The Return of Frank James (1940)

Henry Fonda is Frank James, trying to live a quiet life as a farmer in the Ozarks under the name of Ben Woodson.

Then comes news of his brother’s death at the hands of two friends — Bob and Charlie Ford — and reports that Jesse was shot in the back.

Frank’s adopted son Clem (Jackie Cooper) expects him to ride off on the vengeance trail and is eager to tag along.

Not so fast, says Frank; he’s convinced the law will take care of the Ford brothers.

Well, they’re convicted and sentenced to death, but Missouri’s governor quickly grants a pardon and even gives them the reward money for killing Jesse.

It’s at that point that Frank springs into action, robbing a railroad express office to finance his search for the Ford brothers.

Along the way, he and Clem use a naive young female reporter (Gene Tierney as Eleanor Stone) to plant a false newspaper story about Frank’s death in a bloody gun battle south of the border.

Railroad agent George Runyan quickly realizes the story is a lie and sets a trap to lure Frank back to Missouri. He has Frank’s elderly black laborer Pinky convicted in the death of a man who died in the express office holdup and schedules him for execution.

Henry Fonda as Frank James, determined to avenge brother Jesse and save an innocent friend in The Return of Frank James (1940)

Gene Tierney as Eleanor Stone, pondering a meeting with the very much alive Frank James in The Return of Frank James (1940)

Review:

Henry Fonda made memorable Westerns — “The Ox-Bow Incident,” “My Darling Clementine,” “Fort Apache” — in the 1940s. This film doesn’t come close to matching to matching their stature.

It’s also hopelessly dated in the portrayal of its black characters — Pinky is referred to as a “darkie” at least twice — and the supposedly progressive young female reporter who wants to do more than attend college, then wait for a suitable man to propose to her.

Duped by Frank and Clem into printing a national scoop that turns out to be completely false, the character played by Gene Tierney seems far more concerned about getting another chance to meet the tall man with the blue eyes (Frank) than what that might do to her aspirations of becoming a reporter.

As for Frank James the outlaw, he receives a complete whitewash in this version of the James story. He never killed anyone except Yankee intruders who deserved it. Why he’s so honest that when he and Clem need fresh mounts, they not only leave behind their own horses in trade but an extra $50 to boot. Heck, it’s a wonder he wasn’t fitted with a halo instead of a cowboy hat.

This marked Tierney’s first film. Henry Hull delivers a perhaps too spirited performance as the lawyer-turned-newspaperman-turned-lawyer who has to defend Frank in court. Jackie Cooper of Our Gang fame had earned an Oscar nomination at age 9 for a film called “Skippy” and went on to enjoy a long career in TV as an actor and director.

The movie is a sequel to 1939’s highly successful “Jesse James” with Tyrone Power in the lead role. Most of the cast members return to their same roles for this film, Henry Fonda included.

Charles Tannen as Charlie Ford and John Carradine as brother Bob in The Return of Frank James (1940)

Henry Hull as Maj. Rufus Cobb, the newspaperman turned lawyer on Frank’s side in The Return of Frank James (1940)

Directed by:
Fritz Lang

Cast:
Henry Fonda … Frank James
Gene Tierney … Eleanor Stone
Jackie Cooper … Clem
Henry Hull … Major Rufus Cobb
John Carradine … Bob Ford
J. Edward Bromberg … George Runyan
Donald Meek … McCoy
Eddie Collins … Station agent
George Barbier … Judge
Russell Hicks … Prosecutor
Ernest Whitman … Pinky
Charles Tannen … Charlie Ford
Lloyd Corrigan … Randolph Stone
Victor Kilian … Preacher
Edward McWade … Col. Jackson
Irving Bacon … Bystander
Frank Shannon … Sheriff
Barbara Pepper … Nellie Blane
Louis Mason … Watchman
Matthew “Stymie” Beard … Mose
William Pawley … Actor
Frank Sully … Actor
Davison Clark … Officer

Runtime: 92 min.

Jackie Cooper as Clem, the young man who insists on following Frank in the pursuit of Jesse’s killers in The Return of Frank James (1940)

J. Edward Brombert as George Runyan and Donald Meek as McCoy, the railroad men behind the chicanery in The Return of Frank James (1940)

Memorable lines:

Pinky, about Clem: “That boy’s harder to hold than a handful of honey bees.”

Frank James, coming upon a poster advertising Bob and Charlie Ford in a play called “The Death of Jesse James”: “Looks like a show I oughta see.”
Clem: “You gonna shoot them right on the stage.”
Frank: “No. First I’m just gonna scare ’em to death.”

Eleanor Stone, when her father confronts her about the untrue story she wrote about Frank James’ death for his newspaper: “Other papers have made mistakes.”
Randolph Stone: “Yes, but none of them have made the mistake of having a gullible female on their staff and trusting her.”

Clem, when Frank James says he’s abandoning his search for Bob Ford to save Pinky: “After all our work, are we going to give up because of a darkie?”

Frank James, who has previously locked Runyan in a closet during a getaway: “I see you got out of that closet alright?”
George Runyan: “Oh, yes. Now let’s see you get out of a rope around your neck.”

Henry Hull as Maj. Rufus Cobb holding Frank James (Henry Fonda) in check in the courtroom in The Return of Frank James (1940)

Ernest Whitman as Pinky, the man authorities threaten to hang got get back at Frank in The Return of Frank James (1940)

John Carradine as Bob Ford and Barbara Pepper as Nellie Blane, acting out a phony version of Jesse’s death in The Return of Frank James (1940)

Henry Fonda as Frank James and Gen.e Tierney as Eleanor Stone, listening to the story of how Frank James died in The Return of Frank James (1940)