Gentlemen with Guns

Billy Carson must once again come to the aid of his old pal Fuzzy Q. Jones. Fuzzy has recently inherited some farmland, and has started selling it cheaply to young families just starting out. Jim McCallister, a crooked rancher, wants it all for himself. He has a young blonde from the mail order bride service named Matilda seduce Fuzzy, who of course immediately starts hearing wedding bells. McCallister then frames Fuzzy for the murder of one of his ranch hands. While the sheriff locks up Fuzzy behind bars, McCallister demands Matilda hand him the rights to her future husband's property. It's up to Billy Carson to save the old coot from the hangman's noose and his double-dealing bride-to-be!

PRC started producing their "Billy The Kid" series in 1940, which reinvented the famous outlaw as a hero. Bob Steele played Billy in the first six features, and was replaced by former "Flash Gordon" Buster Crabbe in 1941. After thirteen movies, Billy's surname was changed to Carson, suggesting that PRC got cold feet about the negative historical association. Overall, Buster and his bearded sidekick Al "Fuzzy" St. John would make three dozen "Billy the Kid" movies for the studio in five years! Incredibly, tireless B-movie filmmaker Sam Newfield directed all 42 entries in the series.

• western