The Outlaw film poster – Zoë Mozert – 1946

Film Poster: The Outlaw film poster – 1946

This stunning movie poster is a reproduction of the original British quad promotional poster for the 1940s Howard Hughes film The Outlaw distributed by United Artists. The artwork for the poster was created by the American illustrator and artist Zoë Mozert. During her career, Mozert painted hundreds of magazine covers and movie posters. Her paintings are best known for their pastel style and realistic depiction of women. Mozert gained a well-deserved reputation as one of the early 20th century’s most famous pin-up artists and is widely considered one of the “big four” pin-up illustrators nationally, along with Rolf Armstrong, Earl Moran and Gil Elvgren.

The stunning pin-up style artwork was used extensively for the film’s publicity. Unusually for a publicity poster, the image shows no clue as to what the film is about. The poster depicts a stunning image of Jane Russell lying seductively on a pile of hay. At the time the film and the posters’ sexy image were very quite controversial. The image of Russell with the shoulder of her dress hanging off her left shoulder and her red skirt pulled high up her leg was still very risque for the era. So much so that the image was adjusted for this British poster where the dress has been adjusted to knee length and the neckline raised to cover much of Russell’s cleavage.

The Outlaw has gained the reputation of being the most controversial film made during the 1940s. At one point, it was thought it would never be released.

In 1922, after several risqué films and a series of off-screen scandals involving Hollywood stars, a political pressure was being applied to the film industry from legislators in 37 states, each introducing censorship bills. In an attempt to avoid complying with potentially thousands, of inconsistent decency laws in order to show their films, the studios decided self-regulation was a more preferable option The result was the introduction of the Motion Picture Production Code. The code better known as the Hays Code was applied to most United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1934 to 1968.

A photo taken in 1940 by Whitey Schafler, titled Thou Shall Not, lists the top ten things that couldn’t be included. These were; showing the law being defeated by the criminal underworld, showing the inside of a woman’s thigh, the wearing of lace lingerie, dead bodies, the use of, or paraphernalia relating to narcotics, the consumption of alcohol, the exposure of women’s breasts, gambling, the pointing of a gun or using the weapon of choice for gangsters, the Tommy gun.

The Motion Picture Production Code office refused to approve the original script and then, after seeing a rough cut, deemed the film indecent for its close-up shots of Jane Russell’s cleavage. Hughes continued to make the film and it was completed in February 1941. Upon completion, the Hays committee still refused to allow the film to be released,  insisting on cuts to the film. However, because of the controversy, 20th Century Fox dropped the picture from its release schedule in late 1941.

With Hughes standing to lose millions of dollars and the film sitting on the shelves for two years, Hughes schemed to create a public outcry for his film to be banned. Hughes had his managers call ministers, women’s clubs and housewives, informing them about the ‘lewd picture’ he was about to release. The public responded by protesting and trying to have the film banned. This generated the publicity Hughes needed to establish a demand for the film and get it released.

The Outlaw was released in theaters in 1943. The film ran for a week before being pulled for contravening the Hays Code. 

The film was finally widely released on April 23, 1946. Hughes’ publicity man, Russell Birdwell, created provocative posters using Mozert provocative Jane Russell artwork and plastered them all over San Francisco. According to an article on the AFI website, ‘in response (to the posters), the Motion Picture Council of San Francisco wrote to the PCA to object to the “very disgusting portrayal of the feminine star… on large billboards.” After public protests by the Council, the police ordered the billboards removed. In its review of the San Francisco opening, Var called Birdwell’s ad campaign “bosom art” and speculated that the film would profit at the box office because of it.

Astonishingly, some of the posters advertised that Jane Russell could be seen “In Person” at the theater. This turned out to be true. The AFI website goes on to explain, Hughes had been so incensed at the Production Code’s changes that he had Russell and her co-star Jack Beutel perform a live, twenty-minute scene that had been cut from the film following each screening! This went on for the entire six-week run of the film at the Geary. People turned out in droves to see the film and it became a huge box office success for Hughes. By the end of 1946, the film had earned $3 million in domestic rentals and additional re-releases in 1950 and 1952 brought its earnings to just over $5 million. In 1968, an HR news article reported The Outlaw had made over $20 million at the box office. It also turned Jane Russell into a global superstar.

The film itself is concerned with a friendship between outlaws Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel) and Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) deteriorating over a woman (Jane Russell) in this steamy Western directed by Howard Hughes. Howard Hawks and writer Ben Hecht both contributed to The Outlaw, but their efforts went uncredited due to disputes with Hughes.

The Outlaw stars Jane Russell, Jack Beutel, Thomas Mitchell, Walter Huston, Mimi Aguglia, Joe Sawyer, Gene Rizzi, John Howard, Ben Johnson. Directed by Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks.

It is Howard Hughes’s focus on Jane Russell’s breasts that is often cited as the main reason for the film’s box office success, and images of Russell are prominently featured in most of the film’s advertising. The film’s poster provides no real clue as to what the film is about.

A June 2020 article, written by Christine, on the Jane Russell biography website discusses the original painting used for The Outlaw promotional posters. The image appeared all over San Francisco along with the infamous quote “How would you like to tussle with Russell?” The painting, created by Zoë Mozert had apparently always been kept in Howard Hughes personal collection of artworks but was being put up at auction in July 2020. The painting sold for $21,556.03.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears, or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and poster for just £22.