Jess il bandito

The first western shot in color focuses more on mythology than facts of this famous outlaw. Tyrone Power in the lead role shows acting abilities not seen in his previous movies,and delivers an intense portrayal of Jesse James. Underplaying his part as Frank James to great effect, Henry Fonda steals the movie.Although a supporting part he's missed in the scenes his not in. Randolph Scott as the marshal delivers one of his best performances. Nancy Kelly makes a beautiful love interest for Power. Henry Hull's crusading editor is fun to watch. The movie is wonderful to look at and one of the great westerns.I hope this classic western will be out on DVD soon.

Of all the films Hollywood made during the golden years, my least favorite were ones that played very fast and loose with the facts about the Old West. And, of all the Westerns, those about Jesse James as well as the gunfight at the OK Corral are the worst. Think of it from my point of view. I am an American history teacher and for some bizarre reason, I like my historical films to actually bear some semblance to what actually occurred!!

JESSE JAMES, like all these other films, is a historical nightmare from start to finish. The life of this evil killer and thief is practically impossible to discern in this silly but entertaining film from 20th Century-Fox Studios. Instead of a bad man, according to the film, he is unfairly pushed to a life of crime by an evil railroad AND he and his brother, Frank, are good boys at heart!! With such stupid revisionism, we should soon expect to see films where Hitler, Lee Harvey Oswald and Jeffrey Dahmer are heroes!! There are tons more mistakes about the characters--but simply too many to bother mentioning. In fact, what is NOT wrong would be quicker and easier to discuss!! Additionally, there are just every cliché known to Westerns, such as the shootout ("count three and fire"), Frank giving the town an ultimatum to give him back Jesse by midnight "or else", happy and intensely loyal Black servants, the Robin Hood-like quality of the gang (though at least they showed how eventually he became more of a hardened criminal), the death of Frank and Jesse's momma pushing them to crime, Henry Hull's character from start to finish as well as his comments like "Jesse played fair" and "he was one of the gol-dangedest gol-darnestest buckaroos"!

As for the non-historical aspects of the film, there is a lot to like. The film is shot in glorious Technicolor and the camera work is incredible. I especially loved the extremely difficult shot of the nighttime raid on the train--the moving external shot was NOT an easy thing to do and it looked great. Additionally, being an A-picture from the studio, the cast was spectacular--Tyrone Power (Jesse), Henry Fonda (Frank), Henry Hull (playing a role much like you might expect Walter Brennan to usually play), Randolph Scott, Jane Darwell, Donald Meek and Brian Donlevy make for an excellent cast. And, I must admit the film was fun to watch if you could care less about the facts and just want to be entertained. Unfortunately, for folks like me, it's a chore to watch even a well-made film if it's so historically inaccurate.

By the way, it should also be mentioned that according to the IMDb trivia section, this film should be remembered for its total disregard for the welfare of the horses during filming. In exciting scenes, horses actually died to make the shots look good and although I am NOT a bleeding-heart, I just can't help but be appalled with this disregard for the animals. Not surprisingly, this film led to changes in the industry to protect animals in future films.

If you go to Pineville, Missouri, where part of Jesse James was filmed, and ask about the making of the movie, everyone you meet will tell you the same thing. One of the extras became pregnant by Tyrone Power and gave the baby up for adoption.

When Power learned of this, he spent thousands upon thousands of dollars but never located his offspring. Just think, today she'd drag him into court and sell her story to People. But the times were different.

Frankly, I'm not surprised it happened. Even Power's younger daughter Taryn thinks her father was his most devastatingly handsome in Jesse James. She's right.

Darryl F. Zanuck gave his biggest star a first-class production in color no less. Not remarkable considering that Power in 1939 would hit the pinnacle of his popularity, beating Gable in the year of GWTW in box office receipts.

In this version, Jesse is a folk hero who seeks revenge on the railroad for cheating people out of their property and allowing its representatives to resort to violence against the property owners. That's one way of looking at it.

What puts this movie over is the top-notch cast, headed by Power. Critics could never see beyond his looks, and it is difficult, but his Jesse is ruthless, loving, defeated, and angry as the story demands.

Henry Fonda is perfect as Frank James, and the scene between the two men after Jesse argues with the gang is wonderful. One sees Jesse's pain and feels Frank's concern.

The rest of the cast includes Nancy Kelly, Henry Hull, Brian Donlevy, John Carradine, Jane Darwell, and Randolph Scott - all first-rate.

I'm not a particular fan of westerns, but this one held my interest. Of course, it helps when the Jesse is the stuff dreams are made on.

This film's beauty is that it is so simple. This is by far the best version of the Jesse James story - there is not a sign of formalism as is regularly seen in later westerns, especially modern ones. When you are able to tell a story the way Henry King does, simply and clearly, then you begin to discover many other stories inside the main one. And then you know you have the original, the prototype.

It is no less realistic in its own way than The Wild Bunch, which was as highly stylized and artificial as a ballet. The filmmakers simply wanted to create an American Robin Hood, which they did very successfully. Power is not weak in

the title role at all, but his role as written lacks the complexity some

commentators are insisting upon. Fonda is excellent playing the role that he played over and over the next decade or so. The family scenes are to me very touching. What nobody mentioned is the wonderful locale--actually shot in the Ozarks rather than Simi Valley or the Fox ranch. Having been raised in

Independence, Mo and growing up on the James boys legends, this is a major

plus over other versions, and I think the movie is a triumph. Those who don't find fault with it because it isn't made according to today's standards of

film-making style should enjoy it thoroughly. That said, my own favorite James movie is The Long Riders, especially thanks to the incomparable Carradines.

Following closely is The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, an even loonier

distortion of history, but eminently satisfying!