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The Story. Plot of The Outlaw starts with Gunman Doc (Walter Huston) arriving in a Western town to find his old friend Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell) has gone straight, is now a sheriff. Doc reports that his favorite horse, Red, has been stolen, and the horse is discovered in th° possession of Billy the Kid. Doc's first impulse is to recover his horse. But he realizes Billy can beat him to the draw, and decides to bide his time.
The time thus gained makes possible the arrival of Jane Russell. Her role: Doc's girl friend, a half-breed moron called Rio. When Billy is shot by Sheriff Garrett as he resists arrest for a killing, Doc comes to the rescue, takes Billy to Rio's home. Rio nurses the Kid back to health.
From this point on The Outlaw scurries pell-mell toward the inevitable day when Billy and Rio ride off astride Red, the horse, into the phoniest Hollywood sunset yet photographed.
The audience, politely embarrassed, sat quietly for some time, the critics exchanging incredulous stares as the picture grew steadily cornier. Finally the audience broke down utterly, laughing at serious scenes, groaning at funny ones. And they guffawed when Rio, intent on nursing wounded Billy, gets undressed, with the announced intention of getting into bed with him to warm him because there are not enough blankets.
As Billy the Kid, young Buetel acts like a high-school second lead. Walter Huston does perhaps his greatest acting, not a little of which lies in his ability to convey to the audience that he thinks the whole thing is impossibly bad. Thomas Mitchell's friends were sorry for him.
Obvious, corny, overdrawn, melodramatic as The Outlaw is, it may do business. The critics hedged their bets a little: they know that many a bad picture has been profitable. But of the critics who saw the first showing, only one (Hearstpapers' Louella Parsons) thought it good. The general impression was that Red, the horse, stole all the honors.