This Day in History - 4 November 2013

This Day in History – November 4, 1946

One of Hollywood's most infamous films finally shows up in Vancouver, five years after it was finished

JOHN MACKIE

THE VANCOUVER SUN

            Howard Hughes completed his film The Outlaw in February, 1941. But it didn't show up in Vancouver for over five years, and even then faced a last-

PNG FILES

Movie star Jane Russell's ample breasts, 

on display in the film The Outlaw, 

offended censors.

minute hurdle before it could be screened.

            "The decision as to whether or not Vancouver film audiences will see bountiful Jane Russell in The Outlaw will be made at 4 p.m. today by a grain exporter, a housewife, and a newspaper columnist," reported The Vancouver Sun 67 years ago.

            "They are members of the B.C. Court of Appeal, the highest court of motion picture censorship. The film has been submitted to the board by United Artists after the Board of Censors withdrew its approval of the film 36 hours before it was scheduled to open at the Vogue Theatre"

            The Outlaw had been in trouble with censors for years. Jane Russell had large breasts, and Hughes was deter-mined to show as much of them as possible.

            His cleavage shots seem fairly tame today, but at the time, censor Joseph Breen of the Production Code Administration was shocked.

            The Turner Classic Movies website notes that in a March 1941 memo, Breen said "in my more than ten years of critical examination of motion pic­tures, I have never seen anything quite so unacceptable as the shots of the breasts of the character (Jane Russell plays). ...Throughout almost half the picture the girl's breasts, which are quite large and prominent, are shockingly emphasized"

            Breen refused to issue the certifi­cate that would allow the film to be screened.

            Hughes made some cuts to the film and lit got past the censors to screen in San Francisco on Feb. 5, 1943.

            Billboards went up around the city showing a Sultry Russell reclining in the hay with a gun in her hand. Some billboards read "The Picture That Couldn't Be Stopped!" Others asked "How would you like to tussle with Russell?"

            Protests ensued and the billboards were removed, but the "bosom art" had done the trick, as The Outlaw became a hit in San Francisco.

            Censorship troubles continued to dog the movie, which is why it didn't show up in Vancouver until 1946.

            The B.C. censors wound up approving the movie and it opened at the Vogue. So The Sun dispatched reporter Pierre Berton to see what all the fuss was about.

            "I saw the controversial film The Outlaw this morning;" Berton wrote, "and the only thing bad about it was Miss Jane Russell's acting."

            Russell went on to star in hits like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Marilyn Monroe and The Paleface with Bob Hope. But she continued to be known for the Outlaw controversy, as well as her physical assets. Hope once introduced her as "the two and only Miss Russell"

jmackie@vancouversun.com