The Outlaw main backdrop
The Outlaw main poster

The Outlaw

Visit website

5.4/10 • 97

1943-02-051h 56m

WesternDrama

Tall.... Terrific.... and Trouble!

Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage. Doc is trailing his stolen horse, and it is discovered in the possession of Billy the Kid. In a surprising turnaround, Billy and Doc become friends. This causes the friendship between Doc and Pat to cool. The odd relationship between Doc and Billy grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girl Rio's place after Billy is shot.

Directors
Howard Hughes
Editors
Wallace Grissell

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Jack Buetel

    Jack Buetel

    Billy the Kid

  2. Jane Russell

    Jane Russell

    Rio McDonald

  3. Thomas Mitchell

    Thomas Mitchell

    Pat Garrett

  4. Walter Huston

    Walter Huston

    Doc Holliday

  5. Mimi Aguglia

    Mimi Aguglia

    Guadalupe

  6. Joe Sawyer

    Joe Sawyer

    Charley Woodruff

  7. Gene Rizzi

    Gene Rizzi

    Stranger

  8. Bobby Callahan

    Bobby Callahan

    Boy (uncredited)

  9. Martín Garralaga

    Martín Garralaga

    Mike the Waiter (uncredited)

Reviews2

View Reviews
Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Dec 23, 2021

5/10

Once notorious, now surreal, cornball and amusing In 1881 New Mexico, newly-appointed Sheriff Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell) is upset after Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel) comes to Lincoln and essentially steals his good friend, Doc Holliday (Walter Huston). After Billy is wounded, Doc drops him off with his girlfriend, Rio (Jane Russell). While she has reason to hate Billy, the opposite happens. Eventually the four are forced to team-up to escape some hostile Mescaleros before having a showdown. Shot in late 1940 and early 1941, “The Outlaw” was directed by the exceptional Howard Hughes with uncredited assist from Howard Hawks and Jules Furthman. It wasn’t released until 1943 due to censorship problems that required cuts & revisions and more widely rereleased in 1946-47. Due to the ballyhoo over it being "offensive to decency" it ended up setting records almost everywhere it was shown. The uproar was apparently over sultry Jane Russell, who got the role after a nationwide search by Hughes for a busty actress, and mostly the sexual innuendo between her character and Billy the Kid. Ironically, when it was reissued to theaters in 1976 it was given a ‘G’ rating. Speaking of Jane’s buxomness, Hughes & his aircraft engineers designed a special cantilevered bra to enhance her bust, but she admitted in her 1988 autobiography that she secretly never wore it because it was too uncomfortable, yet this flick was the reason the famous bra was designed. Ignoring the hullabaloo, what about the movie itself? Is it a worthy Western? Yes and no. Yes, because of Walter Huston’s charismatic performance as Doc Holliday and Jane’s pouty beauty (she looks like the sister Elvis never had). The movie can be entertaining if you acclimate to its corny surrealism, but the way the characters shift from mortal enemies to bosom buddies is jarring, yet amusing if you can roll with it. Meanwhile Thomas Mitchell is noticeably too old to play the role of Pat Garrett (who was only 31 in real-life when Billy was shot). It’s worth checking out for the reasons noted, but don’t expect the greatness of early Westerns like “Stagecoach” (1939), “Buffalo Bill” (1944) and “Duel in the Sun” (1946). The film runs 1 hour, 56 minutes, but there are also shorter versions, not to mentioned colorized ones, which I recommend unless you don’t mind B&W. It was shot at Red Rock Canyon State Park, Cantil, California, with studio work done in Los Angeles and second unit work done in New Mexico and Arizona (Tuba City & Yuma). GRADE: C

Media

  • The Outlaw poster
  • The Outlaw poster
  • The Outlaw poster
  • The Outlaw poster
  • The Outlaw poster
  • The Outlaw poster
  • The Outlaw poster
  • The Outlaw poster
  • The Outlaw poster

Recommendations

  • Wonderland main backdrop

    Wonderland

    6.1

  • Trapped main backdrop

    Trapped

    6.2

  • The Tall Men main backdrop

    The Tall Men

    6.3

  • The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid main backdrop

    The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid

    5.7

  • The Man with the Golden Arm main backdrop

    The Man with the Golden Arm

    7.2

  • The Sin of Harold Diddlebock main backdrop

    The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

    6.3

  • No Backdrop

    Water, Wind, Dust

    5.7

  • No Backdrop

    The Killing Field

    6.6

  • Drums in the Deep South main backdrop

    Drums in the Deep South

    5.4

  • Nowhere to Run main backdrop

    Nowhere to Run

    6.4

  • Runaway Bride main backdrop

    Runaway Bride

    6.1

  • Clerks main backdrop

    Clerks

    7.4

  • Winchester main backdrop

    Winchester

    5.9

  • Planes main backdrop

    Planes

    5.9

  • Guess Who main backdrop

    Guess Who

    6.0

  • They Live main backdrop

    They Live

    7.3

  • Cinderella main backdrop

    Cinderella

    6.8

  • The Handmaiden main backdrop

    The Handmaiden

    8.2

  • Wonder Woman main backdrop

    Wonder Woman

    7.2

  • The Willoughbys main backdrop

    The Willoughbys

    7.1

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$3,400,000.00
Revenue
$5,075,000.00
Keywords
sheriffdoc hollidayblack and whitelgbtgay theme