Many a Hollywood film has been sold with the promise of sex and violence but rarely as explicitly as this notorious 1943 Western produced and directed by Howard Hughes. The film was promoted with salacious pin-ups of Jane Russell in a tight, low-cut blouse, showing plenty of leg, and clutching a pistol at her waist. And--truth in advertising--Russell’s cleavage is blatantly on display in the film, while plenty of sexual activity is suggested just offscreen. But Russell is actually a supporting character in what turns out to be a romantic triangle between three men: Sheriff Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell), legendary gambler Doc Holliday (Walter Huston), and young gunfighter Billy the Kid (newcomer Jack Buetel), the latter riding into town on Holliday’s stolen horse, after which Doc ends up helping Billy escape from Garrett (all events that have no historical basis). The film was initiated by Hollywood great Howard Hawks, but Hughes took it over and started from scratch, much to the detriment of the film as Hughes’s direction is clumsy and the story suffers from stilted conversations and static scenes. The film’s reputation rests entirely on its blatant sexuality and barely concealed homoerotic undercurrent: Hughes shoots scenes between Billy and Garrett with the intimacy of a seduction and he photographs Russell being manhandled by Billy, bending over, and tied up and staked out in a scene straight out of a kinky bondage pin-up. The Outlaw is a bad film but an interesting historical curiosity. Extras include audio commentary by film historian Troy Howarth. Optional. (S. Axmaker)
The Outlaw
Kino Lorber, 116 min., not rated, DVD: $14.99, Blu-ray: $29.99 Volume 33, Issue 3
The Outlaw
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