The Outlaw, 1940 to 1975, 1940 to 1958

The Outlaw sub-series (1940-1975) contains material related to the development, production, and post-production of The Outlaw (1941), a Howard Hughes-directed and produced film. Materials include advertising and publicity, administrative, film soundtracks, legal, production and direction, and story development records pertaining to the film's production.

Advertising and publicity records in the sub-series detail the creation, revisions, arrangement, printing, and distribution of The Outlaw promotional material. Printing materials include flongs, or molds, used to produce metal printing plates for newspaper advertising. Posters in the sub-series, ranging from 40" by 60" to 100" by 200", vary in size according to their intended display locations including theater walls, building exteriors, and billboards. These records also contain newspaper and magazine clippings featuring The Outlaw advertising and premiere reactions from throughout the United States, as well as twenty-seven international countries.

Music scores include handwritten and typed comments and annotations from and to Victor Young. Photographs in the sub-series depict the film's principal and supporting cast, views of the film's premieres, and desert and mountainous regions throughout the southwest United States used for location scouting. Censorship materials consist of reports, correspondence, and newspaper and magazine clippings describing the public's reaction to The Outlaw and the attempts to cut parts of the film, or restrict its distribution in locations domestically and internationally.