Dirty Little Billy

Dirty Little Billy
Promotional poster
Directed byStan Dragoti
Screenplay byCharles Moss
Stan Dragoti
Story byCharles Moss
Stan Dragoti
Produced byJack L. Warner
StarringMichael J. Pollard
Richard Evans
Charles Aidman
Lee Purcell
CinematographyRalph Woolsey
Edited byDavid Wages
Music bySascha Burland
Color processEastmancolor
Production
company
WRG/Dragoti Productions Ltd.
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • October 20, 1972 (1972-10-20) (Premiere[1])
  • October 25, 1972 (1972-10-25) (San Francisco)
[2]
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Dirty Little Billy is a 1972 American revisionist western film co-written and directed by Stan Dragoti and starring Michael J. Pollard and Richard Evans. Set in Coffeyville, Kansas, the film was influenced by the darker, more sinister style of Spaghetti Westerns and offered a unique insight into the beginnings of the titular notorious outlaw. It is notable for Nick Nolte's film debut, along with a background appearance for experimental filmmaker/artist William Ault.

Plot

A tough and violent portrait of a psychopathic, yet fresh-faced youth—the infamous Billy the Kid in his grimy early days.

Cast

Release

The film premiered at the San Francisco Film Festival on October 20, 1972 before opening at the Vogue Theatre in San Francisco five days later.[1][2]

Reception

Steven Puchalski wrote in Shock Cinema magazine:

This is not typical, Tinseltown western though. It's more like The Making of a Sociopath, with Michael J. Pollard starring as displaced, 17-year-old Billy Bonney, in the days leading up to his evolution into the notorious Billy the Kid ... this is the perfect role for Pollard. And though a little old to play a teenager (he was 33), he hands us a Billy who's perpetually victimized by bad luck, until he finally blows a gasket at the very end and sparks his future.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Dirty Little Billy at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^ a b "Col Hires Collegians To Plug 'Billy' On Campus". Variety. October 11, 1972. p. 6. Retrieved November 5, 2023 – via Archive.org.
  3. ^ Puchalski, Steven (1996). "DIRTY LITTLE BILLY (1972)". Shock Cinema. Shock Cinema Magazine.


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