User Reviews

Montana Belle - 1952

Considering the cast and crew involved, I was very surprised just how bad this film was. We have Jane Russell, Forrest Tucker, Scott Brady, Ray Teal, George Brent, Andy Devine, John Litel and Jack Lambert in front of the camera. With the normally competent Alan Dwan and Jack Marta behind the camera, I was expecting a much better product.

It is a real mishmash about Belle Starr running with the Dalton gang. It starts out silly and just gets worse as it goes. The cast just looks downright embarrassed. The actors do their best but the very silly story leaves them little room to shine. Jack Lambert as a Indian at least gave me a few chuckles.

The film was shot in 1948 by Republic Pictures and shelved by them. That should have warned me right there. Four years later RKO bought it and gave it a release. They should of burned it.

There are a few nice outdoor shots by veteran cinematographer, Marta. Marta did much better work on, FLYING TIGERS, THE PLUNDERERS, RIDE THE MAN DOWN, DUEL AT APACHE WELLS and CAT BALLOU.

A decade after Jane Russell made her film debut in Howard Hughes' "The Outlaw", she's back in a Western as an outlaw herself. The real Belle Starr was a horse thief and all around bad girl, but teaming her up in this picture with the Dalton Gang was a figment of Hollywood's imagination like so many other Western movie treatments. Even the composition of the Dalton Brothers was botched in this one, there was no Ben Dalton, as the brothers who rode together as outlaws were Emmett, Bob and Gratham, Grat for short.

This is a curious story, as Belle Starr's allegiance to the Daltons, and particularly Bob (Scott Brady), is tested along the way through misunderstanding and duplicity. As the owner of the Bird Cage Saloon in Guthrie, Oklahoma, Tom Bradfield (George Brent) is enlisted by authorities to set up the Dalton Gang for arrest, but those plans go awry when the Dalton Brothers are beaten to the punch by Belle and the non-family members of the gang. Belle winds up half owner in The Bird Cage, and Bradfield begins courting the outlaw in what seemed like an ill fated romance, but as odd as it seems, Belle winds up siding with the saloon guy.

As for Belle Starr's turn as a singer at the Bird Cage, well I don't know, it seemed like she stepped right out of character and frankly, Russell's performance seemed a little embarrassing to me. Don't get me wrong, she looked great in the outfits she wore but her body tempo seemed more suited for the 1950's than the 1880's. She did a much better job in another film that came out the same year, "Son of Paleface" opposite Bob Hope in a comedy Western. She cut quite the impressive sight in her all black outfit, adding significant nuance to the name of the Dirty Shame Saloon.

In the final analysis, this picture either on purpose or inadvertently managed to portray the Daltons as the kind of bank robbers they were in real life, because as outlaws, they just weren't very good. They failed in their robbery attempt that closes out this story, which had some of the earmarks of the infamous Coffeyville, Oklahoma raid that ended their careers in 1892, leaving both Grat and Bob Dalton dead. What was kind of cool though was the closing subliminal tribute paid to Jane Russell's character from her very first picture. As the story ends she recreates her classic reclining pose from "The Outlaw" that's familiar to anyone who's seen that film. It's even used as the photo image for that movie right here on IMDb; check it out.

My review title names the two incarnations of Jane Russell's character: a gorgeous androgynous version of historic Oklahoma outlaw moll Belle Starr, and classy saloon femme fatale singer Montana, supposedly from Butte, in this complicated , rather short, western. No, the real Belle Starr didn't ever have an association with the Daltons, although she apparently knew the Youngers and James in her early life. That doesn't bother me. This clearly isn't intended to be a biographical treatment of either. Russell's Belle is a tough crack shot outlaw, who sometimes rides to holdups dressed as a man. She soon acquires her own little following in handsome Mac( Forrest Tucker) and wooden Cherokee Ringo(Jack Lambert). Although the Daltons rescued her from an imminent lynching, after the murder of her outlaw husband, Belle and her associates more often pull their own jobs, and are at odds with the Daltons. This complicates things, because both Bob Dalton and Mac have designs on marrying this recent widow, causing several altercations between them.

Meanwhile, saloon owner Tom Bradfield(George Brent) has struck a deal with a bank insurance company for a reward if he captures the bank robbing Daltons(who are blamed for many of the heists by Belle's gang).Bradfield hatches a plan to induce the Daltons to steal money from his saloon safe, sending henchman Pete(Andy Devine) to suggest a plan for the Daltons. They swallow Bradfield's plan, trusting Pete. Meanwhile, Belle learns about this, and plans her own heist, timed just before the Dalton's. Unfortunately, it turns out to be too close in timing, and the two groups interfere with each other, resulting in two largely busted holdups. So, Belle hatches another scheme to get into Bradfield's safe. She dawns a blond wig and 'gay '90s' high fashion outfit and walks into Bradfield's establishment('The Bird Cage'), looking for a job. After winning a huge amount in gambling, she accepts Bradfield's offer of a half share in his business in exchange for her winnings. Bradfield recognizes Montana as being Belle, but doesn't let on because he hopes her presence will somehow aid his pursuit of the Daltons, and because he has a romantic interest in her. Rather reminding us of Marilyn Monroe, with her blond wig, she sings two numbers: the extensive "The Gilded lily", and the first verse of the strange '90s song "My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon"(One line of the second verse was probably too racy for the then censor board.) The romance between Bradfield and Montana continues to heat up, resulting in a 3 way scramble for Montana's romantic attention. Things get more complicated, but I won't reveal the details. Unlike many westerns, it's not real clear from rather early in the story how things are bound to play out in the end.

A scruffy Andy Devine has an interesting role as a sort of double agent go between the various groups, hoping to be paid for information about the others or to deliver a suggested plan of action concocted by another. George Brent was in the declining years of his lengthy Hollywood career, thus relegated to mostly B pictures. Forrest Tucker gives some additional class to the outlaw element.

Although it has some clear B picture elements and the color print I saw on Encore Westerns is poor, the presence of Jane and a complicated plot make this film sufficiently interesting to warrant a recommendation. True, the ending is a bit bizarre.

Jane was featured in two other straight westerns: the infamous "The Outlaw", released a decade earlier, and the subsequent "The Tall Men", with Clark Gable, as well as two popular western spoofs: "The Paleface" and "Son of Paleface", with Bob Hope. The present film is much the least known of these. It's also the shortest, at 84 min. vs. around 2 hrs. for "The Outlaw" and "The Tall Men". Nonetheless, quite a bit of story and action is packed into this time. Jane is given a much more complicated role than in these other films. Although it's given a rather low mean rating at this site, about equal to that of "The Outlaw", there are currently 70 IMDb reviews for the latter film vs. only 4 for this film. There is even a recent colorized version of "The Outlaw", currently a rare privilege for old B&W films! Apparently , provocative scenes of busty young women still sells films! In the present film, she's a tough cookie, who's in no hurry to encourage a successor to her late husband. In spite of this attitude, Bob Dalton and Mac have a ferocious tussle in a barn, with Jane above in the loft, over rights to encourage Jane to change her mind. Later, they have another fight in a more public setting.

This was one of a rash of films released in the early '50s that featured a feisty woman of a bygone era in a role traditionally reserved for men only. This includes "Anne Get Your Gun", "Calamity Jane", "Comanche Territory" and "Against All Flags".