fidgee The first time I saw this film, being a "horse crazy" kid, it made me idolize Belle Starr--but only because I thought the movie was supposed to be about some famous horsewoman! (Like I said, I was a really horse-crazy kid!!) A few years ago, I was researching my family history and found out I was actually related to Belle Starr so this movie took on much more significance and I searched for a long time to find a copy. Then, when I watched it again, I was very disappointed by the almost complete lack of historical accuracy! To say the film is "based upon" historic figures is TECHNICALLY correct, but it is definitely NOT an accurate depiction of the "real" Myra "Belle" Shirley-Starr! In fact, ONLY the names are the same. Belle was a much stronger, darker, cruder, more troubled woman and her ties to the most notorious outlaws (like the James-Younger gang) along with her own devious, scandalous behavior make her much more fascinating than she was in this movie. In her case, the true story is MUCH more interesting! It's a good movie, BUT, if you want to know the true story of Belle Starr, you won't find it in this one.

Neil Doyle BELLE STAR should have a disclaimer at the start. Any resemblance between the people portrayed here and the real life characters is strictly coincidental. Furthermore, someone should have told LOUISE BEAVERS that she is no substitute for HATTIE McDANIEL.The film reeks with what it portrays as Southern charm, including the heavily accented Miss Tierney who struggles with what was supposed to be a star-making role. Fortunately, she's surrounded by a couple of pros: RANDOLPH SCOTT as her husband Sam Starr and DANA ANDREWS as a Yankee who finds himself enamored of her while chasing the outlaw woman in a series of melodramatic skirmishes that seem like throwaways from GONE WITH THE WIND.Gene Tierney never did receive good reviews for her early films and BELLE STAR is no exception. Furthermore, the Technicolor needs restoration if this ever goes to DVD.Summing up: A slow paced account of Belle Star's criminal career with a miscast and sophisticated Gene Tierney playing the outlaw in a below par performance that never strikes the necessary spark.

Noirdame79 Okay, so it's not exactly a subtle attempt at cloning "Gone With The Wind" - it's all too transparent at times. Yes, it's dated, from a liberated perspective,(but remember the era that it's set in, as well as the time in which it was produced)with some excruciating dialogue. But it has its redeeming virtues, entertainment value and deserving of a DVD release after years of obscurity on channels that us civilians can't afford to add to basic peasant vision.A dramatized, sanitized account of the most notorious female outlaw, who rode alongside such notables as Jesse James, it boasts gorgeous cinematography in Techincolor, a good musical score, and wonderful costumes. Whenever Randolph Scott is associated with a project, you know it will be a decent western.However, the best relationship in the film is the one that exists between Belle Starr and Major Thomas Grail, the Yankee commander and childhood chum who must bring her to justice in spite of his deep love for her. It is the sparks between the beautiful Gene Tierney and the handsome Dana Andrews that really makes this movie, preceding the film noir classic "Laura" and two later collaborations.The gorgeous, fiery Belle Shirley (Gene Tierney) sympathizes with the Southern rebels, so much so that she even helps Captain Sam Starr (Randolph Scott) hide from the Yankee forces in Missouri by letting him stay in her home after he is wounded.When the Yankees discover this, they set her house aflame and burn it to the ground. Defying them, she joins Starr and his followers at their secret hide-out and begins assisting them in robberies and raids, chasing Carpetbaggers and running afoul of the Yankees. The bandit queen and her outlaw lover marry and continue with their Confederate cause. But only when things get far too dangerous does Belle realize that death may be too high of a price to pay for what she so immensely believes in. Sam Starr insists that there be one more dangerous escapade, after agreeing to give up his personal vendetta. This leads to tragic consequences when Belle unwittingly puts herself in the line of fire, placing her own life in jeopardy. The low-life drunkard, Jasper Tench, who expects the much emphasized reward money for killing Belle Starr only gets disdain and hatred from the townsfolk having deprived them of their heroine, and Starr turns himself in, and both he and his enemy, Grail, grieve over the woman they both loved.I found the age difference between Scott and Tierney distracting (going by what I remember, as I haven't seen the film in years), and also obvious is the battle that Tierney has with the accent that she assumes throughout the film. I know people having been complaining about the racist elements throughout the movie (as with GWTW),but I like to think of it as a lesson on how things have changed. Chill Wills is in fine form as one of the rebels, Shepperd Strudwick (billed as John Shepperd)is quite good as Belle's rather ill-fated brother Ed, while Louise Beavers (best remembered from her role in John Stahl's 1934 version of "Imitation Of Life")does a good turn as Mammy Lou, although her performance doesn't hold a candle to Hattie McDaniel's portrayal in GWTW.It's a good movie, and it's nice to watch and a good substitution if you're not in the mood to indulge in a three-and-a-half hour epic.Note to FOX: as you are releasing many of your older films on DVD, do likewise with "Belle Starr". Don't leave this and many other gems to rot away in the studio vault!

aromatic-2 Tierney does fine opposite an uninspired Randolph Scott as the fiery Belle Starr. Her scenes with Andrews have far more electricity and pick the film's pacing up midway through. A veteran supporting cast gives their all for the cause, or is that causes? The movie, of course, takes generous liberties with actual history, but that's part of the fun in this one.