Montana Belle | |
---|---|
Directed by | Allan Dwan |
Screenplay by | Horace McCoy Norman S. Hall |
Story by | M. Coates Webster Howard Welsch |
Produced by | Howard Welsch |
Starring | Jane Russell |
Cinematography | Jack A. Marta |
Edited by | Arthur Roberts |
Music by | Nathan Scott |
Production company | Fidelity-Vogue Pictures |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release dates | |
Running time | 82 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1 million (US) [2] |
Montana Belle is a 1952 American Trucolor Western film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Jane Russell. It is one of several fictionalized movies about outlaw Belle Starr. The story is set in Oklahoma, where the real Starr was killed. The word "Montana" in the title refers to the part of the plot in which Starr, wanted by the law, alters her appearance, poses as a widow from Montana and becomes a saloon singer.
Oklahoma outlaw Belle Starr meets the Dalton gang when she is rescued from lynching by Bob Dalton, who falls for her. So do gang member Mac and wealthy saloon owner Tom Bradfield, who's enlisted in a bankers' scheme to trap the Daltons. Dissension among the gang and Bradfield's ambivalence complicate the plot, as Belle demonstrates her prowess with shootin' irons, horses, and as a saloon entertainer.
Shot between late October and late November 1948, this film was intended to be issued by Republic Pictures. In April 1949, Howard Welsch, who had produced the movie for his company, Fidelity Pictures, sold the negative to RKO for $875,000, about $225,000 above the picture's cost. Finally, this Western obtained a Manhattan debut at the Broadway Palace Theatre on November 7, 1952.
Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr, better known as Belle Starr, was an American outlaw who gained national notoriety after her violent death.
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