Outlaw of the Plains

Fuzzy Q. Jones has reinvented himself as a psychic, consulting a crystal ball inhabited by the spirit of "Standing Pine", an Indian mystic. Little does Fuzzy realize that the voice he hears is actually that of swindler Nord Finner, piped in via remote control radio. The crystal ball convinces Fuzzy that some worthless property is home to a gold mine. The land is owned by Finner, who offers to sell it to Fuzzy for $40,000. The old coot raises the money among his friends, but soon finds himself in trouble when they discover they've been scammed. It's up to his old pal Billy Carson to stop the angry townspeople from stringing up Fuzzy by the neck!

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