The Law vs. Billy the Kid (1954)

Director:

William Castle

Writers:

Bernard Gordon (screen story) (front John T. Williams)
Bernard Gordon (screenplay) (front John T. Williams)
(more)

Release Date:

1 August 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

True story of the West's deadliest killer!

Plot:

Billy the Kid is forced to kill for the woman he loves, and is ultimately brought to justice by his old friend Pat Garrett.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Based On Play | Character Name In Title

Cast

Scott Brady	...	William 'Billy the Kid' Bonney
Betta St. John	...	Nita Maxwell
James Griffith	...	Pat Garrett
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Bob Ollinger
Paul Cavanagh	...	John H. Tunstall
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Charley Bowdre
Benny Rubin	...	Arnold Dodge
Steve Darrell	...	Sheriff Tom Watkins
George Berkeley	...	Tom O'Folliard
William Tannen	...	Dave Rudabaugh
Richard H. Cutting	...	Pete Maxwell (as Richard Cutting)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Foster	...	Pedro (unconfirmed)
John L. Cason	...	Posse Member (uncredited)
John Cliff	...	Carl Trumble--Parson's Hand (uncredited)
William Fawcett	...	W.L. Parson (uncredited)
Martin Garralaga	...	Miguel Bolanos (uncredited)
Otis Garth	...	Gov. Lew Wallace (uncredited)
Robert Griffin	...	L.G. Murphy (uncredited)
Rory Mallinson	...	Slim Henchman (uncredited)
Frank Sully	...	Deputy Jack Poe (uncredited)

Directed by
William Castle

Writing credits
Janet Stevenson		(play) originally uncredited &
Philip Stevenson		(play) originally uncredited
Bernard Gordon		(screen story) (front John T. Williams)
Bernard Gordon		(screenplay) (front John T. Williams)
John T. Williams		(front for Bernard Gordon)

Produced by
Sam Katzman	....	producer

Cinematography by
Henry Freulich

Film Editing by
Aaron Stell

Art Direction by
Paul Palmentola

Set Decoration by
Sidney Clifford

Production Management
Herbert B. Leonard	....	unit manager (as Herbert Leonard)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles S. Gould	....	assistant director

Sound Department
John P. Livadary	....	recording supervisor (as John Livadary)

Special Effects by
Jack Erickson	....	special effects

Music Department
Mischa Bakaleinikoff	....	music supervisor
Mischa Bakaleinikoff	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Sidney Cutner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
George Duning	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Arthur Morton	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Paul Sawtell	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Francis Cugat	....	technicolor color consultant

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1954) (USA) (theatrical)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16956) | Sweden:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Melody Ranch - 24715 Oak Creek Avenue, Newhall, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Western Castle

Law vs. Billy the Kid, The (1954)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

William Castle is best known for his horror films but he did mangle in the western genre for the majority of his career. This Columbia "C" picture has Billy the Kid (Scott Brady) and his buddy Pat Garrett (James Griffith) finding work on a farm but when the owner is killed by a bad sheriff, the kid decides to seek revenge, which will have all the law looking for him. I'm still not too familiar with Castle's western era even though I did sit through Jesse James vs. the Daltons. This film here isn't nearly as entertaining and for the most part this comes off very flat with very little life, action or energy. The biggest problem is that the screenplay is all over the map in what it's trying to do. We see Billy as a good kid and then we see him as a jerk. The film starts off with the relationship between Billy and Pat but then goes off into different directions. I'm really not sure what the point of the movie was but perhaps they were just trying to throw as much stuff they could into a 72-minute movie. Brady is pretty poor as Billy the Kid as he brings no life or energy to the role. Griffith isn't much better as Garrett and Alan Hale, Jr. of the Skipper fame doesn't fare any better. I doubt western fans will find anything worth watching this for so it'll probably have to be seen by those wanting to know what Castle did before making a name for himself with Vincent Price.