Before They Were Stars: John Carpenter Makes “The Resurrection of Broncho Billy”

You may be surprised to hear this, but the legendary John Carpenter once made an Academy Award-winning film. In 1970, Carpenter was one of four film students from USC who were invited to make a short film called The Revenge of Broncho Billy, the story of a young man who constantly fantasizes that his present-day life is a western. It wound up garnering a full-fledged theatrical release by playing before a lot of feature films from Universal Studios and took home an Academy Award for “Best Short Subject”. Even though he did not actually direct The Revenge of Broncho Billy, John Carpenter was the editor, co-writer and composed the film’s music. It’s also worth noting that the cinematographer here was Nick Castle, who went on to play Michael Myers in Halloween and direct such films as The Last Starfighter and Dennis the Menace.

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