Belle Starr

Belle Starr (1941)

She Was a Wonderful Sweetheart...But a Terrible Enemy!

After her family's mansion is burned down by Yankee soldiers for hiding the rebel leader Captain Sam Starr Belle Shirley vows to take revenge. Breaking Starr out of prison, she joins his small guerrilla group for a series of raids on banks and railroads, carpetbaggers and enemy troops. Belle's bravado during the attacks earns her a reputation among the locals as well as the love of Starr himself. The pair get married, but their relationship starts to break down when Sam Starr lets a couple of psychotic rebels into the gang, leaving Belle to wonder if he really cares about the Southern cause.

Date of release
1941-09-12
TMDB
5.9 / 10 (17)
Runtime
1h 23m
Genres
Western
Director
Irving Cummings

Casting

Interesting facts

Belle Starr is a 1941 American Western film directed by Irving Cummings and produced by Kenneth Macgowan for 20th Century Fox. It stars Gene Tierney as Belle Starr, alongside Randolph Scott, Dana Andrews, and Shepperd Strudwick. The screenplay by Lamar Trotti is based on a story by Niven Busch and Cameron Rogers, adapted from Rogers's 1927 article and subsequent book Gallant Ladies.

Background

The film was produced by 20th Century Fox in response to the success of MGM's Gone with the Wind (1939). Styled as a romanticized Technicolor biopic, it portrayed the life of Old West outlaw queen Belle Starr, born Myra Maybelle Shirley on February 5, 1848, near Medoc, Missouri. While Starr's exploits with outlaws such as the Younger Brothers and Jesse James are legendary, little in the film corresponds to historical accounts.

The project was inspired by an article titled "Belle Starr, the Gadfly of the South," written by Cameron Rogers and first published in Pictorial Review in February 1927, later included in Rogers's book Gallant Ladies. 20th Century Fox acquired the story rights and employed screenwriters Harvey F. Thew, John L. Balderston, and Sonya Levien for treatments or outlines, although their contributions to the final script are unclear.

Initially, Roy Del Ruth and Alice Faye were set to direct and star, respectively, but both were reassigned to other projects. Actress Gene Tierney was ultimately cast in the title role after extensive auditions involving other stars such as Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, and Paulette Goddard. During production, Tierney suffered from angioedema, which delayed filming, forcing the studio to shoot around her absence.

The film was shot on location in Missouri and Southern California, including Joplin, the Santa Susana Mountains, and the Iverson Ranch. It marked the first billing of actor Shepperd Strudwick as "John Shepperd", a change made by studio executives for marketing purposes. Publicity for the film included cross-promotional trailers with other Fox productions, though one featuring Tierney was ultimately not produced.

Legal disputes arose during production, including threats of litigation from Belle Starr's granddaughter, Flossie E. Hutton, over the depiction of her grandmother's life. The studio's actions regarding these claims are not documented. The film's title card described Starr as "The Bandit Queen", further emphasizing the romanticized approach taken by the filmmakers.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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