Billy Two Hats

"Against the Law...Against the Odds...Against the Land Itself"

1974 1h 39m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 49

Western

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After a bank robbery, runaway Scottish outlaw Arch Deans and his young half-breed Kiowa partner Billy Two Hats develop a father-son relationship, but Sheriff Henry Gifford is determined to capture or kill them.

“Against the Law...Against the Odds...Against the Land Itself”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Gregory Peck
Arch Deans
Desi Arnaz Jr.
Billy Two Hats
Jack Warden
Sheriff Henry Gifford
David Huddleston
Copeland
Sian Barbara Allen
Esther Spencer
John Pearce
Spencer
Dawn Little Sky
Copeland's Squaw
Vincent St. Cyr
Indian Leader

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ted Kotcheff
Writers: Alan Sharp
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ted Kotcheff, shot by Brian West. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Scott. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Thom Noble shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gregory Peck and Desi Arnaz Jr. and Jack Warden carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Against the Law...Against the Odds...Against the Land Itself".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0069786 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 49 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ted Kotcheff directs. Brian West behind the camera. John Scott scores. Thom Noble cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

152 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Ted Kotcheff, shot by Brian West. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by John Scott. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Thom Noble shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Gregory Peck and Desi Arnaz Jr. and Jack Warden carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Against the Law...Against the Odds...Against the Land Itself".
7IMDB entry: tt0069786 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 49 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Brian West
Original score: John Scott
Editing: Thom Noble
Production design: Anthony Pratt
Makeup / hair: Wally Schneiderman
Sound: John Hayward
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Billy Two Hats (1974)

Also by

Ted Kotcheff

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2013-12-19
★ 5/10
The Outlaw and The Breed. Billy Two Hats is directed by Ted Kotcheff and written by Alan Sharp. It stars Gregory Peck, Desi Arnaz Junior, Jack Warden, David Huddleston and Sian Barbara. Music is by John Scott and cinematography by Brian West. Interesting. Peck plays a grizzled Scottish outlaw and Arnaz Jr. the half-breed Indian of film’s title. They rob banks and have a sort of father and son relationship as they try to escape from vengeful racist Sheriff Gifford (Warden). So in essence it’s a buddy Western, albeit one that’s a bit off-beat and has grand ideas to be a religio parable of sorts. Unfortunately away from the unusual casting decisions which happen to entertain, it’s immeasurably dull on narrative terms and blandly photographed (in Israel) into the bargain. It’s not hard to see why it flopped upon release to theatres. The sporadic action passages are adequately performed, and the intentional humour hits the required mark, but by the time the boorish inter-racial relationship comes to the fore, you may find it hard to stay awake. 5/10
CinemaSerf2023-09-22
★ 7/10
It's a bit bitty this western, and you do have to get past Gregory Peck's "haud yer whisht" Scots accent, but apart from those it's actually quite a solidly presented story with a good effort from all concerned. Jack Warden steals the show as the sheriff ("Gifford") pursuing "Archie" (Peck) and his half-breed sidekick "Billy" (Desi Arnaz Jr.) after they committed a robbery in which a man was - accidentally - killed. The story follows the chase - but not in a conventional sense. The balance of power frequently shifts between the pursuing and the pursued; there are some rather fancily dressed and menacing Apache on the warpath (for whisky) and when they alight on the rather venal homesteader "Spence" (John Pearce) and his nervous wreck of a pretty young wife "Esther" (Sian Barbara Allen) there is even room for a tiny bit of romance for the young man. There is quite a strong undercurrent of racism here. The young man's heritage earns him the enmity of many, especially the rather odious "Cope" (David Huddlestone) who runs a remote outpost with his squaw (Dawn Little Sky) whom he treats little better than a chattel. Indeed, even the title of the film suggests a double standard that is writ quite large into the narrative here. There's a bit of long-distance sharp shooting, quite a bit of gentle witty repartee and though not at his best, the star has a curmudgeonly charisma that helps hold the other characters firmly in place. I hadn't heard of this film before I saw it in a cinema yesterday, and I really did quite enjoy it.