As the first of Buster Crabbe's starring Westerns for Producers Releasing Corporation - and his first as Billy the Kid, taking over from Bob Steele - Billy the Kid Wanted exhibits better production values than later entries, obviously in a bid to get good booking for the series. Although he was best known as the screen's Flash Gordon, Crabbe was no stranger to B-grade horse operas, having appeared in many Zane Grey adaptations while under contract to Paramount in the 1930s. He immediately demonstrated great rapport with perennial sidekick Al St. John, and together they ultimately made the series far more popular than it had been with Steele in the title role. - Ed Hulse
Related Subjects
Westerns