All Movie Guide

Perhaps Hollywood's greatest success du scandal of the 1940s, this odd psychological Western became a box office hit largely thanks to the costuming of leading lady Jane Russell (or, more accurately, its relative absence). Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel) and Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) are close friends until lawman Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell) attempts to ambush Billy and put him behind bars. Doc brings Billy to his ranch to hide out, but when Billy meets Doc's mistress Rio (Russell), he's instantly attracted to the buxom beauty. An intense chemistry quickly grows between them, despite the fact that Billy murdered Rio's brother. Billy and Rio secretly marry, but their love runs hot and cold, and soon Billy, Doc, and Rio are fighting among themselves as they're chased through the desert by Garrett and his posse. Director Howard Hawks and screenwriter Ben Hecht both worked on The Outlaw, but they went uncredited after disputes with the legendarily difficult financier (and sometimes producer/director) Howard Hughes, whose battles with the censors resulted in the film spending three years on the shelf before finally gaining wide release in a cut version in 1946. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 096009008291
• Source: PLATINUM DISC
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
• Presentation: B&W
• Language: English
• Time: 2:03:00
• Sales Rank: 14,826

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Western Gunfighters
• Great American Western 1
• Great American Western, Vol. 9
• Great American Western 1
• Great American Westerns 1
• Hollywood Westerns Classics
• Angel & the Badman/the Outlaw/King of the Cowboys
• Western Classics: 100 Movie Pack
• Hollywood Western Collection
• American Classic Western Collection

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