Prairie Badmen (DVD)

Billy Carson and Fuzzy Q. Jones have joined the traveling medicine show of "Doc" Lattimer and his teenage son Don. Years ago, Lattimer came into possession of a map showing the location of stolen gold bullion. Young Don wants to use it to gain entry into a gang of outlaws. Realizing the crooks will cold heartedly kill Don and take the map for themselves, Billy and Fuzzy race to save the young man before it is too late.

PRC started producing their "Billy The Kid" series in 1940, which reinvented the famous outlaw as heroic and virtuous. 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