For information on the historical person known as Billy the Kid and films made about him, please consult entry for the 1941 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. (M-G-M) production Billy the Kid, directed by David Miller and starring Robert Taylor and Brian Donlevy.
       M-G-M first announced in the 1 May 1929 Var plans to produce an adaptation of Walter Noble Burns’s 1926 novel The Saga of Billy the Kid under the working title The Saga, as a John Gilbert starrer. Willard Mack was said to be writing the adaptation, and production was expected to begin on 1 Jul 1929. Soon after, the project was halted. The 15 Jan 1930 Var indicated that M-G-M had resumed pre-production on the biopic, and the 22 Feb 1930 Motion Picture News reported that John Mack Brown would star in the title role, replacing John Gilbert. According to the 16 Aug 1930 issue, Gilbert had greatly wanted to play “Billy the Kid,” but M-G-M instead selected newly signed Brown for the part.
       On 5 Mar 1930, Var named King Vidor as the director, and Laurence Stallings and Maxwell Anderson as writers, but only Stallings received credit for writing the dialogue. The 5 Apr 1930 Inside Facts of Stage and Screen credited Wanda Tuchock for adapting the story, and Willard Mack received no further mention for his contribution.
       The 31 Mar 1930 FD added Lucille Powers and Russell Simpson to the cast. As late as Sep 1930, a month before the film’s release, Photoplay was still reporting Powers as Brown’s co-star, but at some point before the picture debuted she was replaced by Kay Johnson. No further information could be found to explain the recasting. Additional cast members included S. S. Simon, Dan Wolheim, Murdock McQuarrie , and six-year-old Jerry Madden, according to the 16 Apr 1930 and 7 May 1930 Var, and the 12 Apr 1930 and 10 May 1930 issues of Hollywood Filmograph. The 14 Jun 1930 edition also named Red Golden as assistant director.
       The 5 Apr 1930 Hollywood Filmograph production chart announced that principal photography was underway. The 9 Apr 1930 Var confirmed that production had begun the previous week, and stated that the picture was the first M-G-M production to be filmed in a widescreen format, using 70mm Eastman Kodak film, and Fox Film Corp.’s “Grandeur” cameras. M-G-M was reportedly “shooting blind” as they had no formal agreement with Fox for the use of the company’s cameras, and most theaters at that time did not have the technology to project widescreen films.
       The 19 Apr 1930 Hollywood Filmograph announced that Vidor’s company was on location near Chatsworth, CA, where “famed western star” William S. Hart had come out of retirement to appear in the film. Hart reportedly lent the production a gun that had belonged to the real Billy the Kid, which John Mack Brown used onscreen. The 22 Apr 1930 FD indicated that filming had moved to the nearby Porter Ranch area to avoid noisy onlookers who were disrupting the sound recording of the picture.
       On 4 May 1930, FD reported that Vidor had travelled to Gallup, NM, and set up a production camp with a company of seventy five persons to film additional exteriors. The 10 May 1930 Motion Picture News noted that filming in NM was scheduled for three weeks. The 31 May 1930 Hollywood Filmograph announced that the crew had returned to M-G-M Studios from NM where they had encountered “sudden May snowstorms that overtook them” while filming. Vidor reportedly filmed sequences in the Grand Canyon en route back to the coast. According to the 19 Jul 1930 Motion Picture News, Vidor was currently travelling to Utah’s Zion National Park for additional exteriors.
       The 23 Aug 1930 Motion Picture News announced that M-G-M had named its widescreen process “Realife,” which reportedly used standard film that could be shown in theaters with a “low-cost” projector attachment. Billy the Kid was set to be M-G-M’s debut Realife picture. The 20 Sep 1930 edition explained that the Realife process involved filming with a widescreen camera, using 70mm film, which was then printed on 35mm standard film stock to be viewed through a projector with a special lens attachment, thus producing the widescreen effect. M-G-M estimated the cost of the projection lens adapter to be an affordable $100. However, exhibitors would still have to incur the expensive cost of installing a wide screen in their theaters.
       The 4 Oct 1930 Motion Picture News indicated that a screening audience was pleased with the widescreen scenic shots, but the picture had been re-cut and a new ending had been added.
       Although the 30 Aug 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World stated that the west coast premiere, shown in Realife, would take place in Sep 1930 at the Criterion Theatre, the world premiere was held on 16 Oct 1930 in Detroit, MI, at the Paramount Theatre, according to the 18 Oct 1930 Motion Picture News. The New York City opening was held on 17 Oct 1930 at the Capitol Theatre, as confirmed in the 22 Oct 1930 Var review.
       Reviews of Billy the Kid were mixed. Var praised the “panoramic exteriors,” but claimed that the picture would only appeal to “youngsters.” However, the 19 Oct 1930 FD review deemed the film a “colorful and absorbing western” with “splendid” direction. Although the widescreen scenic shots were also applauded, FD complained that a night sequence appeared so dark that audiences “hissed” at the projection booth, believing it to be a technical glitch.