Jesse James

Jesse James was both outlaw and idol. He reacted in a way many would have liked to when wronged. Many have played the role of Jesse James, this classic remains one of the best. It is a must for any historical/western collector. With Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda and Randolph Scott playing the key characters you are in for a real treat in a movie you will watch over and over.

This 70-year old Western classic has a strong cast featuring great acting by Henry Fonda and Tyrone Power as the James brothers. The movie is quite entertaining particularly considering its age. It is slightly marred however by some annoying overacting by Nancy Kelly as the forever babbling, sobbing Zee and publisher Major Cobb played by Henry Hull with his corny, repetitious "Roy, take an editorial.." routine, put in to add some humor to the tale I guess. Fortunately, the strong opening sequences showing evil, ruthless railroad men pressuring helpless farmers like the James family to sell their land because they were standing in the way of progress support strong movie themes of sympathy and revenge that have you going along with Frank and Jessie to the end.

1939 is considered by many critics and film conniseurs to be the most definitive year for films. some of the greatest films ever produced were released in 1939. the list is myriad, and for westerns this film is definitely included in that list.

even though this is a somewhat fictionalized account of the exploits of the James boys (Frank and Jesse), some of the events depicted are true. however, more fiction is depicted here than truth making this only entertaining western fare; but what entertainment it is. the story is so expertly told that it compels the viewer to become inevitable advocates for the James brothers cause. truly great filmmaking.

as for the DVD, to some degree i must debunk the reviews regarding the alleged poor transfer of this film to DVD. please do not allow those negative reviews to deter you from purchasing this film if it is of interest to you. several factors must be considered before criticizing a film. primarily, it's age. i realize that some films even older than this one are no less than pristine in their transfer. however, one must remember, in many of those films the original video and audio elements were still present or at least restorable. this film is nearly 70 years old and comprehensively a very good transfer with only a few scenes lacking in brilliance. it's not pristine or flawless but still worth owning. i believe some reviewers just expect too much.

Splendid in his first Western and his first Technicolor movie, Power portrayed Jesse James as a sympathetic hero and the most charming bank robber of the Old West...

Teamed with Henry Fonda, and stalwart Randolph Scott, Henry King came with a Western classic, considered as one the best Jesse James of the series...

The film opens in Pineville with hothead Jesse and temperate Frank as a couple of Missouri brothers who, embittered by the ruthless tactics of a railroad agent, got a warrant and had to skip out, hiding out until Major Rufus Cobb (Henry Hull) can get the governor to give them a fair trial ... But the railroad's got too much at stake to let two farmer boys bollix things up...

After they had thrown Barshee (Brian Donlevy), the brutal railroad representative off the farm of their widowed mother (Jane Darwell) when she refused to sign over her property, Jesse and Frank later learn that she had been killed by a bomb tossed into their home by Barshee himself... Jesse returns, shoots Barshee, and vows revenge on the railroad, with the complete sympathy of the Missouri populace...

Jesse's sweetheart, Zee and her uncle, publisher Major Rufus, are among the James' supporters, as is U. S. Marshal Will Wright (Scott), but he has a job to do and is forced to track down the two brothers...

Jesse and Frank have expanded their operation from merely harassing the St. Louis Midland with a series of holdups to robbing banks...

Pursuaded by railroad president McCoy (Donald Meek) to talk Jesse into surrendering, Wright extracts a written promise of a light sentence for the desperado... Zee then urges Jesse to give himself up following their wedding...

Of course, Henry King tries to show how Jesse hated the railroads and from that hate he presented a charismatic hero... But this hero was not going to last... The more luck he had, the worse he gets... It'll be his appetite for shooting and robbing until something happens to him...

He also shows a worried fiancée keeping thinking of an outlaw all the time out there in the hills just going on and on to nowhere just trying to keep alive with everybody after him, wanting to kill him to get that money...

There's a scene near the end where Zee (Nancy Kelly) after delivering her baby is lying in bed with her creature, with the presence of the Marshal, so to speak, between herself and her uncle that suddenly made clear to me what the entire film was about... Her feelings as a woman: "I'm so tired to care. This is the way it always is. We live like animals, scared animals. We move. We hide. We don't dare to go out... "

Obviously she is a sensitive woman who exposes her being on screen without losing sight of reality... That's quite a great scene from King, and key in this great Western, as it's really all about her character, Zee Cobb, a struggling woman in love now a mother with a baby to take care of...

So please don't miss it!

I had seen this movie back in 1939 and have always considered it a
good movie for Tyrone Power. It is just a good western and feel it
took me back to when the movies were interesting and clean. Jesse James
just holds your interest.