Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Console best movie i've ever seen.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

JohnHowardReid 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.

classicsoncall The movie opens with a young black girl finding a muddy doll in a cultivated path that her grandfather just furrowed in a family garden. When the grandfather relates that it might have belonged once to a legend named Belle Starr, he's asked to explain what a legend is. He states that it's 'the prettiest part of the truth'.Unfortunately, the movie never even gets to any part of the truth regarding the life of Belle Starr, pretty or otherwise. The title of the film is apparently taken from a Richard K. Fox novel of the same name, a writer and publisher of the National Police Gazette, so right there one's sources are questionable. At least the principal players had credibility in other pictures, in this one they're doing the best they can under the circumstances. Gene Tierney in particular, portraying the title character, comes across as unusually sarcastic and whiny. That may not have been her own fault as the director obviously had some input into the role, but it had a negative effect on this viewer.Utilizing piecemeal aspects of American Civil War history, the film introduced elements from the real life of Belle Starr, but that's about it. In reality Sam Starr was a Cherokee Indian and was actually Belle's second husband; they lived in Indian Territory and were eventually arrested by Bass Reeves for horse theft in 1883. Both served time, and oddly, Belle was a model prisoner for the nine months she served at the Detroit House of Corrections.The picture did get a few things right; Belle Starr did ride sidesaddle and did marry Sam Starr (Randolph Scott). Two characters introduced in the story as the Cole Brothers (Joe Sawyer and Joe Downing) were obviously based on two members of the James-Younger Gang, brothers John and Jim Younger. That was established when it was mentioned they once rode with Quantrill's Raiders during the Civil War. The death of Belle Starr is also dealt with accurately, she was killed in an ambush in 1889, though her murder remains unsolved with various theories offered.There are a handful of TV and movie Western treatments of Belle Starr, but the only other one I've seen is an episode from 1954's "Stories of the Century", it was actually the premier episode. That one presented Belle as a horse thief and all around bad girl, while Sam was a shiftless drinker and gambler, a lot closer to the truth than this movie suggests. In that story, Belle Starr is portrayed by Marie Windsor in a better considered casting decision.

counterrevolutionary OK, this film wants us to sympathize with southerners who took to banditry after the Civil War. So what evil and disgusting Yankee devilry do they show us? A check-suited carpetbagger telling black people they can--gasp!--walk on the sidewalk and sit on the front porch, and a lot of happy black folks celebrating their new freedom.Oh, well, you can understand, then. Blacks on the sidewalks?! God help us! Keep your powder dry, boys! I normally deprecate the simple-minded practice of holding the art of other eras responsible to our standards of political correctness, but I don't care--that's just plain foul.Of course, it's not completely racist; there are decent black folks in evidence, too: they are the ones who sympathize with their oppressors and help them fight those lousy carpetbaggers who want to let them sit right on the front porch where anybody can see them! It's been a few years since I saw *Gone With the Wind*: was it this hamhandedly bigoted in its treatment of blacks? It's s shame, because one you get past the overt racism, this is actually a pretty good movie, with one of Randolph Scott's better performances.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This film is technically very up to date even though it is from 1941. It is an expensive color production, trying to stay on the wake of Gone With The Wind. Where the film aged considerably is on the script which is either patronizing in relation to Afro Americans or downright racist like when it shows Randolph Scott scaring carpetbaggers out of Missouri. Gene Tierney with a heavy southern accent is very good as Belle and so is Randolph Scott as Sam Starr. It is very rare to see Scott in a romantic part and he comes out great. It is curious that they show the three Younger brothers with a different surname, Cole. That is quite a direct reference to Cole Younger, yet they changed the names. Dana Andrews is the Union Major Grail who is in love with Belle but places duty above everything. "Belle Starr" has aged but it is still an interesting film to see.