"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.
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.