John Ireland plays Bob Ford, a member of the James gang wounded during a botched bank robbery.
Rescued by none other than Jesse James (Reed Hadley), he’s also allowed to recuperate in the famous outlaw’s home, despite the reservations of Jesse’s wife.
Bob’s also a man madly in love with aspiring actress Cynthy Waters (Barbara Britton). But she wants a man with a future and one who doesn’t have the law on his tail.
When the governor places a $10,000 reward on Jesse’s head and offers amnesty to anyone who turns him in, Bob sees it as a rare opportunity to meet her demands.
So one day when Jesse is unarmed and straightening a picture, Bob shoots him in the back — with a pistol Jesse gave him no less.
He gets amnesty. The $10,000 reward becomes $500 because he killed Jesse rather than turning him in. And the killing brings not fame, but notoriety.
Even Cynthy is replused. How could she live with a traitor who would cowardly shoot his own best friend in the back?
But she finds it difficult to break Bob’s heart. So he heads off to Colorado silver country, determined to strike it rich and wind back his lady love.
John Ireland as Bob Ford, lucky in mining but haunted by his past in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Barbara Britton as Cynthy Walters, not believing Bob’s plans to join her show in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Review:
The first directing effort from Samuel Fuller, this is a notch above most of the low-budget B Westerns being made at the time.
The camera work, in particular, is superb, and Fuller gets convincing performances from all his leads, including Preston Foster as John Kelley, the other man who’d love to win Cynthy over.
If there’s a false note in the plot, it’s Cnythy traveling all the way from St. Joe’s to Colorado to break off her relationship with a man she now fears.
According to the AMC introduction to the film, Fuller was already an established screenwriter when he returned from serving in World War II determined to try his hand as a director.
He got the chance working with Robert Lippert, whose production company specialized in low-budget quickies. But Lippert balked the expense of Foster’s first proposal, a period piece about Cassius turning on Julius Ceasar.
They settled on filming a similar story from the Wild West, Bob Ford’s betrayal of Jesse. And Fuller supposedly chose Ireland as his star because he was impressed with his performance in John Ford’s “Red River.”
Preston Foster as John Kelley, trying his luck at mining before accepting a lawman’s badge in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Reed Hadley, as Jesse James in the middle of a bank robbery in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Directed by:
Samuel Fuller
Cast:
John Ireland … Bob Ford
Preston Foster … John Kelley
Barbara Britton … Cynthy Waters
Reed Hadley … Jesse James
J. Edward Bromberg … Harry Kane
Victor Kilian … Soapy
Tom Tyler … Frank James
Tommy Noonan … Charles Ford
Byron Foulger … Silver King room clerk
Jeni Le Gon … Veronica
Barbara Wooddell … Mrs. Zee James
Also with: Phillip Pine, Byron Foulger, Marie Dead, Eddie Dunn, Robin Short
Runtime: 81 min.
J. Edward Bromberg as Harry Kane, manager of the traveling show in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Victor Kilian as Soapy, wondering about his partner Bob Ford’s intentions in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Memorable lines:
Zee James: “Ain’t lawful. Even folks in town don’t like Jesse James are sayin’ it ain’t lawful.”
Jesse James: “Don’t you fret about it, Zee?”
Zee: “It’s just like the governor was advertisin’ to hire an assassin to go and kill you unawares.”
Jesse: “I ain’t killed yet, Zee. I pick my friends and I know ’em. No friend of mine would swallow that immunity offered by the governor.”
John Kelley, leaving St. Joes at the request of Cynthy, who fears Ford will kill him too: “I don’t like what I’m doing. But if it’s what you want, that’s good enough for me.”
Harry Kane: “What’ll you do if he does strike it rich?”
Cynthy Waters: “I don’t know.”
Kane: “I don’t remember if it was Shakespeare or Aristotle, but one of them said: ‘No one loves the man whom he fears.'”
Tommy Noonan as Charles Ford with John Ireland as Bob Ford in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Tom Tyler as Frank James, confronting Bob Ford at last in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Robin Short as the troubadour who crosses paths with Bob Ford in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Barbara Wooddell as Mrs. Zee James, worried about the Fords in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Barbara Britton as Cynthy Waters and John Ireland as Bob Ford in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Preston Foster as John Kelley and John Ireland as Bob Ford, reunited in Colorado in I Shot Jesse James (1949)
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