The Outlaw (1943)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Howard Hughes

Writer:

Jules Furthman (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 June 1948 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Western | Romance

Tagline:

How'd you like to tussle with Russell??

Plot:

Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage...

Plot Keywords:

Billy The Kid | Sheriff | Doc Holliday | Horse | New Mexico

Cast

Jack Buetel	...	Billy the Kid (as Jack Beutel)
Jane Russell	...	Rio McDonald
Thomas Mitchell	...	Pat Garrett
Walter Huston	...	Doc Holliday
Mimi Aguglia	...	Guadalupe
Joe Sawyer	...	Charley
Gene Rizzi	...	Stranger

Runtime:

116 min | Portugal:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating: 2008) | Norway:16 (1950) | Argentina:13 | Australia:G | Finland:(Banned) (1950) | Sweden:(Banned) (1943-1964) | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #7440)

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Howard Hughes Productions

Trivia:

In his book "Hollywood", Garson Kanin wrote that one day in New York, he and George S. Kaufman were walking down Broadway and counted five billboards with an alluring picture of Jane Russell advertising this film, prompting Kaufman to remark: "They ought to call it 'A Sale of Two Titties'".

Goofs:

Continuity: Doc Hollyday changes position several times between shots during his first conversation with Billy the Kid.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Townsman: Doc Holliday just got off the stagecoach! Do you want me and some of the boys to come along with you?
Pat Garrett: Why do ask that?
Townsman: Well, I certainly wouldn't want to fool around with him if I were alone.
Pat Garrett: I don't blame you, but I ain't gonna make no trouble for Doc Holliday. He's my best friend!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)

Soundtrack:

Trail to Mexico (Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie)

worth seeing because of Jane Russel and as a curiosity

The Outlaw deserves credit for being different from any other western made up to 1943. Before I saw this film I heard so much about it, that I wanted to like it. It had a spectacular Jane Russel, sexy and beautiful, Jack Buetel was very well cast as Billy The Kid, and it had two great actors Walter Huston and Thomas Mitchell. Something went very wrong with the script, even though it was written by Jules Furthman, who had "To Have and Have Not" and "The Big Sleep" to his credit and with the help of Ben Hecht, uncredited. And the problem is the absurd sentimentality in the relationship between Doc Holiday (Huston) and Billy, which borders on the ridiculous. The reason for that could be they wanted to imply there was homosexuality in the relationship without censorship problems, but if that was the case they could have done a better job. Jane Russel was such a bombshell that she justified the film, even though to Billy and Doc she was worth less than a horse.