Tyrone Power plays Jesse James; Henry Fonda is Frank James. They’re youngsters who take up a life of crime after a crooked railroad man (Brian Donlevy) tries to buy their farm at a rock-bottom price, then accidentally kills their mother.
Nancy Kelly is Zee, the newspaperman’s daughter who falls for Jesse, warns him that he’d better go straight before he gets used to a life of crime, then leaves him when he does just that.
And Randolph Scott is Marshal Will Wright, sympathetic to the plight of the James boys, but determined to do his job nonetheless.
The success of this 1939 film spurred a rash of outlaw biofilms, mostly casting their subjects in the most sympathetic light.
And if this isn’t exactly history, it’s good old-fashioned Western fun. Particulary well done is the James’ attempt to rob the Northfield, Minn., bank. They crash through a store window, then jump their horses off a steep cliff during their escape. That scene prompted new efforts to protect animals on film sets.
Directed by:
Henry King
Cast:
Tyrone Power … Jesse James
Henry Fonda … Frank James
Nancy Kelly … Zee James
Randolph Scott … Will Wright
Henry Hull … Maj. Rufus Cobb
Slim Summerville … Jailer
J. Edward Bromberg … Mr. Runyan
Brian Donlevy … Barshee
John Carradine … Bob Ford
Claire Du Brey … Mrs. Bob Ford
Charles Tannen … Charles Ford
Donald Meek … McCoy
Johnny Russell … Jesse James Jr.
Jane Darwell … Mrs. Samuels
Willard Robertson … Clarke
Howard Goodwin … Bill
Ernest Whitman … Pinkie
EddyWaller … Deputy
Paul E. Burns … Hank
Runtime: 106 min.
Memorable lines:
Newspaperman Rufus Cobb, after Jesse has proclaimed his hatred for the railroad: “That’s the stuff. People ain’t hating nowadays like they used to. They’re getting soft. I got to admit that I like a man that hauls off and hates, good and hard.”
){kind=link}