I Shot Billy the Kid (1950)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

William Berke

Writer:

Orville H. Hampton (original screenplay)

Release Date:

27 July 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

TRUE, UNTOLD STORY OF THE OUTLAW TERRORIST! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

Another in the series of Don Barry starring films (who NEVER used Don 'Red' Barry as his billing except...

Plot Keywords:

Ulysses Simpson Grant | Character Name In Title

Cast

Don 'Red' Barry	...	William H. Bonney, aka Billy the Kid (as Don Barry)
Robert Lowery	...	Sheriff Pat Garrett
Wally Vernon	...	Vicente
Tom Neal	...	Charley Bowdry
Wendy Lee	...	Francesca
Claude Stroud	...	General Lew Wallace, New Mexico Governor
John Merton	...	Deputy Bob Ollinger (as John Morton)
Henry Marco	...	Juan, Francesca's Brother
Bill Kennedy	...	Deputy John Poe
Archie Twitchell	...	Saloon Tough slapped by Billy
Jack Perrin	...	Deputy Mack
Richard Farmer	...	Alec McSween
Felice Richmond	...	Mexican Girl
Jack Geddes	...	Sheriff Brady
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Victor Adamson	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Judith Allen	...	Mrs. Alec McSween (uncredited)
John L. Cason	...	Gang Member (uncredited) (archive footage)
Rube Dalroy	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Frank Ellis	...	Hindman, Brady's Deputy (uncredited)
Al Haskell	...	Posse Rider (uncredited)
Ray Henderson	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Carol Henry	...	McSween Defender (uncredited)
George Keymas	...	Murphy's Man (uncredited)
Merrill McCormick	...	Posse Deputy not named Mac (uncredited)
Kansas Moehring	...	Murdered Horse Owner (uncredited)
Tom Monroe	...	Pete Maxwell (uncredited)
Lew Morphy	...	Posse Rider (uncredited)
Matty Roubert	...	Gang Member (uncredited)
Tom Tyler	...	Gang Member (uncredited) (archive footage)

Directed by
William Berke

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Orville H. Hampton		original screenplay (as Orville Hampton)

Produced by
William Berke	....	producer
Jack Leewood	....	associate producer
Murray Lerner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Albert Glasser		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ernest Miller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Carl Pierson

Art Direction by
Fred Preble

Makeup Department
Ted Coodley	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Betty Sinclair	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Melville Shyer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Harry Eckles	....	sound engineer
Harry Smith	....	sound engineer

Stunts
Carol Henry	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Matty Roubert	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Archie R. Dalzell	....	camera operator (as Archie Dalzell)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alfred Berke	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Albert Glasser	....	musical director

Other crew
Mary Chaffee	....	script supervisor
Robert L. Lippert	....	presenter
Dean Riesner	....	dialogue coach

Production Companies

• William Berke Productions Inc.

Distributors

• Lippert Pictures (1950) (USA) (theatrical)
• VCI Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Union-Film (1952) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Kit Parker Films (2004) (USA) (all media) (copyright owner)

Runtime:

57 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | USA:Approved (PCA #14639)

Filming Locations:

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

William Berke Productions Inc.

A marketing tag-line attribute does not a production company nor producer make.

As in "A Donald Barry Production." 'Nuff said.

This William Berke Productions version of Billy the Kid's saga mixes much fiction, even to the names of all of the New Mexico towns other than one, with few facts but does give non-Producer star Don Barry a chance to show how lovable he can be even when playing a cold-blooded killer. He misses on that point, despite more grinning close-ups than the law should allow, but he is better than Jack Buetel. The film, based on just being a low-budget quickie version of Billy the Kid, aimed at grind-house Saturday matinées, hits that target dead on even if does use endless inserts of Billy or Sheriff Pat Garrett, on horseback, loping along hither and yon to pad the running time.

The real highlight of this one is possibly the single-worse performance ever seen in a B-western in Claude Stroud's portrayal of New Mexico Governor General Lew Wallace. Filled from front-to-back with B-western veterans such as Frank Ellis, Ray Henderson, Jack Perrin (playing a Garret deputy named Mack), and Merrill McCormick (playing a Garrett deputy not-named Mac), and even (brief) archive footage, featuring Bob Cason and Tom Tyler from Ron Ormond's Jimmy Ellison/Russell Hayden series, and excellent camera work by Ernest Miller and Archie Dalzell (one of the few instance of a camera operator actually receiving a screen credit in this period of film history), and editing by Carl Pierson in making the archive footage fit seamlessly, except the one instance of using really-archive footage from a silent film.

Actor/writer Dean Reisner, credited on the film as Dialogue Coach (a job he often performed) must have been out to lunch when the Stroud scenes were filmed.