Yar, you be here: The Outlaw > Customer Reviews

The Outlaw Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 7 Reviews)

This was the famous Howard Hughes's attempt to break into Hollywood. He's the guy who built The Hughes Took Company into an empire, flew air racers, built the "Spruce Goose", Hughes Air West, and a bunch of other accomplishments. He died a recluse who was obsessed with germs. He was the stuff that fables are made of. Jane Russell was one of his accomplishments.

The movie took seven years, they say, to be released--after it was completed. Hughes directed it. The male lead, Jack Beutel, who played Billy the Kid, was under contract to Hughes, where he languished. Hughes paid him, month after month, but never used him in any other film. He is somewhat reminiscent, in looks, of Audey Murphy (the most decorated soldier in WWII, who played himself in a film.) He reminds me of Murphy.

The film depicted a highly fictional relationship between Doc Holliday and Billy (The Kid) Bonney, which is the product of the writer's fevered imagination. Although they were contemporaries, there is no evidence that they ever met. The Kid was a product of the Lincoln County wars (New Mexico), while Holliday was an acquaintance of Wyatt Earp, who came West from Dodge City, Kansas, to Tombstone, Arizona. Probably Earp nor
Holliday ever met Garrett or Billy in their lives. Holliday is played by Walter Huston in the film. The part of Pat Garrett (who actually killed the Kid, and wrote Billy's life story from stories he told him around the camp fire and things they experienced together--a copy of which I have, and have reviewed here) was played by Thomas Mitchell, who, although he played the part impeccably, was perhaps the most dubious job of casting in the film. The contender for that honor would have to be Huston as Holliday. Both highly unlikely candidates for those parts if you are at all interested in historical accuracy or even slight physical resemblance.

In short, this has no resemblance to historical fact, although that is no drawback to the story's entertainment value. The only cast member to gain from the film would have to be Jane Russell, who played a few more parts before her career petered out. Nothing of consequence, I think. Huston and Mitchell were already made, and Beutel withered on the vine. Hughes' days as a director were definitely numbered.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

Get Outta Town!.......
This review refers to the Classic Western DVD edition(Platinum Disc Corp) of "The Outlaw"(1943).....

If you are looking for something with a good script, good dialouge, good acting or at the very least historical accuracy in a western, fahget about it. This is not the one! What you will get is some classic actors in a fun western,that is a little on the risque side for the early fourties and it might make you smile if nothing else.

The film, which has trouble deciding on whether it is a comedy or a drama stars such greats as Walter Huston, Thomas Mitchell, and Jane Russell's breasts(in their breakthrough role which led to all those great Playtex bra commercials).It was directed by Howard Hawks and Howard Hughes, who apparently had a thing for Jane Russell at the time.

The story involves a love triangle between Doc Holliday(Huston), Billy the Kid(a very cute Jack Buetel) and the voluptuous "Rio"(Russell).Doc has come to town to find his stolen horse, "Red" the strawberry roan(who by the way steals the show in this one),meets up with Billy, and immediatly the two form a unique friendship to the chagrin of Sherriff Pat Garrett(Mitchell).Billy gets in some trouble, and is shot by the bumbling sherriff and is taken to Rio's place by Doc to heal. Rio who already has it in for Billy for shooting her brother, seems to overcome that little problem when the Florence Nightingale effect takes over. But here's the problem....she was Doc's girl first. Who will get the girl? More importantly.. Who will get the horse? Will Garrett catch up with these outlaws?

Just want to check it out for yourself? I often see it on the Turner Classics Movie Station.
If you're a die hard western fanatic, you will get a kick out of this film.This 1943 black and white film looks surprisingly good on this DVD(you will notice the film's age occassionaly). Although you'll need to crank the sound up a bit, it is clear and distinguable at all times.There are filmographies of the stars and a fun little quiz about the film(naturally I aced it!)

All that's left to say is.... Aw Shucks Ma'am....Laurie

"What, no kiss?" "Nah, he doesn't like mush."
What can I say about "The Outlaw"? It's really, really silly and I really, really like it. The acting is bad, the music is worse, and the camera angles are downright hilarious. I'm not sure how much of the dialogue was intended to be funny, but I'm sure a lot of the bigger laughs were unintentional. Nevertheless, it's a goofy, friendly little movie that moves along at a brisk pace and is nothing if not entertaining.

The plot? Well, you see, Pat Garrett and Doc Holliday used to be best friends, that is until Billy the Kid rode into town, and now Doc spends all his time hanging out with Billy which makes Pat pretty darn jealous. There's also Rio (played by the scantily clad Jane Russell) who used to be Doc's girl before Billy stole her, although neither Doc nor Billy care much about that. They do argue a lot about who owns Doc's horse, but otherwise they're pretty tight, riding around together, humilating Pat, and just generally having a good time. All good things must come to an end, however, and after a couple of shootouts and almost shootouts our hero(?) rides off into the sunset, proud possesor of both the horse and the girl.

"The Outlaw" isn't a classic by anybody's standards (unless you count the classically silly "Gun Switching" scene), but it is fun in a weird kind of way. Gazillionare Howard Hughes tried for years to have it released while he battled the censors (unlike some other reviewers, I do think the film is pretty racy for its time) and there's still about five minutes missing. You can sometimes tell where footage was cut, such as a scene where Doc goes to hug Billy (really) and after a jump they're suddenly talking about something else. Uh huh.

Anyway, check this out if you're a fan of Jane Russell or over the top cheese. If you do see it, watch for my favorite part: Billy strings up Rio and leaves her for dead, has second thoughts, and comes back to find the sheriff waiting for him. "Why didn't you tip me off?" he irritably asks the still strung-up Rio. Great stuff.
GRADE: B+