weezeralfalfa Review of Frontier Outlaws

Frontier Outlaws (1944)

Billy becomes Jose Gonzales: buyer of stolen cattle.

[7/10 · 27 June 2018]

As others have emphasized, the scene you will likely remember from this Billy the Kid film is the murder trial of Billy Carson(Buster Crabbe). This is the most hilarious courtroom scene you are likely to see this side of The Three Stooges. Comical character actor Emmett Lynn, as the judge, is in the center of the comedy, but his interactions with his(uncredited) bossy wife standing beside him and with Fuzzy(Al St. John), also standing near him, are an important part of the comedy......Chief villain Barlow(Charles King)accuses Billy of murdering Barlow's hired gun Rusty Bradford(Frank Ellis). The problem is that Barlow arrived a little too late to witness what actually happened. Billy claims he shot Bradford in self -defense, as Branford was about to shoot him. The judge sides with Billy's story. However, he sentences Billy to 30 days in jail for "disturbing the peace", a trumped up charge designed to keep Billy safe from assassination. Incidentally, a furious fight with Bradford preceded the shooting. Unfortunately, keeping Billy in jail turned out to be a bad idea, as in his absence, Barlow's gang step up their depredations. Thus, the judge releases Billy early........First item on his agenda is Ma and Pat Clark's big problem. Barlow gave an advance on buying their cattle. But his henchmen stole their cattle in the meanwhile. Thus, they have no money to repay his advance, and he is threatening to foreclose on their ranch. They need a miracle, and it comes in the form of several sacks of gold dust that Fuzzy retrieved from his gold mine with Billy. Their gold mine had been taken over by Barlow in Billy's absence, but Billy plus Fuzzy scared the claim jumpers away before retrieving their hidden stash of gold. After giving the gold to Ma, she took it to Barlow, who was satisfied. But Billy followed close behind her, and entered through a window, after she left. He stuck up Barlow, demanding the sacks of gold , which he claimed Ma had stolen from him. Meanwhile, Fuzzy led some of Ma's hands to hold up the stage, and asked for the money being sent to Barlow. This they received, and took it to Ma's Circle C ranch. There, they met Billy, who made himself up as a Mexican, calling himself Jose Gonzales Billy took Barlow's stolen money and headed to town to talk to Barlow and his friend Taylor. He offered to buy their stolen cattle for $20./head(a good price for non-stolen cattle!). It was a $40,000. deal. Barlow agreed to the terms and Jose(Billy) gave a down payment, with the remainder due upon receipt of the cattle. Barlow sent several hands to help drive the cattle and receive the rest of the money. However, near the cattle, Jose stuck up Barlow's henchmen. Luckily, Fuzzy arrived, with the sheriff and posse, and took the men to jail. But one got away and rode to tell Barlow that Jose was Billy. Strangely, the 2000 stolen cattle are not further mentioned. Billy rides to town to talk to Barlow, who has a trap set for Billy. See the movie, available at YouTube, to find out the finale. At the end, Billy is standing next to cute blond Frances Gladwin(Pat Clark), suggesting a possible romantic future.