A Pistoleira de Virginia

Had I been able to view "The Belle Star Story" at the time of its 1968 release I assume that I would have seen a much better film or at least some story-telling that was possible to comprehend; what with good film stock and the original Italian audio track (with English subtitles).

What I just saw instead was a fourth generation analog video recording burned to an American Pop Classics DVD with no closed captioning. With such poorly dubbed English audio that about every third word was unintelligible. The video resolution and contrast was hopeless and the only clear images were the extreme close-ups.

The film was jointly made by Piero Cristofani and Lina Wertmüller, both essentially second unit directors, what with Lina just starting out and a few years away from her 1970's masterpieces.

Unlike the standard busty and fleshy Italian actress of the 60's, Elsa Martinelli was tall, thin, and classy. Somebody for which you could effortlessly suspend disbelief just to adore and lust after. And from the promotional photos you can appreciate how sizzling she was in her tight black leather outfit and gun belt. And she wears that trademark costume for much of the film although the spectacle suffers considerably from the poor video quality. For some reason they made her into a Marianne Faithful clone with red hair and freckles. Surprisingly it is a good look for her and she compares favorably with Faithful - coincidentally also clad head to toe in tight black leather in the 1968 release "The Girl on a Motorcycle" for which there are some decent quality DVD's available.

Otherwise "The Belle Star Story" is basically a cross between "The Legend of Frenchie King" (1971) and "The Doom Generation" (1995); both stylishly incomprehensible.

This is the legend of outlaw Belle Starr and how she became the West's most wanted - and desired woman . The career of Wild West outlaw Belle Star is chronicled in this strange , offbeat Spaghetti Pastiche about lawlessness and violence . Belle Star (Elsa Martinelli) is a female bandit with an itch to ride with other Western legends . She makes her way around the Old West , usually wearing male garb . This Southern belle joins forces with a drifter named Larry Blackie (George Eastman) commencing a long and troubled relation . She refuses his advances but eventually falls for him after a poker game . In the intervining period of the movie is taken up by long flashbacks to Belle Starr's past , his family life , as she is an orphan adopted by her nasty uncle (Vladimir Medar) , as well as her particular relation with another sympathetic desperado named Cole Harvey (Robert Woods) . Bandit Queen & Desperadoes Who Killed For Her!. Her Name Was A Proud, Fierce Challenge Flung Defiantly At The West! Into the Cimarron Badlands came a new west queen!

This film dubbed in English concerns this known heroine and her love/hate relationships with two friends/lovers : George Eastman as Blackie and Robert Woods as Cole . This is a highly romanticized retelling with thrills , adventures , shootouts , violence with sexual agression and little connection with history . Here Belle Star is decently played by Elsa Martinelli as a vulnerable and embittered woman who is on the receiving end of society's injustices and his evil uncle who wants to marry her to an aging , ugly man . Here there is a peculiar relation in ups and downs between Elsa Martinelli/Belle with George Eastman/Blackie and another similar , on-again, off-again , between Elsa and Robert Woods/Cole . Trio starring : Elsa Martinelli , George Eastman , Robert Woods give acceptable interpretations , being well accompanied by regular Westerns secondaries as Bruno Corazzari , Bruno Piergentili or Dan Harrison , Vladimir Medar and Remo De Angelis.

There are various adaptations based on this historical character : ¨Belle Star¨1941 by Irving Cummings with Gene Tierney , Randolph Scott , Dana Andrews ; this is the best rendition in which the setting is the Civil War and its aftermath , Belle's family has lost their land to Yankees, then she marries Confederate guerilla leader Sam Starr and they continue activities against exploiters until she is shot riding to alert Sam to a trap and she unites a Confederate guerrilla leader to raid Union towns . ¨Belle Starr's Daughter¨ (1948) by Lesley Selander with George Montgomery , Rod Cameron , Ruth Roman . ¨Belle Starr¨ (1980 TV Movie) by John A. Alonzo with Elizabeth Montgomery , Cliff Potts as Cole Younger , Michael Cavanaugh . And this ¨Belle Star¨ 1968 , the only Spaghetti Western ever shot by a woman, Lina Wertmüller , who directed competently this oater and under pseudonym, Nathan Wich .

The film is freely based on Belle Star , the actual events are the following ones : Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr (February 5, 1848- February 3, 1889), better known as Belle Starr, was an American outlaw who gained national notoriety after her violent death. She was a known bandit who joined other outlaw legends, the James gang, the Youngers and the Dalton boys . She associated with the James-Younger Gang and other outlaws. She was convicted of horse theft in 1883. She was fatally shot in 1889 in a case that is still officially unsolved. Her story was popularized by Richard K. Fox - editor and publisher of the National Police Gazette - and she later became a popular character in television and films. Allegedly, Belle was briefly married for three weeks to Charles Younger, uncle of Cole Younger in 1878, but this is not substantiated by any evidence. There are numerous claims that Belle's daughter Pearl Reed was actually Pearl Younger, but in Cole Younger's autobiography (quoted in Glen Shirley's "Belle Starr and her times"), he discounted that as rubbish and stated what he knew truly of Belle.In 1880, she married a Cherokee man named Sam Starr and settled with the Starr family in the Indian Territory. There, she learned ways of organizing, planning and fencing for the rustlers, horse thieves and bootleggers, as well as harboring them from the law. Belle's illegal enterprises proved lucrative enough for her to employ bribery to free her colleagues from the law whenever they were caught .On February 3, 1889, two days before her 41st birthday, she was killed. She was riding home from a neighbor's house in Eufaula, Oklahoma when she was ambushed. After she fell off her horse, she was shot again to make sure she was dead. Her death resulted from shotgun wounds to the back and neck and in the shoulder and face. Legend says she was shot with her own double barrel shotgun, tohugh murder goes on unsolved. Although an obscure figure outside Texas throughout most of her life, Belle's story was picked up by the dime novel and National Police Gazette publisher Richard K. Fox, who made her name famous with his novel Bella Starr, the Bandit Queen, or the Female Jesse James, published in 1889 . This novel still is cited as a historical reference. It was the first of many popular stories that used her name.

"The Belle Starr Story" (1968) is, to my knowledge, the only Spaghetti Western ever directed by a woman, Lina Wertmüller (who was the first female to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Direction, for "Seven Beauties" [1976]). This fact somewhat overshadows this frankly bizarre movie that should probably be seen by fans so they can say at least "I've seen it!".

The screenplay by Piero Cristofani is merely passable: Belle Starr (Elsa Martinelli) meets Larry Blackie (a fine George Eastman) during a card game, commencing a love/hate relationship coming to a head when both try and steal a diamond shipment from right underneath the noses of the Pinkertons.

The middle of the film is taken up by long flashbacks to Belle Starr's past (which feature the ever reliable Robert Woods. He was originally going to have more screen time than he does, but he fell out with Wertmüller and thus his role was shortened); these are good scenes, but they rather unbalance the film and put the pacing off. The acting is mostly good, with Bruno Corazzari doing wonders in his small role. The direction is, like the cinematography and editing, solid but not inspired. Over all, an interesting oddity in the harsh desert of Spaghetti Westerns that aficionado's will want to watch.

Bit of a strange one and something of a curate's egg although on balance I liked it. The only spaghetti western directed by a woman and, I believe the only one starring a woman, also. Elsa Martinelli was in her 30s when she made this and altogether made over 60 films, including, funnily enough, Vadim's Blood and Roses that I only watched the other day. I think it is probably poor dubbing but she does not have the assurance she needs here and tends to come over a little hysterically at times. Fortunately the very solid George Eastman is here to save the day. Bit sexy and some particularly strong violence towards the end, this wavers a bit and is not helped by the oft repeated love song and its lilting romanticism.

If you buy the "Wild East" DVD for the fine film, "Black Jack", you can skip this second feature, "The Belle Star Story", altogether. It is a real mishmash of poker games, flashbacks, sexual tom foolery, outrageously inappropriate makeup, sexual teasing, forgettable gunplay, and the like. The fact that it was directed by a woman, shows how the west might have looked through female eyes, but the audience is men, and they will be bored beyond belief with "The Belle Star Story." Believe me this is a real snooze fest, and the story is not only not believable, but beyond boring. I feel sorry for George Eastman and Robert Woods being dragged through this loser of a "Spaghetti Western." Not recommended. MERK.