The Outrage

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Martin Ritt directs. James Wong Howe behind the camera. Alex North scores. Frank Santillo cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 162 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Directed by Martin Ritt, shot by James Wong Howe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Alex North. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Frank Santillo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Paul Newman and Laurence Harvey and Claire Bloom carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Was It an Act of Violence or an Act of Love?".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0058437 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Only 43 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

James Wong Howe

Original score

Alex North

Editing

Frank Santillo

Costume design

Donfeld

Makeup / hair

William Tuttle

Runtime

96 min · 1h 36m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

IMDB

The Outrage (1964) ↗

Also by

Martin Ritt

• 
  Sounder

  1972 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Hud

  1963 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Norma Rae

  1979 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Edge of the City

  1957 · ★ 7.1
• 
  The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

  1965 · ★ 7.1
• 
  Hombre

  1967 · ★ 7.1

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  THE OUTRAGE [1964 TRAILER]

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-01-20
  ★ 6/10

  Enigmatic remake making waves in some cinephiles quarters. Directed by Martin Ritt, The Outrage is a remake of the 1950 Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon, that in turn is based on stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, but Ritt has reformulated it in a Western setting. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Howard Da Silva & William Shatner. The story remains the same as four people give contradictory accounts of a rape and murder during the trial of Mexican bandit Juan Carrasco (Newman). The story is told within a flashback framework of three men waiting for a train at a rain soaked Southwestern station; a prospector (Da Silva), a con man (Robinson) and a preacher now struggling with his faith in humanity (Shatner). As each story is told the validity of each account comes under scrutiny, could it be there was a gross miscarriage of justice at the trial? Perhaps unsurprisingly, this remake of a well regarded classic was a commercial flop, with many front line critics particularly savage in their reviews. Which while acknowledging it's a long way away from style and tone of Kurosawa's movie, it's hardly the devil's spawn either. Solidly constructed by Ritt and potently shot in black & white by James Wong Howe (vistas however are in short supply), the story is strong enough to make for an interesting social conscious Oater. There's some misplaced humour in the final third, and a charge of overacting from the talented cast is fair enough (especially Bloom), but maybe, just maybe, Ritt and his team deserve a little leeway for trying a different approach? I mean at least it's not a shot for shot remake eh? Certainly Newman could never be accused of not being bold or daring with his role selections, one only has to look at his Western films to see that. Especially the three he did with Ritt: Hud (1963), The Outrage (1964) & Hombre (1967), three very different roles, and each of a different ethnicity too. Throw in his intense turn as Billy The Kid in Arthur Penn's The Left Handed Gun, and it makes a mockery of those people who pop up from time to time proclaiming Newman had limited range! Is he miscast as Bandido Carrasco in The Outrage? No not really, he throws himself into the role and without prior knowledge of whose under the hat, it's not overtly evident it's the great blue eyed man performing. Sure a Mexican actor would have been better for the role, and definitely Rashomon wasn't in need of a remake. But for Western fans, and especially for fans of Newman, The Outrage still has enough to warrant spending money on a pie and a pint of beer to watch with it. Not particularly great, but not exactly bad either. 6.5/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• MA

  Martin Ritt Productions

• 

  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

  US

Key crew

• ProducerA. Ronald Lubin
• ProducerMartin Ritt
• Associate ProducerMichael Kanin
• Theatre PlayFay Kanin
• Makeup SupervisorWilliam Tuttle
• Original StoryAkira Kurosawa
• MusicianArtie Kane
• Set DecorationHenry Grace
• Visual EffectsJ. McMillan Johnson
• HairstylistSydney Guilaroff
• Assistant CameraDewey Wrigley Jr.
• MusicianVirginia Majewski
• Art DirectionTambi Larsen
• Original StoryRyūnosuke Akutagawa
• Recording SupervisionFranklin Milton
• Assistant DirectorDaniel McCauley
• Costume DesignDonfeld
• PainterFrank Wesselhoff
• ConductorAlex North
• OrchestratorGil Grau
• Art DirectionGeorge W. Davis
• MusicianEthmer Roten
• Unit Production ManagerStanley Goldsmith
• Dialect CoachWalon Green

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• rape
• medium
• based on play or musical
• remake
• preacher
• bandit

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)1964-10-07· New York City, New York
• Theatrical1964-10-08