Made with big talent and deep pockets, this movie is almost as poorly made as an amateur film made by a rookie. The camera never moves and the actors don't move either. It is also surely the most flagrantly flaming movie of the Code Era, with the possible exception of COBRA WOMAN. Let's see, there's the triangle of a literally limp-wristed Doc (Hughes shows us this about five times to make sure everyone gets it), an sputtering old rejected Pat, and an energetic hot young buck (Billy) who also has time for Jane Russell. The three men do a lot of glaring at one another while they read innuendo-ridden lines in innuendo-laden blockings. The wah-wah-wah kicks in on the soundtrack whenever there's a really smoldery glare or argument. And so on. They do everything but hold hands. Russell isn't exactly beautiful by '40s movie standards, but she certainly is ripe. Hughes had the money to ignore the Censor, and watching it you can't help but wonder if all this wasn't meant as a joke on Mr. Breen himself. This movie is a little funnier if you see THE AVIATOR first.
The Outlaw
1943
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Romance / Western
The Outlaw
1943
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Romance / Western
Plot summary
Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage. Doc is trailing his stolen horse, and it is discovered in the possession of Billy the Kid. In a surprising turnaround, Billy and Doc become friends. This causes the friendship between Doc and Pat to cool. The odd relationship between Doc and Billy grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girl Rio's place after Billy is shot.
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October 08, 2018 at 03:20 PM
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Broke Bra Mountain
Famed and notorious western specially known for the busty beauty Jane Russell
This famous western deals with the most noted gunslinger of the southwest , William Bonney , a juvenile tough, a teenager wanted dead or alive throughout the west . This is a fiction story of the strange teen-age desperado known to legend as Billy the Kid . Billy was said to be sympathetic , attractive and favourite with girls , these characteristics well represented by the protagonist (Jack Buetel) . He'll confront Sheriff Pat Garret (Thomas Mitchell) and Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) and falls in love for a wonderful girl (Jane Russell) . The film isn't based on real events , it's a fiction story by the prestigious screenwriter Jules Furthman with ironic dialogs and a plot with little sense. Thus , here don't appear Tunstall , Chisum , nor others roles , neither deeds (Lincoln county war or getaway from gaol) of the Billy Kid's life that have been treated in other pictures . Exception for historical character Pat Garret who has an important role , while actually Doc Holliday nothing to do with Billy . The picture is produced by RKO (Radio Pictures Inc) and Howard Hughes who at the time was Jane Russell's lover . Howard Hawks began the filming in 1941 and he shot scenes with the cameraman Lucien Ballard but had complications with Hughes and he took the direction hiring the excellent photographer Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane) . However , the censorship made him to modify numerous shots takes . At last, after three years delay , public saw a daring production exactly as it was filmed , with no a scene cut . It would become a mythical film as an erotic Western . That's why Jane Russell , as she appears moody , mean, magnificent and terrific , too startling to describe , Russell was an authentic sensation by the time , she keeps her better attributes on the bosom. Today all the fuss seem totally wrongly . The film has real sensations , thrills , pursuits , go riding , primitive love , action , but it results to be a bit boring .
Clearly aside from the controversy, there is little this film has to offer.
Back when "The Outlaw" was completed, the film sat on the shelf for two years because it was considered unacceptable for the public. The Production Code was pretty much in full force and theater after theater either refused to show it or the local legal authorities threatened to jail the owners of the theaters. What was so indecent about this film? Apparently Jane Russell's breasts--and the many cleavage shots you see of her. However, you never see her breasts and by today's standards, it's actually a pretty tame film. Unfortunately, all this controversy made this film famous. I say unfortunately because after finally getting around to seeing it, it's a terrible movie! It seems that although the producer, Howard Hughes, took TONS of efforts to film the breast just right, no effort was made to get a script worth filming. The dialog is terrible, the film amazingly talky (VERY VERY VERY talky) and dull and historically speaking, it's even worse than the usual western about the semi-mythical heroes of the west.
Speaking of getting the history wrong, there is no concrete evidence that Billy the Kid (a rather minor outlaw, by the way) knew or met Doc Holliday. But, what we DO know is that Holliday was NOT killed by Pat Garrett like he was in this film. He died in a sanitarium in Colorado of Tuberculosis!! In fact, most of the film is just made up junk--much of which was deliberately peppered with sexual innuendo. In one scene, it appears as if Billy the Kid rapes a lady (Russell) and she later falls in love with him (a VILE cliché to say the least)! There are also scenes between them where she needs to cut off his clothes to save his life and it's STRONGLY implied she got naked with him to keep him warm! Pretty spicy stuff for 1941 (when the film was completed) but the rest of the film is so dumb and flat that the ONLY thing of interest is all the innuendo!
I will point out that the acting was generally pretty bad. Walter Huston was such a good actor that in spite of everything, his scenes were decent. As for newcomers Jack Buetel and Jane Russell, they were simply awful--and the director did nothing to pull convincing performances from them. But the worst actor in this one was Thomas Mitchell, as he was a very experienced actor and STILL did a bunch of crappy scenes (especially near the end). Overall, there's NOTHING to like about this film aside from Russell's pulchritude.
By the way, didn't anyone think to tell Russell that she kept BADLY mispronouncing 'Guadalupe' throughout the film--even though the lady was supposed to be her aunt?
Also, if you go to New Mexico, you can visit Billy's graves. Yes, I say graveS because there's one near the roadway that is for tourists and the REAL one nearby. And yes, in real life Pat Garrett DEFINITELY killed Billy in the end--but not in this dopey film.