The Outlaw

I have seen this 'film', "The Outlaw", on a number of occasions. Frankly, I don't understand what all of the hubbub is about. The film is absolutely dreadful. Great talent (Walter Huston and Thomas Mitchell) is wasted in this film with an 'identity crisis'. It doesn't know if it wants to be a western, or a romance, or a comedy. Maybe it did introduce Jane Russell to the screen, but that appears to be the only justification for making this celluloid nightmare. Her acting talents are virtually non-existent, though she looks good. Jack Beutel is forgettable as 'Billy the Kid', and he gives an un-inspired performance that is something far beyond lackluster. One gets the feeling he is reading his lines 'cold' from cue cards. The film moves very slowly, is not particularly well written ( despite its hightly acclaimed screenwriter credits), is dreadfully acted, and is a very difficult watch, almost the equivalent of Chinese Water Torture. Fortunately, the film never takes itself seriously. And it's a good thing. It isn't the kind of film to be taken seriously !! I would recommend that it be shown in maximum security prisons as a substitute for lethal injection ! The film stunk then, it still stinks, and if it's part of film history, it isn't one of the high points, and the student of film needn't spend too much time here. The creative Victor Young music score and the innovative cinematography of Gregg Toland make the film watchable, but aren't enough to salvage this dreadnaught. Hughes shouldn'a had'da ought'a done it !! He should have hired a REAL director to crack the whip, and he should have taken the gag and handcuffs off of the writer and restored him to his artistic creativity. This didn't happen. Instead, some of the best talent of the period--both in front of and behind the camera--is wasted, and what masquerades to some as film history is seen by this writer as 'Film Misery'!!