Belle Starr (1941)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Irving Cummings

Writers:

Niven Busch (story) and
Cameron Rogers (story) ...

Release Date:

12 September 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Filmed in TECHNICOLOR in the "Jesse James" Country

Plot:

The setting is the Civil War and its aftermath. Belle's family has lost their land to Yankees. She marries...

Plot Keywords:

Guerilla | American Civil War | Beautiful Woman | Outlaw | Character Name In Title

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	Sam Starr
Gene Tierney	...	Belle Shirley, later Belle Starr
Dana Andrews	...	Major Thomas Grail
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Ed Shirley (as John Shepperd)
Elizabeth Patterson	...	Sarah
Chill Wills	...	Blue Duck
Louise Beavers	...	Mammy Lou
Olin Howland	...	Jasper Tench
Paul E. Burns	...	Sergeant (as Paul Burns)
Joe Sawyer	...	John Cole (as Joseph Sawyer)
Joe Downing	...	Jim Cole (as Joseph Downing)
Howard C. Hickman	...	Colonel Thornton (as Howard Hickman)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Colonel Bright
James Flavin	...	Sergeant
Charles Middleton	...	Carpetbagger

Also Known As:

Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In 1950, 20th Century Fox reissued this film on a bill with Guadalcanal Diary (1943) and The Purple Heart (1944).

Quotes:

Jasper Tench: Stealin' what's yours ain't stealin'.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of the Hollywood Western (1994) (TV)

An Interesting Epic Worthy Of A DVD Release

Okay, so it's not exactly a subtle attempt at cloning "Gone With The Wind" - it's all too transparent at times. Yes, it's dated, from a liberated perspective,(but remember the era that it's set in, as well as the time in which it was produced)with some excruciating dialogue. But it has its redeeming virtues, entertainment value and deserving of a DVD release after years of obscurity on channels that us civilians can't afford to add to basic peasant vision.

A dramatized, sanitized account of the most notorious female outlaw, who rode alongside such notables as Jesse James, it boasts gorgeous cinematography in Techincolor, a good musical score, and wonderful costumes. Whenever Randolph Scott is associated with a project, you know it will be a decent western.

However, the best relationship in the film is the one that exists between Belle Starr and Major Thomas Grail, the Yankee commander and childhood chum who must bring her to justice in spite of his deep love for her. It is the sparks between the beautiful Gene Tierney and the handsome Dana Andrews that really makes this movie, preceding the film noir classic "Laura" and two later collaborations.

The gorgeous, fiery Belle Shirley (Gene Tierney) sympathizes with the Southern rebels, so much so that she even helps Captain Sam Starr (Randolph Scott) hide from the Yankee forces in Missouri by letting him stay in her home after he is wounded.When the Yankees discover this, they set her house aflame and burn it to the ground. Defying them, she joins Starr and his followers at their secret hide-out and begins assisting them in robberies and raids, chasing Carpetbaggers and running afoul of the Yankees. The bandit queen and her outlaw lover marry and continue with their Confederate cause. But only when things get far too dangerous does Belle realize that death may be too high of a price to pay for what she so immensely believes in. Sam Starr insists that there be one more dangerous escapade, after agreeing to give up his personal vendetta. This leads to tragic consequences when Belle unwittingly puts herself in the line of fire, placing her own life in jeopardy.

The low-life drunkard, Jasper Tench, who expects the much emphasized reward money for killing Belle Starr only gets disdain and hatred from the townsfolk having deprived them of their heroine, and Starr turns himself in, and both he and his enemy, Grail, grieve over the woman they both loved.

I found the age difference between Scott and Tierney distracting (going by what I remember, as I haven't seen the film in years), and also obvious is the battle that Tierney has with the accent that she assumes throughout the film. I know people having been complaining about the racist elements throughout the movie (as with GWTW),but I like to think of it as a lesson on how things have changed. Chill Wills is in fine form as one of the rebels, Shepperd Strudwick (billed as John Shepperd)is quite good as Belle's rather ill-fated brother Ed, while Louise Beavers (best remembered from her role in John Stahl's 1934 version of "Imitation Of Life")does a good turn as Mammy Lou, although her performance doesn't hold a candle to Hattie McDaniel's portrayal in GWTW.

It's a good movie, and it's nice to watch and a good substitution if you're not in the mood to indulge in a three-and-a-half hour epic.

Note to FOX: as you are releasing many of your older films on DVD, do likewise with "Belle Starr"!! Don't leave this and many other gems to rot away in the studio vault!!!!