The Law vs. Billy the Kid (1954) User Reviews

Colorful and low-budgeted chronicle of Billy the Kid with B-actors and regularly direced by the peculiar director William Castle

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 21 December 2017]

Biographic movie about the real-life of Billy of Kid (Scott Brady) who is forced to kill for the girl he loves as well as becomes embroiled in Lincoln County war . This is an interesting look about the known story of the West's greatest bandit . When a baron cattle called Tunstall who gave him a job is shot by rival henchman , Billy vows vendetta . Meanwhile , he's infatuated by a beatiful girl . Young William Bonney inspires the faith and friendship of Pat Garrett (James Griffith) , despite Bonney's violent past . Lawman Garrett believes that Billy can make a better life for himself, a sentiment shared by rancher John Tunstall, who befriends Billy and gives him an employment . Billy has a crush with Tunstall's niece, Nita Maxwell (Betta St. John) , but the violent Tunstall's foreman , Bob Ollinger (Alan Hale Jr) seeks vengeance . When Billy's new friend , John Tunstall (Paul Cavanagh) , is killed , he goes on a criminal spree , and Pat Garrett, now a tough sheriff , is forced to go after his young friend . Kid takes to the mountains with his colleagues until caught . Billy is detained but he escapes hanging .

The film gets spectacular shoot em'up , thrills , exciting horse pursuits ; it's entertaining , although nothing new but displays an ordinary pace and with no originality . This moving movie is a poor portrait of the historic story about the celebrated gunfighter . The movie is plenty of action , shootouts , adventures and is entertaining enough . The plot is plain and simple , as the story follows Billy the Kid and his rampage of vendetta , taking authentic events , but changing some deeds . This passable Western packs lots of thrills , shootouts , and explosive action . Taut excitement throughout , beautifully photographed and with spectacular crossfire but realized with some flaws and short budget . So-so but enjoyable chronicle of Billy the Kid enthusiastically played by Scott Brady and he is ultimately brought to justice by his old friend Pat Garrett finely performed by James Giffith . It's one of very few Scott Brady Westerns based on historic events . Support cast is pretty well such as James Griffith Alan Hale Jr. , William Tannen ,Gregg Barton and Paul Cavanagh . This cheap film produced by the king of the Quickies , Sam Katzman , was middlingly directed by William Castle .



This one is based on facts about William Bonney, alias Billy the Kid , these are the followings : Billy became a cowboy in Lincoln County (New Mexico) for cattleman Tunstall allied to Chisum , but Tunstall is killed and started the Lincoln County war against Murphy as main enemy . Billy seeks revenge for his death and he converted a nasty gunfighter with a price on his head and an outlaw pursued by several posses . Then Billy along with a young group have their own ethic codes and undergo a criminal spree . The bunch is besieged but they went out firing his gun and made his escape . However , the Kid was caught and convicted of killing and sentenced to be hanged ; though shackled foot and hand , he managed to getaway from prison by shooting dead the deputies guarding him. Pat Garret , a former friend, was elected sheriff and set off in pursuit to capture him and on 1881 tracked at Fort Sumner and there shot him dead by surprise. It is said that Chisum was instrumental in making Billy the Kid an outlaw killer, he used his considerable influence in getting Garret elected Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1880 and it was Pat who hunted down and killed the young outlaw . Garret and his gang pull off a hot chase against the outlaws. Legend says that Billy murdered 21 men in his 21 years of life but is really thought to be much less. After Pat Garrett was not reelected sheriff of Lincoln County, however he was commissioned a captain in the Texas Rangers. On 19 February 1908 he was driving his buggy on a lonely desert road, he stepped down to urinate and was shot in the back by a hired killer. A man stood trial for the murder but was acquitted. Controversy still surrounds the end of Pat Garrett .

Not Bad as a Romance, Not Great as a Billy the Kid Picture

[DLewis · 5/10 · 28 March 2011]

William Castle made a fair number of Westerns before he discovered his niche in horror; blacklisted screenwriter Bernard Gordon would ultimately distinguish himself in science fiction. "The Law vs. Billy the Kid" is merely an example of two talents better at doing other things making a Western. The flat, artificial-looking sets commonly employed at Columbia were turned to surreal purposes in Castle's horror films merely look bland here; although cheaper in appearance, a PRC Western looks more like a Western than this does. Gordon has transformed Billy the Kid's big Western legend into a tidy romance; almost a chamber drama. But the treatment sacrifices some of the strong dramatic elements of that same story and also its irony, which is a replaced by a burning seriousness in the character of Billy that runs against type. Scott Brady is really too much of a manly he-man type to play Billy and is definitely too old for the part. Brady is the weakest element in the cast, which is generally good -- it's especially fun to see the beloved "Skipper" of Gilligan's Island play a sadistic jerk. I can think of a lot worse films -- even Westerns -- than this one; it's at least moderately entertaining. But the compromises made to the rich vein of source material from which it was draw, and in some other respects as well, makes the cost to the basic property a little too dear.

"Happy New Year, Kid!"

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 27 July 2022]

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.

Another Account Of An Oft Told Tale

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 16 December 2008]

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.

Western Castle

[Michael_Elliott · 31 December 2008]

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.

Forgettable western

[bux · 3/10 · 22 October 1998]

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.

How bad is it?

[rob-2313 · 3/10 · 16 December 2008]

This movie is bad. And not in an Ed Wood way kinda bad. No, No, No. This movie bites so bad that if you left it along it would run off and howl at the moon and eventually deliver a whole flock of mindless look-a-likes to your front door, which is where this cur came from in the first place.

The script, such as it is, moves the plot line along at the break neck speed of a depressed three-toed sloth. The cast was assembled much the same as Frankenstein's Monster was. The set looks like it was all borrowed from a dream sequence of Gilligan's Island, which makes sense being as how Alan Hale Jr. appears as one of the baddies.

Hale chews up the scenery like a crazed beaver, spitting out the most atrocious dialog like so much sawdust and toothpicks. His character meets his much needed end in quite possibly the most unconvincing, unrealistic death scene ever to grace a western.

Best viewed with several friends, an endless bowl of popcorn and the mind altering drug of your choice.

"How much you figure a man's life is worth?"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 28 March 2015]

The problem with most early movie treatments of Billy the Kid is that the casting put a much older actor in the title role. Movie cowboys like Buster Crabbe and Roy Rogers were in their thirties portraying a fictional Billy; Bob Steele got the nod in his fifties! Even Paul Newman's take on The Kid in "The Left Handed Gun" occurred when he was thirty three. Robert Taylor, like Scott Brady here were thirty years old, leaving perhaps Emilio Estevez in "Young Guns" as the actor coming closest to Billy's actual age, and even so, he was twenty six while Billy the Kid was in the ground by the time he reached twenty one.

So that's part of it. Like the other reviewers of the film before me, I have to agree that the picture makes a mess of the Billy saga in more ways than one. An early friendship with Pat Garrett, though rumored in history, is not supported by credible evidence. Likewise, the names of characters in this story, borrowed from the real life William Bonney saga, are used in ways that don't comport with history. But if you're not up on your Billy the Kid lore, none of this will make much of a difference.

As for Scott Brady, I've seen him in a number of vehicles and I'm surprised by the number of film credits he has because he doesn't seem like that good of an actor. It appears he almost sleep walks through this picture, even when he's about to blow his stack. But he looks the part of a cowboy pretty well, which might explain his two season run as TV's 'Shotgun Slade' during the years 1959 to 1961.

Speaking of TV shows, 'Gilligan's Island' fans might do a double take to see the Skipper himself here, Alan Hale Jr. as the ranch hand jilted by Brady's love interest, Nita Maxwell (Betta St. John). Hale actually appeared in quite a few Westerns during his early career, and at one point in this film, while wearing a vest and white ten gallon hat, he bore an uncanny resemblance to Hoss Cartwright (Dan Blocker) from 'Bonanza'. I wonder if he might have been considered for the part. His character Bob Ollinger was killed in a shoot-out with Billy, but managed to revive and return in a guest spot on 'Shotgun Slade'. It was the 'Lost Gold' episode.

A Katzman Quickie

[dougdoepke · 29 December 2011]

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.

"Fast food" style for a great topic

[searchanddestroy-1 · 16 June 2023]

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.