Features: DVD
Producer Howard Hughes replaced the original director Howard Hawks, and as the filming of The Outlaw drug on, the advance publicity was making Jane Russell and her cleavage a star.
The Hayes Office didn't care for Hughes' "Sex Western," leading to a long battle with the censors. The required cuts resulted in various running times for the film, some as short as 95 minutes. This DVD presents the most complete cut known to exist.
The hype whipped up by Hughes' publicist made The Outlaw's merits as a film immaterial. It was a film that, when finally released (in 1943 and again in 1946), simply had to be seen.
Editor's Note
Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) meets the notorious Billy the Kid (Jack Beutel), who has stolen his horse. Doc's old friend Pat Garrett, now a sheriff, wants to arrest the Kid for murder, but Doc helps his young friend flee to a hideout, where Billy meets Rio (Jane Russell), a beautiful young woman who soon finds herself falling in love with him. As Doc and Billy try to evade the law, they run into a series of adventures involving Indians and gunfights, culminating in a fierce showdown. Under the control of director/ producer Howard Hughes, THE OUTLAW became both a classic Western and a tribute to the charms of its leading lady, 19-year-old Jane Russell, whose cleavage was featured prominently in the film's publicity. As a result, THE OUTLAW became one of the most controversial films of the 1940s, leading to a protracted battle with censors that only added to the film's allure. The story of Pat Garrett, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid sharply veers from historical reality but the result is a fun and engaging classic that stands out from other Westerns of the era.
|
