People are voting emotionally.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Tensions between Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and Doc Holliday reach boiling point as they vie for the affections of a voluptuous young woman in this western drama from Howard Hughes. The film is best known for being banned upon initial release due to the size of Jane Russell's bust, and many have denigrated it over the years, citing its historical inaccuracy, the admittedly poor music choices and Jack Buetel's bland performance as the Kid. All things considered though, 'The Outlaw' is a surprisingly decent motion picture. Russell brings a lot of zest and charisma to her role, cleavage aside, and the film is excellently visualised by the dynamite combination of Gregg Toland and Lucien Ballard. Interesting shots include Russell throwing a pitchfork towards the camera and gradual zooms in towards her eyes and lips at pivotal points. Academy Award winners Thomas Mitchell and Walter Huston also give it their all as Garrett and Holliday respectively, even if the script does not give them that much to do (it is more geared towards Buetel romancing Russell than Buetel squaring off with his co-stars). Whatever the case, this is a film worth a look for more than just Russell's bust.

When it comes to 1943's "The Outlaw" (produced and directed by Howard Hughes) - Would it be at all fair of me to say that (from a straight man's perspective) this film's only truly notable asset was, indeed, Jane Russell's "38D-24-36" measurements, and not her acting abilities?Yep. As shallow and sexist as that may sound, it's pretty much the truth. 'Cause as far as even coming close to being a marginally satisfying Western, "The Outlaw" just did not deliver the goods (regardless that its main character was the famed outlaw, Billy, the Kid).I mean, let's face it - "The Outlaw" was (and always will be) all about Jane's breasts. And, believe me, director Howard Hughes sure made damn certain that her cleavage-enhancing blouses revealed as much of her bountiful bosom as the censors would legally allow.Actually filmed in 1941, it took Hughes 2 solid years of battling with the censor board to allow "The Outlaw" to be released as it was (which was unbelievably tame by today's standards).As you can well-imagine, all of this legal wrangling with the censors over Jane's exposed cleavage did absolute wonders for this film as far as free publicity goes. Needless to say - When "The Outlaw" was finally released in 1943, the insatiably curious movie-goers literally lined up right around the block to get a cinematic-gander at Russell's more-than-ample boobs.

this movie really surprised me. nothing from this era of American movies was like this i've ever seen. you can not think of this as bad acting as some reviewers will say. you have to think of this as "true" acting: they are acting the way people act in real life. not the way we are used to seeing them on camera. this "kid" is like every hardass street punk with a horrible childhood i ever met. you can see the emotional depravity in his gaze on the other characters. his unflinching at being grazed across the hand and shot through the ears; as hard as a hardass can be. crying inside but not letting these people the satisfaction of knowing it. us just waiting for him to retaliate but him having the satisfaction of putting Doc through the heartache. the sexual tension and innuendos between jane and jack are more like modern movies than something from this era. i bet many people left disgusted and went and complained to their pastor they were "demonized" by this movie. many others probably wondered why other films didn't come so close to reality. not gay in any way. 'f' the homos just wishing it was.

When notorious outlaw Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) arrives in town, he is greeted with open arms by local sheriff and best friend Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell). It's not long before Holliday comes across Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel), who seems to be riding Holliday's horse that he had stolen from him in a previous town. Holliday however, takes a liking to the cocky Kid much to the annoyance of Garrett. When the Kid kills a man that pulls a gun on him first, Garrett shoots the Kid but Holliday escapes with him, taking him to Rio's (Jane Russell) place. Rio is Holliday's lady but as she is tending to his wounds, she finds herself unable to resist the Kid's charms.Multi-millionaire playboy and aviator Howard Hughes only made two films in his life (although he produced many more). I've not seen his first film, Hell's Angels (1930), which is a love-song to aviation, but this, an unconventional cross-genre western, shows his complete inexperience in the role of director. Apart from the blatant historical inaccuracies (which I'll forgive, given the film is clearly not striving for it), Hughes seems unable to decide what genre he wants the film to be. Is it a comedy? A drama? A romance? Who knows? One thing is clear, he is fascinated by Jane Russell's ample bosom. He felt that the film was not doing her breasts justice, and so he designed an early wonderbra that accentuated them. This generated lots of controversy, and led to the film only getting a limited release as it fell foul of the censors.Clearly, Hughes knows that Jane Russell's sexual appeal is all that the film has going for it, judging by the posters. Apart from the terrible script and dodgy pacing, the acting is absolutely woeful. Jack Buetel, clearly hired for his looks alone, has less charisma about him than the horses he rides on. In fact, the horses have more facial expressions. Jane Russell, who would go on to be a massive star, demonstrates none of her acting ability and feistiness that she would become known for. In fairness, she is given nothing to do other than bend over Buetel with her cleavage visible, and pout occasionally when required.The most confusing thing about this film is how Hughes expects us to like these characters. Pat Garrett is supposed to the 'bad' guy, jealous and furious over Holliday choosing to ride off with Billy the Kid. Yet as he pursues the Kid, who is by the way, a known thief and murderer, Doc Holliday shoots and kills many of Garrett's men. But somehow we are supposed to sympathise with Holliday and forget that he is a mass- murderer. It all plays out like some weird, homoerotic love story, with Garrett playing the jealous wife to Holliday's husband who has chosen to run off with Billy the Kid's younger, more exciting toyboy. The only female character of note, Rio, acts like a lost little girl who can't exist without a man's arm to lean on. The Kid treats her like s**t, and even tries to trade her for a horse, yet she remains enamoured with him, running after him when he 'allows' her to come with him. It's just a very strange, confused film. And also a very bad one.