El proscrito

Highly anticipated. Hyped to the hilt. Howard Hawks directs with the aid of Howard Hughes. This western depicts the relationships between Billy the Kid(Jack Buetel),Doc Holliday(Walter Huston) and Sheriff Pat Garrett(Thomas Mitchell). Cowboys, Indians and gun play are not the main feature...the debut of Jane Russell is! This movie was filmed in 1941, but it took two years to pass the censors due to the shameless display of Russell's ample assets(36D). Aircraft pioneer Hughes actually designed the bra that helps showcase Russell. This is also Buetel's debut; but Huston is the one to prove his screen greatness. Probably the first sex western. Of course the fade outs leave a lot to the imagination. Worth the ballyhoo.

In all my many years (80) on this planet, I have never seen a movie that comes close to challenging ones senses as "The Outlaw". With both Doc and Pat vying for the friendship of Billy the kid, this seems curious. Then when Doc shoots a chunk out of both Billy the kids ears, with no apparent pain or bleeding, wonderment begins as if to say, "this is really a cartoon," wherein no one really gets hurt or bleeds. Finally, at the tormented conclusion, when Billy the kid starts to ride off, stops, turns in his saddle to look back at Jane wherein she gives him a stupid look, then smiles and jumps on the back of the Kids horse and they together ride off. The end follows and not a moment too soon. What a goofy movie!

There are films that are great, films that are not so great, films that are bad...and then there are films that are so bad, so grandly misconceived, one can only gape in wonder or roar with laughter (or both) at their foolishness. Thus an awful film can sometimes provide more entertainment than many good films. (THE DEVIL BAT, starring Bela Lugosi, comes to mind.) Watched THE OUTLAW on DVD the other night with some friends, and we were falling off the couch. I'd always heard there was a homoerotic subtext to the picture, but this was no subtext -- gay porn must be more subtle than this film! Walter Huston's Doc Holliday (or Halliday -- I've seen it spelled both ways in regard to this picture) is CLEARLY the stud, Billy is a petulant young hustler who piques his interest (despite his having stolen the older man's cherished horse!), and Thomas Mitchell's Pat Garrett (Doc's "oldest

friend") seethes with jealousy throughout until he degenerates into the very apotheosis of a passed over, frantic, shrieking old queen. "You're not going with him! Everything was fine between us till he came along!" It has to be seen to be believed. Hilarious! The film's musical score is the worst -- THE WORST -- I've ever heard. There's less Mickey-Mousing in a Three Stooges short. So I recommend this one highly for parties. I guarantee a laugh riot. The thought of the great cinemotagrapher Gregg Toland (CITIZEN KANE) laboring on such camp trash is depressing, but he did give the film a fine look.

And run for the hills is exactly what Howard Hawks did after Howard Hughes couldn't keep his hands off the production. Mr. Hughes or someone took over direction and gave us the finished product which is a mess but a lot of fun just the same.

The build-up of Jane Russell (no pun intended) was one of the great publicity moves in film history. That famous shot of her lolling around on a bale of hay with her famous chest falling about was enough to entice most red-blooded males to this film And she didn't disappoint as Rio, the girlfriend of many, faithful to none. Throw in Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday (where did he come from?) and you've got a mix of relationships that vies with "Brokeback Mountain" for male bonding. And just for the hell of it, add some Indians which cause our heroes to embark in a cloud of dust across the landscape.

I found Jack Buetel (or Beutel) a rather attractive actor in a wispy kind of way. Jane Russell's chest probably weighed more than he did. Unfortunately he never recovered from this film outing and sank into oblivion This film is about as coherent as a Marx Brothers romp but not nearly as intentionally funny. The whole thing is contrived, there's a lot of talk, talk, talk, and if there is some underlying message, I missed it. BUT, you have to see it for the camp value......it's really more fun than it should be. Maybe Mr. Hughes meant it that way. On second thought, I guess not.

Outlaw, The (1943)

** (out of 4)

Notorious Western had to battle the Hayes Office for two years before eventually getting released where it ended up battling more censorship issues but a certain pair at least got people into the theater. Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) has a falling out with Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell) after he sides with Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel). Billy and Doc become friends and head off but they are soon battling over a woman (Jane Russell) as well as constantly having Garrett trying to track them down. The aspects of this that were shocking in 1943 are pretty much tame and dated by today's standards but what I found so shocking about THE OUTLAW is how poorly made it was and how many awful things here in it. I don't mind the changes in history that the film made but for the life of me I couldn't understand what Hughes was trying to do with this thing other than to show off Russell's big breasts. I found the screenplay to be a complete mess as it never seems to know what it wants to do or what type of story it wants to tell. Is it meant to be a real Western? If so why are there so many silly moments? Was it meant to be a silly comedy? Well, that's fine but if so why on Earth were there so many darker moments? The movie contains one of the worst scores in Hollywood history as the thing is embarrassingly bad. The thing is over dramatic when there's nothing going on in the scene and sometimes the score is so loud and over-the-top that you can't even hear the dialogue. The film has also become legendary due to the homosexual aspect of the story. Again, I'm not certainly a love triangle between Billy, Garrett and Holliday is what Hughes was going for but that's how it comes off. I'm going to guess this is just part of the film being poorly made because at times the three men seem to be flirting more with one another and just letting Russell be on her own. The film has some really weird and out of touch comedic moments including various sound effects that happen during times when something serious or dramatic is going on. As far as the performances go, Huston comes off the best as he at least seems to be trying to give a performance. Buetel has no personality and comes off very stiff and appears to be bored. Mitchell was a fine character actor but he's miscast here and is never believable in the part. As far as Russell goes, she certainly looks beautiful and I enjoy the fact that Hughes wanted to show off her certain parts but he didn't give her much of a chance to act as she's simply used as eye candy. Hughes direction is all over the place and in the end he delivers a pretty big turkey. I understand this movie having a cult following due to its reputation and troubled history but for the life of me I can't understand some of the positive reviews I've read.