I Shot Jesse James (1949)

Bob Ford murders his best friend Jesse James in order to obtain a pardon that will free him to marry his girlfriend but is plagued by guilt and self-disgust.

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writers:

Samuel Fuller (story), Homer Croy (article),

Stars:

Preston Foster, Barbara Britton, John Ireland

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Preston Foster	...	John Kelley
Barbara Britton	...	Cynthy Waters
John Ireland	...	Bob Ford
Reed Hadley	...	Jesse James
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Harry Kane
Victor Kilian	...	Soapy
Tom Tyler	...	Frank James
Tommy Noonan	...	Charles Ford (as Tom Noonan)
Eddie Dunn	...	Joe, Silver King Bartender
Margia Dean	...	Saloon Singer
Byron Foulger	...	Silver King Room Clerk
Jeni Le Gon	...	Veronica, Cynthy's Maid
Barbara Woodell	...	Mrs. Zee James
Phillip Pine	...	Man in Saloon (as Phil Pine)
Robin Short	...	Troubadour

Storyline

While the law hunts him, Jesse James lives quietly in a rented house on the corner of Lafayette and Twenty-first street in St. Joseph, Missouri, under the alias of Tom Howard. His wife Zee begs him to end his association with the Ford brothers. Before they can leave on a "last" bank holdup, Bob learns that his childhood sweetheart, Cynthy Waters, now an actress, is in St. Joe and he brushes aside all caution to see her. Cynthy is beginning to realize that she is a liability to her manager, Harry Kane, because she will not leave Missouri. Meanwhile, John Kelley has come into her life. She pleads with Bob to turn honest. Cynthy tries to get a pardon for Bob, but the best offer she can get is for a 20-year stretch in prison. Then, the Governor offers amnesty and a $10,000 reward to any member of the James gang betraying Jesse. When his chance comes (April 3, 1882)Bob shoots Jesse in the back. He gets the amnesty but the reward is cut to $500. He also loses the love and respect of Cynthy,...

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Plot Keywords:

pardon | amnesty | prospector | reward | missouri | 

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Taglines:

I KILLED MY BEST FRIEND FOR THE LOVE OF A WOMAN! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 February 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ich erschoß Jesse James

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lippert Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The skilled gunman who attracts younger opponents who want to defeat him is very commonplace in the world of westerns. This movie is said to be the one that started this trend.

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Goofs

When Jesse James goes to straighten the picture on his wall, the opening shot shows the picture slanting down to the right. When the camera angle changes, the picture is slanting up to the right. When the film cuts back to the first angle, the picture is slanting down to the right again.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Bob Ford: I... I want to tell you something I ain't never told anyone. I'm sorry for what I done to Jess.
Cynthy Waters: Oh, Bob!
Bob Ford: I loved him.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits are shown as posters hanging on a wall.

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Connections

Featured in Gunfighters of the Old West (1992)

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Soundtracks

"The Jesse James Song"
Written by Billy Gashade
Sung by Robin Short

User Reviews

Interesting Take on the Legend

I Shot Jesse James (1949)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Fuller's directorial debut takes a look at the life of Bob Ford (John Ireland) after his cowardly killing of Jesse James. Ford is in love with a woman (Barbara Britton) but goes out West to try and make some money but what he doesn't know is that she's in love with another man (Preston Foster). The story of Jesse James in Hollywood has always been an interesting one because a lot of movies look at him as some sort of good guy when in truth he was pure scum who killed women and children. How this guy ever got to be looked at as a hero is beyond me but it's probably the same way Ford became a coward. People have debated on what Ford was but there's no question this Fuller film shows him as a weak coward and it even changes the ending of history to make him go out in a different way. This is technically a very well made film but at the same time there are quite a few problems with the screenplay. For starters, the movie seems to be hit and miss in regards to what it's trying to say. I didn't care too much for the way James was shown because they made him look and sound like one would expect Abraham Lincoln to come off. I'm not sure why they built Jesse up so highly just to change things around on Ford. The film seems to want to show Ford for a coward yet the screenplay goes off in different directions as to center on other aspects of his life and it's the later stuff that makes the film swing off track for me. With that said, the amount of talent on display here by Fuller can't be questioned. The visual style of the film is wonderful and he handles the action quite well. The psychological stuff comes off pretty well especially the scene right after the murder when Ford enters a bar only to have people looking at him differently than he expected. Ireland is very good in his role as is Foster. The two men work extremely well together and make the film worth seeing. There are many, many film dealing with this subject and while this one here isn't the best, there's still enough here making it worth checking out.