Montana Belle is a 1952 American Trucolor Western film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Jane Russell and George Brent.
Contents
Plot
Oklahoma outlaw Belle Starr meets the Dalton gang when she is rescued from lynching by Bob Dalton, who falls in love with her, as do gang member Mac and wealthy saloon owner Tom Bradfield, who has enlisted in a bankers' scheme to trap the Daltons.
Cast
Jane Russell as Belle Starr
George Brent as Tom Bradfield
Scott Brady as Bob Dalton
Forrest Tucker as Mac
Andy Devine as Pete Bivins
Jack Lambert as Ringo
John Litel as Matt Towner
Ray Teal as Emmett Dalton
Rory Mallinson as Grat Dalton
Roy Barcroft as Jim Clark
Ned Davenport as Bank Clerk
Dick Elliott as Jeptha Rideout
Gene Roth as Marshall Ripple
Stanley Andrews as Marshall Combs
Hank Bell as Townsman (uncredited)
Iron Eyes Cody as Cherokee (uncredited)
Production
Shot between late October and late November 1948, the film was intended to be distributed by Republic Pictures. In April 1949, Howard Welsch, who had produced the film for his company, Fidelity Pictures, sold the negative to RKO Radio Pictures for $875,000, about $225,000 more than the film's budget.
Release
The film premiered at the Palace Theatre in New York on November 7, 1952.
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Howard Thompson called the film "the most overstated Western of the year" and wrote: "The picture strikes no new sparks, even with Miss Russell masterminding a gang of smitten desperadoes ... In a half-hearted attempt to turn a sow's ear, producer Howard Welsch has sprayed a fuzzy, garish color process over the cast and scenery. Allan Dwan's direction is lackadaisical and familiar. And the script, by Horace McCoy and Norman S. Hall, rattles with so many hand-me-down clichés that even diehard horse opera fans are apt to pine for the unvarnished vehicles of William S. Hart. At any rate, Miss Russell shares his jawline but precious little else and R. K O. has displayed her accordingly."