Bela e Bandida

Montana Belle which probably at best started out to be an average B western product from RKO got to Howard Hughes's attention because it starred his protégé Jane Russell. This make believe account of the famous female outlaw Belle Starr got cut and recut and edited down to a mess of a story if you're looking for coherency. The film was made in 1948 and released in 1952 and that's always bad news.

Like Jane's first feature, The Outlaw, certain western legends who never in real life met up with each other, have dealings in the Hollywood west. In The Outlaw, it's the Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid story rewritten to have Doc Holiday's participation. In Montana Belle, Jane as Belle Starr is rescued by Bob Dalton played by Scott Brady. But later when she mistakes a doublecross she forms her own gang with Forrest Tucker and Jack Lambert as a most stereotypical Indian.

In the meantime another guy with his hormones in a tizzy over Jane's titanic weaponry is George Brent, gentleman gambler and owner of the largest liquor&gaming establishment in Guthrie, Oklahoma. He's going to reform Jane and separate her from her disreputable outlaw companions. Nice work if you can get it.

You can't say too much about the story, Howard Hughes muddled this one, the same as he muddled, The Outlaw, Jet Pilot, and My Forbidden Past. One thing he didn't do for which we can thank the Deity is that he didn't cut Jane's number, The Gilded Lily from the film. It's definitely the best thing about Montana Belle.

But over at Republic they were shooting westerns with all their B stars that had more coherent plots than you see here.

And what an amazing cast too for a western which the topic reminds the early fifties Warner ones, starring Randolph Scott, speaking of mythic figures of western. A western that also looks like a Republic Pictures movie, maybe because of the presence of Forrest Tucker. But Scott Brady, Jack Lambert - very impressive - are also worth enjoying in this fast paced, colorful action western. George Brent was not useful of westerns and the result is rather good. But Jane Russel steals the show, because of her amazing performance. Trucolor has rarely been so great in a western, but that's my own opinion.

Jane Russell plays a (very) fictionalized Belle Starr. (Going off contemporary photographs the real Belle Starr looked closer to Ernest Borgnine), also Jane gets away with being disguised as a man during a holdup!! You can see we are not talking reality here.

Originally filmed in color, most prints now available are black and white. Jane does a couple of not bad (and rather racy) musical numbers that are a little out of place and appeared to have filmed at a different time. It seems as though cuts may have been as the plot gets a little muddled sometimes and now and again we get the impression we are entering scenes in progress.

After completion this movie was held up for a few years before distribution, which is usually a bad sign. In this case though it seems no worse than many of the second string westerns produced in the forties.

Okay with popcorn and if you're in the right mood.

This horrifically bad movie would be less laughable if they had taken the time to shoot on location that did not betray the Sierra Mountain range in the background, despite supposedly taking place in Oklahoma. Also on full display way too often is Jane Russell's block chin and vulgar underbite. Film making 101 states to NEVER reveal your star's bad angles.

Belle Starr (Jane Russell) gets saved by Bob Dalton (Scott Brady) and joins the Dalton gang. Saloon owner Tom Bradfield (George Brent) falls for her when she takes on the alias Montana Belle. He and others are plotting to take down the Dalton gang.

Belle Starr was a real person who was associated with the James-Younger Gang and others. This movie barely recognizes the truth. At first, I am intrigued with Jane Russell doing the rough horse riding bandit, but she is not doing much more than fill out the outfit. Then her character turns into a blonde bombshell. This is a messy melodrama inside of a B-western. I was hoping for a big action stunt scene to save this. At last, it ends with some shooting and not much else.