The Outlaw became a sensation through a provocative publicity campaign, censorship disputes and a release that unfolded over several years—not through a single 1943 opening. Its marketing made Jane Russell’s appearance a central selling point. The familiar story that Howard Hughes engineered a special bra for her, however, is not established by the sources cited here.
How the publicity turned Jane Russell into the story
The Outlaw was a Howard Hughes production and Russell’s screen debut. Howard Hawks was initially involved as director, but the American Film Institute’s catalog says Hughes took over. The film also starred Jack Buetel, Walter Huston and Thomas Mitchell. AFI’s catalog entry documents the film’s production, censorship history, advertising and release chronology.
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Publicist Russell Birdwell built the campaign around Russell’s image. Billboards showed her in a provocative pose and used the slogan “How would you like to tussle with Russell?” The Motion Picture Council of San Francisco objected, and police ordered the billboards removed after protests. AFI also reports that Variety called the campaign “bosom art” and predicted it might help the film at the box office. The slogan was advertising copy; the source does not attribute it to a particular speaker.
The attention did not mean the film could be released everywhere, in any version, right away. The campaign’s emphasis on Russell’s appearance became part of a larger fight over what the film could show and how it could be advertised.
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Why the film was controversial—and delayed
The Production Code Administration (PCA) negotiated changes and required released prints to conform to its approved edits. AFI records a 1943 memo identifying seven existing prints, only one of which contained the approved edits. The film’s costuming and Russell’s cleavage drew attention, but censorship involved the film’s content and the versions prepared for release as well as its publicity.
After a brief San Francisco run, Hughes withdrew the film, and it remained shelved until the postwar period. Christina Rice’s chapter abstract describes a gradual theatrical rollout from the 1943 premiere through 1950, alongside the publicity, censorship and audience response. Rice’s chapter abstract provides scholarly context for that longer release history.
Rank #2
Did Jane Russell wear a bra designed by Howard Hughes?
The documented publicity controversy does not prove the familiar story that Hughes designed a special bra and Russell wore it while filming. The cited AFI account and Rice abstract establish that the campaign focused attention on Russell’s figure and costuming; they do not establish whether she wore such a garment. Without a firsthand account or other direct evidence, the claim should be treated as an unverified anecdote, not a settled fact.
That distinction matters: the publicity campaign is documented, while the specific bra story is not confirmed by these sources. The film’s notoriety does not depend on that anecdote; the billboard campaign, protests and censorship record explain why Russell’s image became so closely associated with it.
Rank #3
Was The Outlaw a hit?
Yes, in the sense that it became a major commercial success over its extended release history—but the 1943 San Francisco opening should not be confused with the broader postwar rollout. AFI reports historical box-office figures from different dates. They are not presented as a reconciled, independently audited lifetime total.
| Milestone or figure | What the source reports |
|---|---|
| First public opening | San Francisco’s Geary Theatre, February 5, 1943, according to AFI. |
| Broader release | A gradual rollout from the 1943 premiere through 1950, as described in Christina Rice’s chapter abstract. |
| Production cost | Approximately $1.2 million, as reported in AFI’s catalog; the underlying estimate’s year is not stated in the retrieved passage. |
| Earnings reported by 1949 | Approximately $4.5 million, according to historical reporting cited by AFI. |
| Later earnings report | More than $20 million, in a 1968 trade report recorded by AFI. |
The two earnings figures come from reports made in different years and should not be collapsed into a single definitive gross. AFI does not reconcile them, and the figures are not inflation-adjusted here. The available record supports the conclusion that the film ultimately earned substantial attention and revenue; it does not make the 1943 opening itself equivalent to its later commercial reach.
Rank #4
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What the surviving record can—and cannot—show
AFI’s catalog is the principal source here for the film’s production, edits, advertising, release and reported earnings. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas finding aid confirms that archival records exist for production, publicity, censorship, distribution and successful screenings, but a finding aid describes collections rather than proving the details in files that have not been examined. The UNLV guide to the Howard Hughes Film Production Records offers that archival context.
A contemporary TIME article also provides period context on the production and publicity, but it does not supply a verified firsthand account of the bra claim. TIME’s “Cinema: Hughes’s Western” is useful for understanding how the film was discussed at the time, not as confirmation of every later anecdote.
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