OUTLAW WOMEN

 

OUTLAW WOMEN is an unusual 1952 Western with plenty of low-budget prowess behind it--it was directed by Sam Newfield and Ron Ormond, and the picture was distributed by Robert Lippert's company. 

Marie Windsor plays the splendidly named Iron Mae McLeod, who is the boss of a town called Las Mujerers. Mae runs the Paradise saloon/gambling hall, and she and her dancing girls literally run the town. Trying to horn in on Mae's action--and Mae herself--is a former flame, and the leader of a bandit gang, while the town's new doctor tries to convince the ladies to change their ways. 

OUTLAW WOMEN has a great premise, which it unfortunately doesn't take advantage of. Marie Windsor (who had already spent plenty of time in big-screen Western saloons by the time she made this film) is perfect as the ravishing, tough, and clever Mae. 

She's so perfect that it's a shame that the climax domesticates her with the boring former flame. (At least the character wasn't killed in the final gunfight as "punishment" for being a strong independent woman.) OUTLAW WOMEN is very much a product of its time--the female characters are far more interesting and charismatic than the male ones, yet they are put in their "place" at the end. 

It doesn't help that the male leads, Richard Rober and Allan Nixon, are two actors I'm not familiar with, and dull as old dishwater besides. Among the supporting cast are veterans Lyle Talbot and Tom Tyler, and Jackie Coogan--yes, that Jackie Coogan--gets a notable part as a rugged gunslinger named Piute Bill. Among Mae's girls I recognized Connie Cezon, because she had appeared in a few Three Stooges shorts. 

OUTLAW WOMEN was filmed in the unique-looking Cinecolor process, but Marie Windsor and her girls still manage to be very attractive regardless. There isn't all that much action in the story, but there is, as mentioned, a climatic gun battle between all the females of Las Mujerers and the bandit gang. Instead of a bar brawl, the viewer is treated to a catfight instead. 

This picture is available on all sorts of free outlets, such as YouTube and Tubi. It's a decent enough B Western, but it's one of those movies, that, while you are watching it, you start thinking about what should have happened in it instead of what actually did. It's worth seeing mainly due to Marie Windsor.