THE OUTLAW (1943) Howard Hughes' Western Classic Starring Jane Russell

Howard Hughes' Most Daring Production "The Outlaw" (1943)
Western legends Pat Garrett, Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid are played against each other over the law and the attentions of vivacious country vixen Rio McDonald. Starring Jane Russell in her film debut!Show more

Cast:
* Jack Buetel as Billy the Kid
* Jane Russell as Rio McDonald
* Thomas Mitchell as Pat Garrett
* Walter Huston as Doc Holliday
* Mimi Aguglia as Guadalupe
* Joe Sawyer as Charley
* Gene Rizzi as stranger who tries to trick Billy
* Dickie Jones as boy (uncredited)
* Edward Peil Sr. as Swanson (uncredited)
* Lee Shumway as card dealer (uncredited)

Written by: Jules Furthman, Howard Hawks & Ben Hecht

Howard Hughes produced the film, and Howard Hawks served as an uncredited co-director. The film is notable as Russell's breakthrough role to becoming a sex symbol and Hollywood icon.

Notes (From Wikipedia):

After the film was completed in February 1941, Hughes faced difficulty obtaining approval from the Hollywood Production Code Administration because of the film's display of Russell's breasts. The Code office ordered cuts, and Hughes reluctantly removed about 40 feet, or a half-minute, of footage that prominently featured Russell's bust. However, 20th Century Fox wished to cancel its agreement to release The Outlaw as a result.

Facing the loss of millions of dollars, Hughes sought to create a public outcry for his film to be banned. Hughes had his managers call ministers, women's clubs and housewives, informing them about the purportedly lewd film soon to be released. This caused the public protests and calls to ban the film for which Hughes had hoped in order to establish a demand for the film's release.

The film opened February 5, 1943 at the Geary Theatre in San Francisco on a reserved seat, upped scale basis, without the Hays office purity seal but with the Production Code seal of approval.

The Outlaw was rereleased by United Artists in the first week of March 1946 at the Loew's theatre in Richmond, Virginia where it set a house record for the weekend. Six minutes were cut for the rerelease.

The film faced further challenges with its advertising, which wasn't approved by the Motion Picture Association, and in September 1946, the film's seal of approval was revoked. As United Artists were not members of the Association, they didn't have to cease distribution. These issues limited the number of theatres where it could play and, by the end of its run in 1947, it had earned UA $2.5 million.

In 1948, RKO, now owned by Hughes, acquired distribution rights. Further cuts were made to secure the Production Code seal of approval in October 1949. It opened over the 1950 New Year holiday in 21 theatres and performed well in its opening. There was an additional rerelease in 1952. By 1968, the film was reported to have grossed $20 million.

Hughes sued Classic Film Museum, Inc. and Alan J. Taylor for unlawful distribution of Hell's Angels, Scarface and The Outlaw. When it emerged that The Outlaw had fallen into the public domain in 1969 for lack of copyright renewal, the case was settled, with Classic Film Museum agreeing to stop distribution of the two copyrighted titles and Hughes withdrawing his claim on The Outlaw.

The film is presented in it's original black and white version for entertainment and historical purposes.

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