Fugitive of the Plains

In order to clear his name (again), Billy the kid infiltrates a band of ruthless armed robbers and discovers that the gang's leader is actually a female ranch owner.

Falling in love (or about as much in love a Saturday matinée western hero is allowed to with a villain), Billy tries to persuade her to go straight before things get too out of hand.

The truth is there's more chemistry between Billy the kid and Fuzzy Jones than there is between Billy and the girl in this pretty mediocre episode in Producer's Releasing Corporation's long running Billy The Kid Series.

There's too much talk and not enough action or worthwhile story to make this memorable.

For me, Buster Crabbe will always be "Buck Rogers" or "Flash Gordon" so seeing him here toting a six-shooter doesn't quite work. To be fair, though, he isn't the worst aspect of this pretty mediocre story. He is "Billy the Kid" who is being falsely accused of being involved with a menacing gang of outlaws lead by "Kate" (Maxine Leslie). Someone is leaving notes for the sheriff (Karl Hackett) in his name and so he's prime suspect for robbery when the stage sets off. What he doesn't know is that he's being set up - but by whom and why? It does try to pack quite a bit of story into this, but the production is all very basic and barring a few expertly choreographed tumbling moments from Al St. John is all instantly forgettable as the static Crabbe isn't a natural at all and Leslie is no Barbara Stanwyck. Kills an hour, though.

The Fugitive Of The Plains is none other than Billy The Kid played by Buster Crabbe who was a considerably nicer fellow and had far more adventures than the real Billy The Kid did in his short life. This film was part of a Billy The Kid series done by the Producer's Releasing Corporation (PRC).

Like Don Michael Corleone, Billy would like to just settle down somewhere and forget his outlaw past. But in every film someone keeps dragging him back in. In this case there's a gang operating several counties over where the leader is even dressing in Billy's black garb.

But imagine Buster Crabbe's surprise when the leader turns out to be a woman. Maxine Leslie who plays it like a poor man's Gladys George is a respectable woman in her neck of the woods and she just thinks it's the greatest thing to be trading in on the reputation of a known outlaw like Crabbe. It just comes with the trade I guess.

Al St. John is Crabbe's usual sidekick and he definitely is one of the funniest, but also one of the most worthless around. I can only conclude that he gives Crabbe as much laughs as he gives the audience which is the only reason I would keep Fuzzy around.

Nothing too terribly special about Fugitive Of The Plains.