Customer Reviews

The Outlaw - In COLOR! - 2 DVD SET with video commentary by Jane Russell and Terry Moore - Also Includes the Original Black-and-White Version which has been Beautifully Restored and Enhanced!

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jane Russell--wow! Apparently the original negatives are not available, but if this is from a print, it's better than the last two or three I've purchased--and discarded. This is a keeper, until, and if, there's one from the original negative.

You'll be a little taken aback with the soundtrack. Kinda reminds me of the Lucy show. But other than that it's a sophisticated tale for the time it was made. Jane looks a bit darker than we know her to be. It's better in black and white for that reason. I got this on a whim and I'm glad I did. If the orignal print can be found I wonder if it would benefit burning it to BD?

This movie was good for when it was made. I liked that it had 2 DVDs with it, one that was black and white and the other that had color added.

"The Outlaw" is probably the most over-rated western around. Made in 1941 by Howard Hughes, it is primarily a showcase for Jane Russell's ample bosoms, and as such, it does its job well. But as a western, you've got to be kidding. The historically inaccurate story has Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) and Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell) being long time friends, and Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel) as the man out. Of course, Billy and Garrett were the friends who lived and died in New Mexico and, as far as anyone knows, never met Doc Holliday who spent most of his time in Kansas and Arizona. Moreover, there was not such a wide age discrepancy between the three men, whereas Huston was nearly twice Beutel's age at the time of shooting.

Putting history aside, Mitchell and Huston were both great actors, but clearly not suited for the Western genre. Mitchell is best remembered for his supporting roles as Scarlett O'Hara's father in "GWTW" (1939) and Uncle Billy in "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). Over a 38 year career he won an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony. While he played in westerns (e.g., "High Noon", "Stagecoach", "Destry", "Buffalo Bill") Mitchell's short stature and portly appearance were best suited to non-action roles. He hardly fills the bill as the famous Pat Garrett .

Much the same can be said for Walter Huston, who won the Oscar and the Golden Globe for "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948), and racked up 3 more Oscar nominations including playing Jimmy Cagney's dad in "Yankee Doddle Dandy" (1942). Huston's great voice and animated facial expressions were well suited for his roles that included playing the Devil ("The Devil and Daniel Webster"), but at nearly 60 years of age he makes a poor Doc Holliday. With his oversized store-bought pistols hiked up above his waist, Huston looks more comical than dangerous.

Jack Beutel's Billy the Kid (the "Outlaw" from the film's title)is the typical over-confident play acting we see in many westerns (e.g., Ricky Nelson in "Rio Bravo", James Caan in "El Dorado"). He has a kind of little kid appeal, even though he was in his 20s at the time. Unfortunately for Beutel, conflicts with Howard Hughes, who controlled his contract, kept him off the screen for over a decade. By the time he returned to the screen, his career was nearly over. He made a few forgettable westerns then transitioned to TV.

Look for Ben Johnson in his screen debut. Johnson would go on to portray the classic westerner, in films such as "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949), "Rio Grande" (1950), "Shane" (1953), "One Eyed Jacks" (1961), "Hang em High" (1968), "The Wild Bunch" (1969), and "Bite the Bullet" (1975).

Jane Russell, of course, was a sensation. She was merely 20 years old and this was her first film. She received top billing in the film (very usual to have a woman starring in a Western). She went on to make nearly two dozen films, including "Paleface" (1948) with Bob Hope, "Double Dynamite" (1951) with Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx, and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) with Marilyn Monroe.

The film was actually made in 1941, but Hughes had trouble getting it past the Hays censors. It surfaced for 1 week in 1943 and finally general release in 1946, where it was a big hit, breaking box office records everywhere it appeared. The B&W print was colorized in 1988 and again in 2009. Various versions were released, running from 95 minutes to 117 minutes.

The poor quality of the film can be accounted for by the many personnel changes. Howard Hawks was fired as Director, and Hughes himself took over, even though he had directed only one (silent) film (Hell's Angels") more than a decade earlier. This may account for the peculiar nature of some of the scenes, sans dialogue, that clearly resemble silent films.

But Hughes was busy running an empire, so directing often was taken over by screenwriter Jules Furthman. Some scenes were shot by Lucien Ballard but the official cinematographer is Gregg Toland. Many scenes were re-shot or added or deleted according to controversies with the Hays censors. Time called it a "flopperoo" and The New York Times called it "second-rate."

The musical score appears to be written by someone who thinks the film is a comedy. In fact, the dialogue and the old grisly film stars are indeed comical, although not on purpose.

If you want to see a good film about Billy the Kid, I recommend Peckinpah's "Pat Garett and Billy the Kid" or (for a change of pace) "Dirty Little Billy". To see Jane Russell as a truly gifted actress, try "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" or "The Revolt of Mamie Stover". For Huston and Mitchell, see their Oscar winning films, and for Ben Johnson I recommend Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" or "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon".

.....Some movies are improved by Technicolor and some lose their aura. For instance I can't imagine a color version of the movie Stagecoach. I am not a fan of colorizing the old classics and try to avoid buying them.

.....As for the movie itself I give high marks to the performances of Walter Huston as Doc Holliday and Thomas Mitchell as Pat Garrett. I give and good marks to newcomers Jack Beutel and Jane Russell. Russell developed into a fine actress after Hughes loaned her out to other studios and sold her contract. Jack Beutel wasn't so lucky. Based on his performance in Outlaw he was sought after for the role of John Waynes side kick in Red River, a role that was eventually given to Montgomery Ciff, but Hughes had him under an exclusive seven year contract and would not loan him out. This essentially ruined and ended his career. I thought that Beutel could have played all the parts that were given to Audie Murphy and have done a better job but we will never know thanks to the perverse nature of Howard Hughes. I recommend this movie for collectors but only in the original black & white.

This DVD have closed-captioning on color and B/W version only but not on special features including video commentary.

Thomas Mitchell shows his versatility as an actor in this western