Todo por una mujer

A good premise runs out of ideas and becomes a talkfest, even getting a little mean spirited near the end. Cooper is good as Melody Jones, an amiable but inept cowpoke mistaken for a surly killer named Monte Jarrad played suitably well by one of the greatest movie villains of all-time, Dan Duryea. The first 20 minutes of the story has real promise but this is one of those movies which somehow didn't get developed beyond its first draft. Some good dialogue and a great cast get kind of squandered as the muddled plot thickens. Would have succeeded better with less talk and characters and more gags and action. A miss but worthy of a look. Not Cooper's worst by any means.

Basically, this is an entertaining western that sports a combination of suspense, action, romance and comedy. It also features an interesting cast, with names like Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, William Demarest and Dan Duryea.

Cooper, as "Melody Jones," plays his normal low-key hero role and Demarest provides most of the laughs. Young is attractive and plays an intriguing character and Duyea does what he does best: play the villain. However, the latter has a smaller role than usual.

This is corny in spots, but it was meant to be since this is supposed to be a spoof of westerns. The only thing that didn't come off well was the special-specials, but they weren't much back in the days of this film but they are very dated now.

A nice, lightweight enjoyable satire.

Loretta Young makes a rare foray into western territory with her role in Along Came Jones. This is a charming independent production from Gary Cooper's company. Mr. Cooper, of course, is calling all the shots here—especially when poking fun at the cowboy persona he has previously established in other pictures. Meanwhile, Dan Duryea is on hand as the villain (what else), which makes us take some of this a bit more seriously.

The casting of the two leads, and Duryea-- plus William Demarest as Coop's exasperated sidekick-- make this a little film worth checking out. It succeeds, where other films fail, because the filmmakers keep it simple. They get by with so little, but it does so much in the way of entertaining the ordinary western fan.

Has anyone considered that the cheesy "back projection" in the riding scenes may have been on purpose ? And another thing... could it be that Cooper's melodious "Melody Jones" (who sang his own songs) was a jab at John Wayne's "Singing Sandy" (all dubbed, all the time, and badly too). I liked the inclusion of a top-break revolver, also... there was lots of interesting weaponry back then, not all of it made by Colt. The graphic gore was unusual for a time when the newly departed would either throw their hands up, or clutch their clean shirts, and flop over. Did you notice that when Cherry aimed and fired at Melody's hat, she had such control that the bullet went in the front and STAYED IN THE HAT ! An intelligent side-kick, a powerful woman, and a humorous script. I liked it.

I liked it a lot. A movie that didn't get the recognition it deserves. Typical Gary Cooper, terse and insightful in the fashion of the times. I will never forget the song he sang that goes on and on. I was a kid when I saw this and memorized about 20 verses of "Old Joe Clark" back then. Loretta played a good part and her role should be emulated by the fairer gender today. Dan Durey played his usual tough guy role, but did a credible job. I would like to see it come out again or perhaps a remake, however, I don't know anyone in Hollywood that can imitate Cooper. Just for grins this was the movie we watched in Denver when we were inducted in the Army. Black and white is a medium that should live forever.