Ne tirez pas sur le bandit

This is a treat for those of us who enjoy side-splitting slapstick without being silly. Bob Hope has been an all-time favorite of mine and in this film he really knows how to get the laughs. He plays an insurance salesman who sells a life insurance policy to Jesse James (played by Wendell Corey) and falls for Jesse's saloon-singer/girlfriend (played by the lovely Rhonda Fleming). It has so many sight gags that it has to be viewed all the way through to really enjoy them. And the cameos by all the western stars during the shootout - what a great idea! Even the kids will get a kick out of this one. My 15-year-old even loved it, considering the junk that's called entertainment today for their age group. Get the family, get some popcorn, gather 'round the set, you baby boomers, and enjoy some great comedy.

The Bob Hope movies I liked best were the ones that were a mixture of mirth and murder (CAT AND THE CANARY, THE GHOST BREAKERS), where he played the cowardly hero who gets the girl in the final reel. His westerns were fun too, films like THE PALEFACE or SON OF PALEFACE. It's good to report that ALIAS JESSE JAMES fits the standard for his western spoofs, all done up in fancy Technicolor and given a good cast.

The comic set-up has him selling a life insurance policy to Jesse James (WENDELL COREY) and then told by his bosses that he must go out west and get the policy back at all costs--even if it means his own life, since the policy is worth $100,000. BOB HOPE, of course, takes the assignment and gets mixed up with the James brothers (brother Frank James is played by JIM DAVIS). Not only is he surrounded by a gun-toting gang but he falls in love with Jesse's girl (RHONDA FLEMING), who is fed up with Jesse and ready for a new beau.

The laughs are steady as Hope fumbles his way through one laughable but impossibly silly situation after another, ready with the one-liners and getting the most out of a zany script. A chase toward the end is full of sight gags that work and the final shootout shows him shooting at the town villains while others do the actual killing shots--including GARY COOPER, JAMES ARNESS, WARD BOND, ROY ROGERS, GAIL DAVIS and, no surprise, BING CROSBY.

It's a lightweight romp for Hope and Fleming, with WENDELL COREY surprisingly good as Jesse James and MARY YOUNG doing a nice job as his gun-toting ma.

Briskly directed by Norman Z. McLeod, it's simple minded fun played in broad farcical style by a pleasant cast and one of Hope's better films during the '50s.

Funny film as Bob Hope portrays insurance salesman Milford Farnsworth. As Wendell Corey, who portrays James asks, "What's a Milford Farnsworth?"

As far as I'm concerned, Mary Young as Ma James steals this picture as the soft spoken mother of the outlaw who only wants her Jesse to eat a good breakfast before he goes out to steal. With her sing-song voice, Ma comes across as a kindly old lady only to resort to the shotgun when Rhonda Fleming jumps ship in her wedding dress and flees with Hope.

The plot is hilarious. The inept Farnsworth sells James an insurance policy and James in turn plans to have Hope dressed like him, and killed so that he can enjoy the $100,000 that the policy is worth. What's even funnier is that dance hall queen Cora Lee, Fleming, falls for Hope.

The picture provides good laughs and was appropriate for the 1950s light comedies with Hope.

Top-notch comedy in every department and with the great Bob Hope showing his comical skills . This hilarious western spoof is wickedly funny , marvellously self-aware with lots of entertainment and amusement . Agreeable comedy/musical/western with genuine and sympathetic characters , it is plenty of humor , tongue-in-cheek , bemusing gags and lots of fun . Hope plays Milford Farnsworth an Inept insurance salesman who sells a man a $100,000 policy but he results to be Jesse James . When his boss learns the man was the famous bandit he sends Milford after him who returns to claim his policy , which is nowhere to be found. As a cowardly Hope with money to buy back the policy becomes a gunslinging hero when Jesse/Wendell Corey starts aiming for him . There he unwittingly takes on bad guys . Along the way he meets a beauty Rhonda Fleming . Bob Hope rides the range bareback in the biggest gun, gal and gag stampede in the West ! . Make way for 'Drag-a-long' Hope !. This town ain't big enough for both of us !. Look who they gave a gun !. Bob Hope As the Most Wanted Trigger in the West! . As the Most Wanted Figger in the West!

A rip-roaring Western/comedy as the conventions of the Wild West are turned upside down . This funny picture is a gag feast , plenty of humor , diverting situations and absurd sketches in Leslie Nielsen style . This one was just as good and had even a few more funnier moments including the scenes with Jesse James , the fight with the gunslingers , and , of course, the climatic chase scene , all of them make a fun good time . Adding a lot of cameos from TV stars and others known stars , such as : Fess Parker of Daniel Boone , Hugh O'Brian of Wyatt Earp , James Arness of Gunsmoke, Jay Silverheels of Lone Ranger , Roy Rogers , Gary Cooper , Bing Crosby , Jack Lambert, Jim Davis , Mike Mazurki , Iron Eyes Cody, Ward Bond , Bob Reeves , among others . One of Bob Hope's best , full of cartoon like gags , unheralded comedy classic . This was a worthy successor to the original ¨Paleface¨ and ¨Son of Paleface¨ , made in similar wake . Amusing and spasmodic comedy with the genius comic Bob Hope acting in his stereotyped role by relinquishing creative control and concentrating on humor based on destruction and wreak havoc , nice inventive bits , skilfully combining the entertainment with the amusement . Bob runs away with every cowboy cliché and even arranges to wind up with the girl . Gorgeous as well as sultry Rhonda Fleming who ropes the nervous Hope into marriage for the sake of his job . Bob Hope played and produced three Westens spoofs , this ¨Alias Jesse James¨(1959) , along with ¨Paleface¨ was also directed by Norman Z MacLeod starred by Hope as a bungler dentist , Jane Russel as Calamity Jane and Robert Armstrong , its sequel ¨Son of Paleface¨ results to be as good as the original , that was remade in 1968 as ¨The shakiest gun in the West¨ , with Don Knotts and Jackie Coogan .

The motion picture was well directed by Norman Z MacLeod . His first successful full-length film was ¨Taking a Chance¨ (1928) for Fox . He was one of Paramount's top directors when he shot two early films with The Marx Brothers, ¨Monkey Business¨ (1931) and ¨Horse Feathers¨ (1932), both considered among the team's best . Other memorable work from McLeod includes ¨It's a Gift¨ (1934) with W. C. Fields , ¨Topper¨ (1937) with Cary Grant and the Danny Kaye comedy , ¨Secret Life of Walter Mitty¨ (1947) . Rating : 6,5/10 . Entertaining and amusing movie that will appeal to Bob Hope fans . Worthwhile watching .

This movie was tied up for years due to royalty rights since 11 cowboy stars of the late '50s appear in cameos helping Bob Hope in the final shootout. Note that Gene Autry and James Garner do not appear in the current product, though they were in the original.

Then there is an owl-eyed kid named Harry Truman playing the piano. Bob clubs a gila monster ("The mice sure grow big around here"), then realizes he used a rattlesnake.

I've shown this tape to many people, and all agree it's the best Bob Hope movie and one of the funniest movies they've ever seen.