The Outlaw
The Outlaw is a 1943 American Western film directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jack Buetel, Jane Russell, Thomas Mitchell and Walter Huston. Hughes also produced the film, and Howard Hawks served as an uncredited co-director. The film is notable as Russell's breakthrough role to becoming a sex symbol and Hollywood icon. Later advertising billed Russell as the sole star. The Outlaw is an early example of a psychological Western.[4]
This article is about the 1943 western film. For the 1871 play, see The Outlaw (play). For other uses, see Outlaw (disambiguation).The Outlaw
Howard Hughes
Hughes (original release)
United Artists (1946 release)
RKO Radio Pictures
- February 5, 1943 (San Francisco)
- March 1946 (Re-release)
121 minutes (original release)
115 minutes (1946 release)[1]
United States
English
$3,400,000[2]
$20 million[3]
Plot[edit]
Sheriff Pat Garrett welcomes his friend Doc Holliday to Lincoln, New Mexico. Doc is looking for his stolen horse, only to find the strawberry roan in the possession of Billy the Kid, who says he bought it from someone else. They spar over it, yet take a liking to each other, much to Garrett's disgust. Doc still tries to steal his horse back late that night, but Billy is waiting and foils him.
Billy then decides to sleep in the barn, only to be shot at. He overpowers his ambusher, the willful Rio McDonald, Doc's love interest. She is out to avenge her brother, slain by the Kid, and next tries to stab Billy with a pitchfork, but he overpowers and rapes her.[5]
The next day, a stranger offers to shoot Garrett in the back while the Kid distracts the lawman, but Billy suspects a trap and guns the man down in self-defense. There are no witnesses, and Garrett tries to arrest Billy, only to have Doc take Billy's side. As the pair attempt to leave, Garrett shoots Billy. Doc blasts the rifle out of Garrett's hand, kills two deputies, and holds off a third.
Doc flees with Billy to the home of Rio and her aunt, Guadalupe. With a posse after them, Doc leaves Billy and rides away. Instead of killing the unconscious Kid, Rio is now drawn to him and nurses him back to health over the next month, even climbing in bed with him when he becomes chilled. By the time Doc returns, Rio has fallen in love with Billy, and claims to have secretly married the still delirious gunslinger. Doc is furious that Billy has stolen his girlfriend. After Doc simmers down, the Kid gives him a choice: the horse or Rio. To Billy's annoyance, Doc picks the horse. Angered that both men prefer the animal over her, Rio fills their canteens with sand. The two men ride off together.
On the trail, they are pursued by Garrett. The pair surmise that Rio tipped off the sheriff. Billy leaves in the night to confront her. Garrett arrives and captures a sleeping Doc and holds him prisoner.
Before the two men can depart, they find that Billy has left Rio tied nearby, in sight of water, in revenge. Suspecting that Billy loves Rio and will return to free her, Garrett waits. Billy does come back and is captured.
On the way back to town, they are surrounded by hostile Mescaleros. In a desperate situation, Garrett reluctantly frees his prisoners and returns their guns, after Billy promises to surrender his revolvers if they escape, but Doc evades making such a promise. They manage to elude the Indians, and Doc balks at giving his guns back. The foursome continue on together, away from Lincoln.
Later that night, Doc seeks to leave with the contested horse, but Billy protests. The two men decide to duel, which Garrett expects Billy to lose. However, as they await the signal to draw, Billy moves his hands away from his guns. Doc tries to provoke him, winging the Kid three times, but Billy refuses to return fire. The two reconcile. Furious, Garrett calls Doc out, despite not having a chance. Doc makes no attempt to shoot his friend and is fatally wounded. Garrett is nonplussed.
After Doc is buried, Garrett offers to give Billy Doc's revolvers as mementos, requesting Billy's in return. He says he'll tell everyone he'd buried Billy instead of Doc, and the Kid can leave his past behind and make a fresh start in life. Billy agrees, but Garrett had removed the firing pins from Doc's guns. However, while comparing the revolvers, Billy switches one of Doc's for his, and he gets the jump on a gloating Garrett. He handcuffs the lawman to a post, encouraging him to stick to his original yarn rather than admit having been left helpless by the Kid. As Billy starts to ride away, he stops and looks back; Rio runs to join him and they gallop off together on the roan.
Critical reception[edit]
Brog's review of the film in Variety in 1943 claimed "Beyond sex attraction of Miss Russell's frankly displayed charms, picture, according to accepted screen entertainment standards, falls short".[10] In 1946, Herb at Variety said it was "full of surprises. First is that it is so bad." The film's worst point was deemed to be its slowness and Russell and Buetel's performances were described as amateurish. The dialogue, direction and music were all felt to be cliched.[1] After finally getting to see the film in 1947, The New York Times called it "a strictly second-rate Western, long and tedious and crudely acted for the most part, a great deal more soporific than swashbuckling". They said of Russell that while "undeniably decorative in low-cut blouses, she is hopelessly inept as an actress."[34]