Belle Starr

source: Belle Starr

Copyright 12 September 1941 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 31 October 1941. U.S. release: 12 September 1941. Australian release: 4 March 1943 (sic). 7,834 feet. 87 minutes. SYNOPSIS: A heavily romanticized account of a Missouri-Oklahoman horse thief and companion of outlaws. Belle Starr never lived in any sort of mansion, grand or otherwise, and was too busy stealing and low- living to have any truck with the South. She didn't even meet Sam Starr until long after the Civil War had ended. Starr himself was a bandit. When he was shot to death, she married Blue Duck. NOTES: One of the most popular films Fox ever released in Australia. Although it came in at 6th spot for Australia's top ticket-sellers of 1943, Fox kept the film in constant re-issue throughout the 40s and 50s. It even played four or five times at Greater Union's revival flag-ship, the Lyric. COMMENT: Beautifully photographed Civil War Saga, handsomely mounted, sympathetically scripted, directed with insight and acted with flair. Although Randolph Scott receives top billing, his role is comparatively small. It is Gene Tierney who captures most of the audience's attention with her spirited portrayal of the title role. Also, she is superbly costumed and she figures prominently in all the plot's most memorable incidents. The pace is fast and the Civil War atmosphere comes across strongly. OTHER VIEWS: It's easy to distinguish the work of the two photographers. Rennahan did all the beautiful and meticulously-lit studio work with its lustrous close-ups and luminous shadows, while Palmer did the less interesting exteriors (one marvelous shot with the riders coming against the lightening sky) . Cummings' direction is more stylish than usual (RR's influence?). Though the film presents some laughable racial stereotypes and a plot that allows nothing to chance so far as the viewers' intelligence is concerned. Every explanatory point is underlined thrice (and thus the movie is inclined to be over-talky), but it's lavishly costumed and staged. Parallels with GWTW are obvious. Though a spin-off from that film, it was itself to spawn a whole host of imitators in which Belle was not quite the goody-two-shoed victim of history as depicted here. Tierney's performance lacks the conviction that her looks inspire and Scott makes too charming a villain, but Shepperd Strudwick is surprisingly convincing, while Dana Andrews has a made-to-order role. Support cast headed by Olin Howland (of all people) also scores strongly. The film has an ironic denouement which is rather unique (doubtless it influenced Steinbeck's Viva Zapata). — John Howard Reid writing as George Addison. Unusual action story filmed in Technicolor tells extraordinary exploits of woman bandit of American post Civil War period — the female Jesse James of her day. This film gives star rating to up- and-coming personality Gene Tierney. Randolph Scott, John Shepperd, Dana Andrews, Louis Beaver (sic), Elizabeth Patterson head the cast, and Irving Cummings directs. — Fox publicity.

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!

"What's a legend?" a little girl asks her grandfather at the start of Belle Starr. "A legend is the best part of the truth," he answers before explaining the legend of the famed female outlaw. I love everything about this western, including the thoughtful, touching script. The scenery is great, the story is exciting (especially for those who don't know about Belle Starr), and the acting is top-notch. How many times are you going to see Randolph Scott cry in one of his westerns? I've seen fifty of his movies and only seen tears three times. Gene Tierney is a vision, so delightful, vivacious, and beautiful it's no wonder she was a top tier actress for the next ten years. This was only her third movie, but her screen presence feels like she's a Hollywood veteran. She's wild, tough, yet remarkably feminine. When you watch her in this movie, you realize what a crying shame it was that she wasn't discovered just one year earlier to play Scarlett O'Hara. She plays a Southern belle turned outlaw in this western, angry because her family lost everything in the Civil War. Teamed up with fellow outlaw Randolph Scott, they fall in love. Dana Andrews is a military man on a mission to catch the bandits. But as soon as he sees how beautiful Gene is, he falls for her, too! Including Louise Beavers as the "Mammy" role (since she's a superior actress than Hattie McDaniel, she could have easily been in the 1939 classic), and Shepperd Strudwick, Elizabeth Patterson, and Chill Wills in the supporting cast. I highly recommend this classic. It's not often there's a female lead in a western, and Gene Tierney is fantastic.

This film is so offensive that I can't even begin to judge it cinematically. Willful shallow southern belles are were over done mid-20th century. I kept hoping a stray bullet would hit Belle. Slaveholders are so heroic. Yeech. And slaves loved being slaves too. I DVR'd this film because of Dana Andrews - one of my favorite actors. I guess until Laura he didn't have much choice except taking these thankless roles. Except for his duty as a northern major, he seemed to be sympathetic to the "southern cause". I hope that all the actors were ashamed of this film 30 years later.

How many westerns have there been about the life of Belle Starr? For that matter who knows that much about her real life? I remember seeing this film as a youngster and fell in love with it. I have always liked civil war films and 20th Cent. Fox put together a very good cast in the 1941 version. Gene Tierney plays the bandit queen very well, despite forcing herself to use a phony southern accent throughout the film. Randolp Scott is resplendent as captain Sam Starr, a renegade who rounds up bunch of confederate soldiers near the end of the civil war to stir up trouble in post war Missouri. Scott hates carpetbaggers and yankee soldiers in equal amounts and has no problem raiding banks and railroads for booty. Along the way he meets up with Belle Starr, who finds Scott very brave. Belle Starr is a fiery southern belle and when the yankees burn down her home because she is caught harboring Captain Starr, she joins forces with the rebels in her hatred against the transplanted Yankee forces sent to Missouri to clean out the "rebel rabble". An odd love twist forms when her childhood friend, Dana Andrews, a yankee captain, fights to conceal his true feelings for her and his hatred against Sam Starr and his rebel friends. Along the way Scott and Tierney become married and continue raiding and chasing out carpetbaggers out of Missouri. The twosome become a Missouri legend, much to the anger of the yankee forces trying to capture them. Jasper Tench, a town misfit and drunk, shoots and kills Belle Starr near the end of the film, sending Scott into surrendering to the yankee forces. Good scene at end when Scott surrenders to Andrews and both men nearly lose their composure in sadness over Belle's death. Belle's "mammy", played by Louise Beavers in a good supporting role adds a touch of warmth and comfort to Belle throughout the film. Good performances by Chill Wills as a redneck southern soldier, and John Shepard who plays Belle's brother, Ed. You might get teary eyed at the end of this film. Excellent western.

Tierney does fine opposite an uninspired Randolph Scott as the fiery Belle Starr. Her scenes with Andrews have far more electricity and pick the film's pacing up midway through. A veteran supporting cast gives their all for the cause, or is that causes? The movie, of course, takes generous liberties with actual history, but that's part of the fun in this one.

Although the true story of Belle Starr is fictionalized, the history of Yankee abuse in post-Civel War history is right on target. Missouri was NOT a Confederate state but they were still cursed with uppity and self serving Yankee officers, carpetbaggers, and other scum whose actions would assure the unofficial Civil War would continue to flow blood well into 1882 and beyond. Belle Starr begins by making the point of how Yankee actions impoverished the black population, as the legend of Miss Belle is told by an aged black man, trying to eek a living out of the ruins of Belle's burnt plantation, told to his granddaughter. When Belle is found to have helped a wounded Southerner, Union hothead (Dana Andrews is stuck with this role) takes out her sexual rejection of him by burning her home to the ground. Belle soon vows to spill Yankee blood for the remainder of her life, and with he aid of Sam Starr (Randolph Scott) she does just that. Gene Tierney was said by Daryll F Zanuck to be the most beautiful woman to ever appear in the movies, and who would disagree. Filmed in the glorious and now long-gone 3 strip Technicolor, Miss Tierney as well as the countryside are just gorgeous. Incidentally, Technicolor cameras of this era weighted hundreds of pounds and were half the size of an automobile; thus we're spared the hyper and jump-around camera work that are the curse of 2000 to 2010's awful movies. Hollywood today is completely confused as to what to do about showing black people in movies about the 19th century. By PC standards, slaves, if any, must be like those in Spielberg's false Amasted. Filmmakers in the early 1940's had no idea they were supposed to comply with the empty-headed prejudices of 2010. Courage is not Hollywood's strong point, so Belle Starr is supposedly confined to the Fox vault -- but you can find it if you try hard enough.

Scarlett diminished away from Tara. The red earths of the farm was from where she drew her strength. Therefore, the pale, fickle imitation of "Belle Starr" cannot thrive off Margaret Mitchell's legendary story. It takes every crumb it can scavenge off David O. Selznick's story, and possibly every frame that ended up on the cutting room floor. The film stoops to terribly low lengths. Belle loses her brother, Scarlett lost her Mother. The Mammie character. Southern determination. It's civil war setting is enough to make the entire laughable production, conceived in a studio bound setting definitely not one to be watched. Although the "Gone With the Wind" novel, brilliant but appalling racist, manages to steer clear of the controversial offence it may have triggered, "Belle Starr" seems to relish in it. Trimmings, interior sets, costumes, Gene Tierney or no Gene Tierney, seem to save it. The colour cinematography is no doubt pretty, but Randolph Scott and Dana Andrews acting like hams in the background certainly provides no aid to Belle's crusades. Hundreds of Scarlett O'Hara hopefuls did better away from the splendour in different roles, but Gene Tierney's attempt to reprise some of the 1939 glory, falls overwhelmingly and pathetically flat. Stay away from this one...far, far away. Minor, unfriendly, unconvincing FOX Westerns do terrible things to the stomach. Rating: 5/10

That's an actual line of dialog from the script. Really. The Belle Starr story, never actually told in the movies (partially because the real story isn't that interesting..) is told here in early Hollywood color and all the vim and vigor with which they revered the South. The plot hook is that one of the aforementioned "darkies" actually tells the fable as the narrator. Without spoiling the movie, Belle and her husband continue fighting after the War Against Treason, using those traditional Civil War Southern values of robbery, assassination, treason and protecting known criminals to keep Missouri safe for, well,the same people it was safe for before the War. Hey, it works in the movie. The point made by vitaleralphlouis in his review is well taken. How dare we criticize Hollywood for showing how a loving mammy would help keep Belle safe, or that another "darkie" (their word, not mine) shows Belle's antagonist how disgusting he was. We all know that negroes formerly held as slaves had nothing but love for their former (or in this case present) slaveowners. This is a classic example of a movie obviously made with care, but looked at today 99% of its viewers would wonder what was in the coffee they served at the story-pitching conference. Because even as a joke, this kind of movie could never be made again, and if there's one good thing you can say about Hollywood, that's it. Oh, and by the way: a moment of silence for black actors like Louise Beavers who could only find work like this in her era.