Gringo Billy Hablas Espanol

April 13, 2011

Going over last minute changes and additions to the June issue. Lots of fact checking: IMDB says there have been 54 Billy the Kid movies, The Marcelle Brothers website says 51, and Paul Hutton claims 60 (although he warns that some are just mentions of the name while others are based on the Kid, like "One Eyed Jacks" with Marlon Brando playing a character based on the Kid but that's not his name in the movie).

And speaking of the Kid, we are going to change the pace in Graphic Cinema and go with a Billy the Kid story I have long wanted to do. The premise is that this gringo Kid spoke fluent Spanish in a dangerous border country. If played right that is a character that should resonate today.

The first episode is about a stagecoach robbery where all the bandits speak Spanish and all the passengers and stagecoach personnel speak English (or, so it seems). Upon realizing this, and after everyone is disarmed, the banditos start speaking in Spanish right in front of the victims, talking about the shirt they are going to take and who they want to rape, because they are going to kill everyone. Finally, one of the passengers, smiles, and corrects one of the bandits on his use of Spanish, in Spanish! Before they can react, he pulls a derringer out of his hat (The Gat in The Hat) and pops the guy in front of him, grabs the crumpling bandito's pistol and dispatches the other two. The morale: learn to speak Spanish, ese.

I'm still noodling titles. Still like El Kid. May use The Gringo Kid: In The Gat In The Hat

Or, the old standby El Chivato (The Infant Rascal) which I used in the first edition of my "Illustrated Life & Times of Billy the Kid" (1992)

Might even use Bilingual Billy. Hmmmmm.

[other possible sub heads]: In the days of the Wild West in New Mexico Territory one young gringo stands tall

Or, In the dangerous border country of New Mexico a gringo Kid stands tall

Brought in a painting of one of the banditos:

Titled: "Manos Arriba!" (Hands up!). Of course when he gets blank stares from the stage driver and the other passengers, he assumes none of them are Spanish speakers. Big mistake, ese.

"That's El Chivato to you, ese."
—Billy Bonney