The Outlaw
About The Outlaw
Sheriff Pat Garrett welcomes Doc Holliday to Lincoln, New Mexico, where Doc finds his stolen strawberry roan with Billy the Kid. Billy and Doc become friends, which cools Doc and Garrett. Rio, out to avenge a brother Billy killed, is raped by him, then nurses him after Garrett's bullet and claims a secret marriage. Doc keeps the horse. Garrett kills Doc, and Billy handcuffs Garrett and rides off with Rio on the roan.
Cast & crew
More about The Outlaw
Howard Hawks started the film and Howard Hughes replaced him, also replacing cinematographer Lucien Ballard with Gregg Toland. Hughes produced. Jack Buetel plays Billy, Jane Russell plays Rio, Walter Huston plays Doc Holliday, and Thomas Mitchell plays Garrett. It premiered on 5 February 1943 at the Geary Theatre in San Francisco. United Artists put a shorter version out in 1946.
Themes
Background
The Code fight ran from the 1943 San Francisco premiere through the 1946 reissue and the 1949 cuts that restored the seal.
Making
Russell's part, Rio McDonald, was her first film. Hughes hired her after one audition. Twentieth Century-Fox backed away from a release deal, and the picture sat until the 1946 United Artists dates.
Look
Gregg Toland took over the camera from Lucien Ballard after Hughes replaced Hawks.
Music
Victor Young composed the score.
Preservation
The 1943 cut is listed at 121 minutes. The 1946 release is about 115, and 1949 cuts were made to regain the Production Code seal.
Notes
- The Production Code office ordered about 40 feet cut over the way Russell was photographed. The Code seal was revoked in September 1946. Further cuts in October 1949 got the seal back.
- New York fought the film with license threats. Pennsylvania required its own cuts.
- A 1946 release runs about 115 minutes, six minutes under the 1943 version.
- Hughes had a cantilevered bra built for Russell. She did not wear it. She padded her own bra.
- Later ads billed Russell alone. Victor Young wrote the score.
- Ben Hecht and Jules Furthman are among the writers, with Hawks.
Scenes
- Doc finds his stolen roan with Billy, and the two stop fighting.
- Rio nurses Billy and claims a secret marriage. Doc keeps the horse.
- Billy handcuffs Garrett and leaves with Rio.
