A Western for Westerns Lovers OUTLAW, THE
Howard Hughes' THE OUTLAW was made in 1938 but released in 1941, distributed in 1943 (95 mins.), and re-released in 1947 (105 mins.), but today is available on DVD virtully intact entirety (123 mins., possibly including a ~2 mins. 'Buy War Bonds' trailer); the VHS run time may be identical[?].
There is no pornography or profanity in this movie; which is suitable for all ages, according to parental guidance.
This Classic film is superb: a 9-star Western. The character acting by Walter Huston, Thomas Mitchell, Jane Russell, and Jack Buetel may never have been equalled in any of their other endeavours, except perhaps Mr Huston (the 'Missionary's puritanical wife' being chillingly played by the indefatigable Beulah Bondi) in 1932's RAIN, with Joan Crawford in one of the best of debut[sic?] performances.
Mr Hughes made this unusually striking production as a passionate 'labour of love', for which it is not cliched either, to say that THE OUTLAW is a Western aficcionado's Western -- and controversally so. Introduced with a lavish publicity campaign, including "wild west" riders galloping through towns firing pistol blanks and "capturing" the Theatre on openings, tantalising pre-release trailers, and sexually emphasised posters of debuting Jane Russel. The film was opened to rave reviews, one of which, written on 13 February 1943, is to be found in BOX OFFICE MAGAZINE Online.
This film is best seen for the extremely complex interplay of characters, ambience, ambivalent inter-personal relationships, and facinatingly incongruous situational vignettes, a melange of which is knitted together into a most satisfingly comprehensive whole, the which seems to encompass a sort of 'deutero-chronology'.
The plot of this film cannot be told, for to do so for any part would be unacceptable to the masterpiece of the whole -- which, like a fine wine, is better understood and appreciated over time, in this case after several screenings. A genius made this picture and if there are cliches in this summary, they might well have been born from this film. The story involves the relationship among long-time friends Doc Holiday and Sheriff Pat Garrett, Billy, and Doc's lady, Rio; which compellingly developes with the lightheartedness of an hillside creek, the quietly deep flow of a mighty Mississippi River, and the sheer force of an intrepid Yukon!
This Film is an extremely and subtly complex product of the synergistic genius of all concerned, under the masterful nexus of one of the great men of our century -- the founder of the aerospace giant Hughs Aircraft Company, of California, built with dominating drive and intelligence -- whose own life may have been so absorbed into the 'life' of this picture, that perhaps he never came back to himself until his own Conclusion, as the billionaire recluse, passed away under strange circumstances in 1976, surrounded by his Mormon aides. Hughes' passion for film making led him to make six pictures, including HELL'S ANGELS (1930) and SCARFACE (1932); and culminating with THE OUTLAW in 1938, an excptionally pivotal year -- the final watershed of an era which saw the old West become civilised, but before it had been forgotten in real-life experience and its denizens all passed away. Respect for history makes this film a necessity for everyone concerned about the American 'wild west', of its heyday, 1865-1905, but continuing in degrees nearly to the break of WWII. The film is composed of a myriad of vignettes, each of which can stand on its own as self-complete: one of the reasons for the overall complexity, which is also the result of sheer cinematographical genius and geniuine 'charactor acting', the like of which is all too seldom seen today. This picture is a Classic, of far greater worth than is generally recognised.