Product Details

• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Delta Music Music in
• VHS Release Date: June 19, 1998
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305054126
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #666,382 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A fast-paced, entertaining lark of a film, The Outlaw is known today mostly for the buoyant performance of Jane Russell, whose career was engineered by the film's director, Howard Hughes, otherwise infamous for his reclusive millionaire ways. But more than that, the film boasts a set of finely tuned performances in the retelling of the story of Billy the Kid (Jack Beutel), whose burgeoning friendship with Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) arouses an intense hatred in Sheriff Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell, arguably the greatest character actor who ever lived). As Rio, Doc Holliday's girl, Jane Russell creates an irrepressible presence that lends an ample foundation to the story when her affections for Billy cleave his relationship with Doc. There are enough psychosexual rumblings to go around that the pace never sags. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just Short of the Mark, March 29, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Outlaw (DVD)

There's no need to recap the plot's synopsis, therefore I'll focus the bulk of my observations on the DVD itself, since this is the information I look for in Amazon reviews of items of this type.
This review covers the edition released by The Roan Group. The disk does fulfill its promise of a 117 minute running time, including credits. A running time of two hours is cited in the trailer, but I don't know that I'd call this an accurate indication of the existence of a more complete version; 117 minutes is awfully close to 120. I don't see any evidence of the extras mentioned in Amazon's editorial, including the letterboxing of credits, although I had no trouble reading them all on my TV set. I suspect the reviewer is referring to a different release, although I can't imagine which one.
Roan mastered this release from what must have been a very high-quality print because it shows very few signs of age. The sound is fine--very clear with no need of volume cranking (often the case on older films, in my experience). The movie is an entertaining male-bonding romp with great performances all around and Miss Russell looks fabulous. Frankly, there wasn't a boring moment in the whole film--no complaints there. Another nice touch is its keep case; I'm really annoyed with the cheesy snap cases in which so many new releases are packaged.
The lack of extras, however, is very disappointing, even for a budget release. One has the option to view the trailer or the film by means of a barely visible prompt, PERIOD. There's no menu, so one can't navigate the specific chapters (although they're numbered on the back cover of the case), and there are no subtitles ("Japanese?"). There's NOTHING but the movie and the trailer. At least one can fast-forward and reverse; I understand that even that option's not available on some disks.
Despite this movie's being lots of fun, it rates fewer stars for being a little too bare-bones in this release. 3.5 stars would be perfect but since I can't assign halves, I decided to err on the side of generosity based on its being a really good transfer of an entertaining film. (Yeah, yeah--we all KNOW it's not historically accurate...so what?) A shame Roan didn't go the extra mile; so little more is needed.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get Outta Town!......., January 8, 2003

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Outlaw, The (DVD)

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!)

also available here:The Outlaw

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

For more Billy the Kid check out:Billy the Kid(with Val Kilmer as The Kid in this one

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "What, no kiss?" "Nah, he doesn't like mush.", January 10, 2003

By 

CodeMaster Talon (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outlaw (DVD)

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+