nicky 'Pinky' Whoosiz

Also Known As:

The Highwayman Rides (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

98 min | USA:95 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Gallup, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The pistols carried by Johnny Mack Brown were the actual pistols that belonged to the real Billy the Kid. They were loaned to the studio for the picture by William S. Hart, who had them in his private collection.

Movie Connections:

Version of Billy the Kid's Gun Justice (1940)

Soundtrack:

Chopsticks

Disappointing Early Talkie

Billy the Kid (1930)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Extremely disappointing film from Vidor features Johnny Mack Brown as Billy the Kid and Wallace Beery as Pat Garrett. After his boss and friend is murdered, Billy swears vengeance on any man who helped kill him. Along with his friends, Billy sets out for revenge only to find himself trapped inside a building in a long stand off. It's funny that this film starts off with a message from the then governor of New Mexico talking about how great Billy the Kid was and how this film was "mostly" truthful. This film was famous for being shot 1.20:1 but also in the 70mm Realife widescreen format but sadly all known prints of this are now lost. The film was also shot with two endings and the one I viewed was beyond silly and goes against what the governor said. With that out of the way, I found this film pretty hard to get through so I'm somewhat shocked at how many great reviews this one has out there. Being an early talkie I was surprised at how good the film sounded and that included all the dialogue plus the various sound effects. What shocked me was how old fashioned the film looked because just seeing the "style" of this picture made me wonder how much Vidor really directed and if this full screen version was second thought to everyone on the set. The movie is incredibly ugly with mostly medium shots that really don't do anything for the film. The ugly and still fashion of the film really takes it toll on the action in the film because it makes it just as boring. Even worse are some of the performance that suffer because of this. I though Brown and Beery were both decent in their roles but certainly nothing to write home about. Kay Johnson was rather bland as the love interest but future FREAKS cast member Roscoe Ates steals the film as the comedy relief.