★ 6 / 10
With the Confederacy defeated in the American Civil
CinemaSerf
With the Confederacy defeated in the American Civil War, the feisty “Belle” (Gene Tierney) has to juggle the largely unwanted attentions of Yankee major…
With the Confederacy defeated in the American Civil War, the feisty “Belle” (Gene Tierney) has to juggle the largely unwanted attentions of Yankee major “Crail” (Dana Andrews) with her desire to help rebel captain “Starr” (Randolph Scott) stay out of his clutches. That doesn’t go so well, and though he manages to escape it means her grand mansion house is reduced to ashes in punishment. This just drives her further into the arms of “Starr” whom she duly marries and whom, together with some other like-minded spirits, decide to make Missouri as unwelcoming for the blue-coats as they can. Their considerable success attracts a few unsavoury characters which disturbs “Belle” as she is fighting for a principle, and that doesn’t include robbing (or worse) innocent civilians. “Starr”, on the other hand, sees it all as fair game if it damages their enemy. So what is to become of their marriage, and their love if they can’t compromise? Some of the “Robin Hood” elements of this work at times, and Tierney can’t be accused of playing half-measures, but Scott and Andrews just don’t deliver well at all. I always found Scott a little too weak around the knees, so as a nasty - even for a cause - he just doesn’t cut it. This routine feature also reminds you just how important the second string actors were for this genre, and without a Brennan, Bond or McLaglen figure to enliven and characterise it, this is all a bit sterile.
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★ 7 / 10
"I like doing fool things, don't you?"
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…
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.
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38%
AUDIENCE
· 100 ratings
5.7/10
1.2K
