Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Hellbent for Letterbox | The Outlaw (1943)



Pax and I discuss the weird relationships and mega misogyny of Howards Hughes and Hawks' The Outlaw. It's Billy the Kid vs Doc Holliday with Jane Russell and a horse as the prizes (and Pat Garrett kind of crying in the corner with a gun in his hand).

Also: Pony Express mail and quick reviews of The Undertaker and Hombre Rosa comics and the movie Three Godfathers (1936).









3 comments:

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

I'm with Pax, there a plenty of movies that I've watched over and over so that I can "get it" this time. (Acquired tastes like "Blade Runner" come immediately to mind)

If you'd like to learn more about Howard Hughes and Jane Russell here's a great little podcast about the making of The Outlaw.

http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/youmustrememberthispodcastblog/ymrt-18-the-many-loves-of-howard-hughes-chapter

Michael May said...

Oh that's cool! I need to give that a listen.

Jack Tyler said...

DISCLAIMER: I have not seen The Outlaw, and having listened to every word of your podcast, I don't intend to. That said:

Maybe they're all supposed to be anti-heroes...

Back in the day, sex was implied by odd camera work. Looking at the wall seems a bit off, but if you'd been big movies watchers even in the 50s and 60s, you'd have spent a lot of time looking at clouds, waves, and trains going into tunnels, and wondering what the point was if you were a little kid...

Did Billy and Doc ever meet? Arizona and New Mexico share a border, and I have found a rumor that they played cards together once. Seems like if those two were in a card game, one would have shot the other...

As to historical characters, my preference is to either make the movie about them, like Tombstone, or have them as background characters who maybe have one scene where they nudge the plot a little, then go back to running their card game, or whatever they're doing in town. To have them all milling around and interacting with no historical context seems cheap and contrived to me, like you're using their fame to pimp your movie.

And that's my two cents. Great job, guys. Having grown up in the heyday of the western, I love this series. Keep up the good work!

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