User Reviews

That's not something that you normally hear a mother saying to their child, but in this case, it's Belle Starr, and she's not no ordinary mother. In fact, right after this, torches fly through their window, and she's burnt out of her house along with her son. Elizabeth Montgomery continues her choices of playing not so ordinary women, having won acclaim as Lizzie Borden, and now taking on the part of the greatest female outlaw of all time, that is prior to Bonnie Parker and Ma Barker. Her son (David Knell) is very worried about her, telling her "You're all I've got", and she responds to him with the only tenderness she knows how to give. There are no excuses given for why Belle does what she does, and that's a relief. Usually, claims of Injustice or in women's cases ill-treatment by men cause them to break the law, and here, she's happily married to Fred Ward who doesn't want to be involved in her rough riding with the James and Younger brothers.

The young girl playing her daughter being raised in town is played by Michelle Stacey whom audiences will remember as the young girl who takes her coffee black in "Airplane!", and it's hard not to say her line from that classic when Montgomery is visiting her foster mother, Sarah Cunningham, who brings her coffee. Stacey has a penchant for singing "Yes Jesus loves me" when she's troubled, so you know she won't be following in her mother's footsteps, unlike what a B western called "Belle Starr's Daughter" try to make audiences believe.

I take these Western Bandit films all with a grain of salt because so many Legends have been passed down you never know what's the truth, but at least this one doesn't try to sugarcoat who Belle Starr was. Montgomery only instils enough humanity inside her so she's not a complete monster, with Cliff pots as Cole Younger, Michael Cavanaugh as Jesse James and Geoffrey Lewis as the local Reverend who doesn't hesitate to use violence to force her out. Not classic in the terms of a great western, but enjoyable enough to get at least a partially true glimpse into the life of a woman who dared to live a man's life in a rough new world.

Oh my God, I LOVED this TV movie. And above all because it is inspired from actual events, and in the most accurate, faithful way, if you compare with films such as the Irving Cummings one, starring Randy Scott and Gene Tierney, about which I won't say it's crap, but to...

Well, back to this one, I find this piece of work exquisite and the Liz Montgomery absolutely outstanding as a strong and poignant woman, both in the same time. A real gripping tale, with also a good characterization. This could have made a powerful big screen movie. There are not enough films like this one, such a shame. In the same kind of female lead character for a western, seek CALAMITY JANE, made in 1984.

A real must see.

Some films don't make much of an impression. Watch them and they spend a few days in your short-term memory but are soon forgotten. The 1980 production of BELLE STARR is not that kind of film. It stays in your long-term memory, because of Elizabeth Montgomery's fantastic performance.

There had been a 1941 feature film with Gene Tierney playing the famed outlaw. Jane Russell also took a turn in a later effort. But Miss Montgomery's interpretation is much grittier; and it is clearly a continuation of the roles she took to distance herself from the Samantha Stephens image of Bewitched.

As Belle she's a woman who likes danger. She rides with Cole Younger, the James Brothers and other gunmen. And when she aims her rifle she means it.

Interestingly this version was produced by Hanna-Barbera, a company known for animation projects. There's extensive outdoor filming, and the attention to period detail is outstanding. Cliff Potts, who costarred in an earlier film with the actress, is cast as Cole; and it is revealed that he is the father of Belle's youngest child, which historians would probably dispute.

In fact there are several liberties taken with actual details of the main characters' lives. But I think the general sense these were kindred spirits who marauded and reveled together is fairly accurate.

There's a feminist angle to this story I enjoyed very much. The Belle in this picture sees the prim and proper townswomen for the hypocrites they are. Ironically, she is forced to entrust the care of her daughter to one of the stuck-up women who intends to turn the girl against her. Belle's motives are always pure with her daughter. And she's more of a woman than those snobs will ever be.

Meanwhile, Belle has a son, and he's just as dangerous as she is. Belle's relationship with her son is depicted in a somewhat incestuous way. Again, not sure if historians would agree with the various liberties taken...but it provides us with plenty of drama to watch unfold.

There are two particularly effective scenes. One is when locals burn Belle's farm to the ground in an attempt to drive her from their community. She carefully surveys the damage and knows what must be done.

Then there's the final scene where Belle's dramatic death is depicted. After encountering trouble during a robbery, she returns to the farm to find her son. As she dismounts, ties her horse and goes inside the house, she is unable to find him.

She is still looking for the boy moments later when an unknown assailant is heard approaching off-camera, shoots and kills Belle. It is left ambiguous who her murderer might be. Did her son shoot her? It's a powerful ending for a woman whose life of crime comes to a sudden end.