J'ai tué Jesse James

This is Samuel Fuller's first effort;it is a western and it's got something bizarre,something unusual which we find in every work of this director,whatever he films :films noirs ("underworld USA" ),melodramas ("the naked kiss" ) ,thrillers verging on horror ("shock corridor" ) or westerns ("run of the arrow" and "forty guns").

They say that Fuller approved of Robert Ford's attitude.But his movie is not so simple.It seems that Jesse really WANTS to be killed ;we might take the lines "what are you waiting for?here's my back " literally.

Once Robert Ford has taken the plunge ,his fate is sealed;there's no coming back,no hope for the life he dreams of with his gorgeous girl.Anyway,Cynthy's love has turned to despise at worst ,pity at best.

The scene on the stage is some kind of mirror ,where Ford fully realizes what he has done -a scene which contains an unusual inventive use of the flashback-,as is the folk singer who performs his "ballad of Robert Ford": when he sings his last verse ,he may be frightened,but it's Cain's eye all over again.

I do not have to kill you,Jesse's brother says ,you're already dead.

After seeing The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, one realizes just how dated this film is as compared to the one that Casey Affleck won an Academy Award nomination for. That more recent film is far closer to the truth. It certainly has the right age for Robert Ford in real life was barely out of his teens, not an adult as John Ireland was in this film, nor a host of others who've played Ford in various Jesse James movies.

Still this western made by Samuel Fuller, his first as a director, does have a landmark status of sorts with a fine performance by John Ireland in the title role. According to this version he did this one for love and that huge amnesty money promised by the Governor of Missouri which he never got, that part is true. It was love of Barbara Britton who plays the object of Ireland's affections.

The real Robert Ford and John Ireland in this film must have thought he'd be a hero. His celebrity such as it was was akin to what O.J. Simpson got after his acquittal. People who kill for a bounty were regarded then as now as a necessary evil, but not folks you invite to your dinner table.

Samuel Fuller got good performances out of Ireland, Britton and the rest of a fine cast. It's not a bad Jesse James film, a man who has never ceased to fascinate Hollywood.

I think this movie is more about Robert Ford than say Jesse James. John Ireland does a great job as the cowardly Bob Ford.. the James gang just having finished another robbery is on the run hiding out somewhere in Missouri,, Jesse is living under an alias. One thing that this movie presented to me was that the James' somehow are related to the Younger's and the Dalton's interesting fact if its' true. With that price of 10,000 on Jesse's head it becomes almost impossible for Bob Ford to resist it,, he plans on getting a house in the country and marrying his sweetheart Cynthy,, so he figures to cash in on his friend Jesse's head dead or alive,, what he doesn't count on is 2 things,, first being the public outcry of Jesse's death,, also the shrinking of the reward money,, and secondly how Cynthy would react,, he figures she'd be happy so that they could get married and so on.. wrong ,,, she has a conscious, and starts to despise Bob,, and at best pity him. this is a pretty good telling of the story of Jesse getting shot by Bob.

Sam Fuller's first film direction is a version of what happened to Robert Ford (John Ireland), the man who famously killed his friend - Jesse James (Reed Hadley).

Taking up the basic elements of the real life story, Fuller keeps the narrative tight whilst ensuring the complexities of the main characters come to the fore. All the quirks and peccadilloes of the human condition are explored (the detail of Ford's torments and troubles superbly told), which is something of a rarity for a late 1940s "B" standard Western. The use of close-ups are to purposely highlight the psychological discord on show, marking this out as a good pointer to the later work of its maverick director. Ernest Hiller photographs the exteriors out of Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth and support to Ireland comes from Preston Foster, Barbara Britton and J. Edward Bromberg. 7/10

A film which uses a lot of medium close ups. Fuller's medium close-ups of John Ireland are wonderful and stress the emotions of Robert Ford "the Coward," the character Mr Ireland plays. So also the Fuller brings out the best in another actress Barbara Britton in this film. I am once again convinced that Fuller brought out great performances with almost all the actresses he chose to direct.

The high point of the film was the innocent balladeer singing his popular ballad which paints Bob Ford as an evil coward to Bob Ford himself without realizing his identity.

A very engaging and intelligent script with notable performances by both Ireland and Britton. Arguably one of the best performances of Ireland along side his performance in the spaghetti western "Hate for Hate."