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The Outlaw

 
The Outlaw

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The Outlaw



 
 
The Outlaw is a 1943
1943 in film

The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.EventsTop grossing films Awards16th Academy Awards*Bataan ...
 American
Cinema of the United States

United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, Classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period ....
 western film, directed by Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes

Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American aviator, industrialist, film producer and director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world....
 and starring Jane Russell
Jane Russell

Jane Russell is an American film actress and sex symbol....
. The supporting cast includes Jack Buetel
Jack Buetel

Jack Buetel was an United States film and television actor.Born Warren Higgins in Dallas, Texas, Texas, Buetel moved to Los Angeles, California, California in the late 1930s with the intention of establishing a film career....
, Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell (actor)

Thomas Mitchell was an United States actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of the father of Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life....
, and Walter Huston
Walter Huston

Walter Huston was an Academy Award-winning Canada-born American actor....
. Hughes also produced the film, while Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, Film producer and writer of the Classical Hollywood cinema. He died in Palm Springs, California, California, after a fall....
 served as an uncredited co-director. The film is notable as Russell's breakthrough role, turning the young actress into a sex symbol
Sex symbol

A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, Supermodel, teen idol, or sports star who is found to be sexual attraction by the public or by a substantial niche audience....
 and a Hollywood icon
Cultural icon

A cultural icon can be an , a symbol, a logo, picture, name, face, person, or building or other image that is readily recognized, and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group....
.

Production
Although the movie was completed in 1941, it was released to only a limited showing two years later.






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The Outlaw is a 1943
1943 in film

The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.EventsTop grossing films Awards16th Academy Awards*Bataan ...
 American
Cinema of the United States

United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, Classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period ....
 western film, directed by Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes

Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American aviator, industrialist, film producer and director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world....
 and starring Jane Russell
Jane Russell

Jane Russell is an American film actress and sex symbol....
. The supporting cast includes Jack Buetel
Jack Buetel

Jack Buetel was an United States film and television actor.Born Warren Higgins in Dallas, Texas, Texas, Buetel moved to Los Angeles, California, California in the late 1930s with the intention of establishing a film career....
, Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell (actor)

Thomas Mitchell was an United States actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of the father of Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life....
, and Walter Huston
Walter Huston

Walter Huston was an Academy Award-winning Canada-born American actor....
. Hughes also produced the film, while Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, Film producer and writer of the Classical Hollywood cinema. He died in Palm Springs, California, California, after a fall....
 served as an uncredited co-director. The film is notable as Russell's breakthrough role, turning the young actress into a sex symbol
Sex symbol

A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, Supermodel, teen idol, or sports star who is found to be sexual attraction by the public or by a substantial niche audience....
 and a Hollywood icon
Cultural icon

A cultural icon can be an , a symbol, a logo, picture, name, face, person, or building or other image that is readily recognized, and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group....
.

Production


Although the movie was completed in 1941, it was released to only a limited showing two years later. It did not see a general release until 1946. The delay was a result of Hughes defying the Hays Code, which set the standard of morally acceptable content in motion pictures. By showcasing Jane Russell's breasts in both the movie and the poster artwork, The Outlaw became one of the most controversial
Controversy

A controversy is a dispute, argument, discussion or debate featuring strong disagreements and opposing, contrary, or sharply contrasting opinions about an idea, subject, group or person....
 pictures of its time.

In 1941, while filming The Outlaw, director Howard Hughes felt that the camera did not do justice to Jane Russell's large bust. He employed his engineering skills to design a new cantilevered underwire bra
Brassiere

A brassiere is an article of clothing that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts.As well as an undergarment, the bra is considered a foundation garment because of its role in shaping the wearer's figure....
 to emphasize her assets. Hughes added rods of curved structural steel that were sewn into the brassiere below each breast. The rods were connected to the bra's shoulder straps. The arrangement allowed the breasts to be pulled upward and made it possible to move the shoulder straps away from the neck. The design allowed for any amount of bosom to be freely exposed.

Regardless, the emphasis on her breasts proved too much for the Hollywood Production Code Administration
Production Code

File:Code hays, cover.gifThe Production Code was the set of industry censorship guidelines, and the office enforcing them, which governed the production of Cinema of the United States from 1930 to 1968....
, which ordered cuts to the film. To obtain the Boards' required Seal of Approval, Hughes reluctantly removed about 40 feet, or a half-minute, of footage that featured Jane Russell's bosom. He still had problems getting the film distributed, so Hughes schemed to create a public outcry for his film to be banned. The resulting controversy generated enough interest to get The Outlaw into the theaters for one week in 1943, before being withdrawn due to objections by the Code censors. When the film was finally released in 1946, it was a box office hit.

Ironically, Russell later asserted that she never wore Hughes' bra, and that Hughes never noticed.

Even after Hughes did an "end-run" around the censors, the film was banned on a local level by several towns.

The film was colorized
Film colorization

Film colorization is any process that involves adding color to black and white, sepia tone or monochrome moving-picture images. The earliest examples date back to the early 20th century, but it has become easier and more common since the development of digital image processing....
 twice. The second colorized version, produced by Legend Films
Legend Films

Legend Films, a San Diego, California-based company, was founded in August 2001. The company specializes in the film preservation and Film colorization of classic black and white films for DVD, HDTV and theatrical release....
, was planned for release as of 2007.

Plot

The film revolves around a fictional relationship between Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday

John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an United Statesn dentistry, gambling and gunfighter of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O.K....
 and Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid

Henry McCarty , better known as Billy the Kid, but also known by the aliases Henry Antrim and William H. Bonney, was a 19th-century American frontier outlaw and gunman who participated in the so-called Lincoln County War....
 and their feud over a woman called Rio. The film also includes Pat Garrett
Pat Garrett

Patrick "Pat" Floyd Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent who was best known for killing Billy the Kid. He was also the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico....
, the Kid's nemesis.

Cast

  • Jane Russell
    Jane Russell

    Jane Russell is an American film actress and sex symbol....
     as Rio McDonald
  • Jack Buetel
    Jack Buetel

    Jack Buetel was an United States film and television actor.Born Warren Higgins in Dallas, Texas, Texas, Buetel moved to Los Angeles, California, California in the late 1930s with the intention of establishing a film career....
     as Billy the Kid
    Billy the Kid

    Henry McCarty , better known as Billy the Kid, but also known by the aliases Henry Antrim and William H. Bonney, was a 19th-century American frontier outlaw and gunman who participated in the so-called Lincoln County War....
  • Thomas Mitchell
    Thomas Mitchell (actor)

    Thomas Mitchell was an United States actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of the father of Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life....
     as Pat Garrett
    Pat Garrett

    Patrick "Pat" Floyd Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent who was best known for killing Billy the Kid. He was also the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico....
  • Walter Huston
    Walter Huston

    Walter Huston was an Academy Award-winning Canada-born American actor....
     as Doc Holliday
    Doc Holliday

    John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an United Statesn dentistry, gambling and gunfighter of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O.K....
  • Mimi Aguglia
    Mimi Aguglia

    Mimi Aguglia was an Italy actress. She was born on stage in Catania, Sicily while her mother, Giuseppina Aguglia, was playing Desdemona in William Shakespeare's Othello....
     as Guadalupe


External links

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