Dirty Little Billy

A whole lot of people have played Billy The Kid on screen and their personas have formed one mixed image. Off the top of my head I can think of B picture cowboy stars Johnny Mack Brown and Buster Crabbe, movie star idol Robert Taylor, method actor Paul Newman, Rhodes scholar Kris Kristofferson, and brat packer Emilio Estevez. But scruffy Michael J. Pollard is probably closest to what Billy actually was. It also gave Pollard his only lead in a film.

Of course this too has nothing to do with the facts. Dirty Little Billy concentrates on his formative years compressed as they would be for anyone who died short of his 22 birthday. It starts with his arrival in New Mexico Territory with his mother and stepfather and ends with some of his first recorded killings.

Our Billy is a kid from the mean streets of New York and he's got an aversion to the hard work it takes to be a pioneer. No farming, no business trade, but Pollard does like hanging around the saloon with some new friends Richard Evans and Lee Purcell.

The Lincoln County War, Pat Garrett all this comes a bit later in the life of our prairie juvenile delinquent. Pollard is always interesting and quirky be it a Disney film like Summer Magic or with outlaw legends of a more modern era like Bonnie And Clyde.

Dirty Little Billy is one unique Mr. Bonney.

Back in the ancient 1970's, only the high budget pictures had production designers. The others had to rely on the cinematographer to make sure the art director, the set designer, and the make-up/costume people were all on the same page; so that the picture had a consistent look. Ralph Woolsey was one of the better cinematographers at keeping all these elements under control. He was a busy guy in 1972 and two of his pictures were westerns: "Dirty Little Billy" was made right after "The Culpepper Cattle Company"- arguably one of the top ten westerns of all time. And while "CCC" is significantly better than "DLB", they share beautiful cinematography and production design (may have literally shared it because they probably used the same stuff in both productions).

It became popular after Robert Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971) to replace the well-scrubbed Roy Rogers look and portray the west as dirty, dusty, gritty, unshaven, and tattered. Woolsey eagerly embraced this realism and gave us two of the grimiest features we are likely to see. Perhaps the most entertaining thing about "DLB" was the casting of Lee Purcell as the seediest looking western heroine of all time. Compared to "Berle", Susan Tyrell's saloon gal "Alma" ("Shoot Out") was a tidy sorority girl. You might expect this look from Barbara Hershey, but Purcell was deservingly typecast as prissy/demure so the movie is worth a look just to imagine her inwardly cringing each time she had to make an appearance on the set.

The story itself is extreme historical distortion, but so moronic as to render itself harmless. Still, it is puzzling that they bothered to give it the appearance of being history, as it would have worked fine as fiction. It has a nice surprise ending and several soon-to-be-famous-in-television actors; Mills Watson would go on to great things as bumbling Deputy Perkins in the many "Sheriff Lobo" programs and Dick Van Patten would play father "Tom Bradford" on "Eight Is Enough".

This offbeat Western tells the story of the legendary outlaws' younger years, when he moved with his parents to the country outside a town named Coffeeville. A lazy, bratty, sullen jerk, he doesn't help out with his fathers' daily routine and is subsequently banished from the farm. He wanders into the town, and encounters local toughs including big shot punk Goldie (Richard Evans), who takes Billy under his wing.

"Dirty Little Billy", indeed, is far from being a typical Western. Its deliberately very grimy look combines with a basis in a reality not to be seen in Hollywood treatments of the subject. It very much refrains from romanticizing the Old West, giving us a drab atmosphere that predates the vision seen on the TV series 'Deadwood'. Music (by Sascha Burland), art direction (by Malcolm C. Bert), and wardrobe (by Mickey Sherrard) are all first rate. There is some rather potent violence as we watch the tragic progression of Billy's life, as any possible innocence and naivety in the character just melt away.

Michael J. Pollard of "Bonnie and Clyde" fame does reasonably well in the title role, giving Billy some likability. However, he is outshone by the supporting cast. Evans is quietly effective as the young outlaw with his own way of doing things. Lovely Lee Purcell is both appealing and touching as Goldies' prostitute girlfriend Berle. She has one great scene with Pollard where she pours her heart out. Charles Aidman rounds out the main players as Ben Antrim, while a fair number of familiar character players have roles big and small: Mills Watson, Ronny Graham, Richard Stahl, Gary Busey, Dick Van Patten, Scott Walker, Severn Darden, Len Lesser, and Ed Lauter. Both Lauter and an uncredited Nick Nolte made their film debuts here; extremely prolific voice over artist Frank Welker has a rare on screen role as a young lowlife.

This interesting and very gritty take on the legend is definitely one that could stand to be better known.

Eight out of 10.

I haven't seen this film for some years, but it made quite an impression. My memory of the plot is sketchy, but I remember a pungent sense of place and the black humour of re-presenting an outlaw hero as a dysfunctional teenager. Michael J Pollard was "hot" in my mind due to his showing in Hannibal Brooks. He certainly went for broke with his portrayal of Billy as a bumbling and baffled (retarded, even?) teen in a Wild West that is knee-deep in mud and horse-muck. The pistols Billy wielded seemed almost too big for him, huge, clumsy and old-fashioned. Certainly as a impressionable British youngster, I'd never seen anything like it before.

I'm more than pleased to encourage others to seek it out. It could well be a bit of a hidden gem - the flavour and satirical energy of the piece are surely in tune with today's tastes.

Totally loved this film. the acting was fantastic, especially lee purcell, but michael j pollard did a great job, too. it's an interesting film. billy's just a kid in this before he's the kid. it's grimy. we have these romanticized notions about outlaws, but this film doesn't romanticize them or life in the old west at all. it's quite raw, rough around the edges, but genuine. i have no clue why this doesn't have a higher rating?

the cinematography is stunning; the way light was captured balances out the grimness of the characters. the soundtrack matches the tone of the film. my main critique is that the plot of the movie could've been reworked. it doesn't really flow and at times, it seems like the actors were left to carry the story. all in all, surprisingly refreshing for a dark look at the wild west - it's not your typical western, but it's probably a lot closer to reality than most of us like to watch.