The Law vs. Billy the Kid

Every movie buff knows that Sam Katzman was to western and action movies what Mc Donald chain of restaurants is to gastronomy. It is cheap, quickly done, destined to the largest audiences, it may be an agreeable time waster but also very quickly forgotten. If you wish to watch good films about Billy The Kid and Pat Garrett, watch PAT GARRET AND BILLY THE KID, from the great Sam Peckinpah or of course Arthur Penn's LEFT HANDED GUN. This is not pure crap and concerning one of the youngest killer ever, I also have seen worse, many westerns even very very far from the actual events. This one, however seems rather close, not so far from history. Scott Brady is rather OK, doing his best.

Another historical(???) piece brought to us by the same bunch that foisted "Jesse James vs. the Daltons" on us. This one has a slightly better cast. Title tells all.

Seeing this was a producer Sam Katzman quickie production, I wasn't expecting much. What I got was even less. So why beat a dead horse when a half-dozen reviewers have already mocked the film. I guess I just can't resist it. Besides, maybe someone has finally awakened the sleepwalking Scott Brady. In the long line of Billy the Kid impersonators, his is easily the weariest, from start to finish. But then, he's already pushing middle-age, a 30-year old looking like 40— some Kid! St. John, on the other hand, looks very much a kid, like she just stepped out of a 1950's malt shop, Debbie Reynolds ponytail and all.

Remember, this is supposed to be 1880's eastern New Mexico, even though that desolate prairie looks nothing like the movie's lush San Fernando Valley. I don't mind some liberties with historical accuracy, but this movie is about as accurate as a cartoon. Oh well, it probably played three or four drive-in's, before earning back the fifty bucks Katzman spent on it. I hope I learned my lesson, at least until the next bomb comes down the Western Channel chute.

The most memorable features of this Sam Katzman quickie is the gravitas James Griffith brings to the role of Pat Garrett and the appearance of the author of 'Ben Hur' as one of the characters.

Scott Brady is far too old and too hefty as The Kid, but at least it's half the length of the Peckinpah version.

There are occasions when the the title does tell all as in the case of The Law vs. Billy The Kid. There've been so many versions of Billy Bonney's story, just about everyone knows it and every western fans should.

Scott Brady and James Griffith play Billy and Pat Garrettnin this film. Billy's fleeing to New Mexico territory away from a murder charge and Garrett's his pal from a ranch the two had been working on. John Tunstall, played here by Paul Cavanaugh, takes the two of them in and isn't long before the two are hip deep in the Lincoln County range war of western lore.

Billy gets a love interest here, the fictional niece of Tunstall played by Betta St. John. As Brady plays him Billy's a kid with a quick temper who likes to do things his way which usually involves violence. Not terribly different from many of the screen's William Bonneys.

For those who remember the jolly but exasperated Skipper of Gilligan's Island the revelation will be Alan Hale, Jr. playing a sadistic deputy sheriff who is Brady's tormentor. The Law vs. Billy The Kid is yet another account of an oft told tale.