I Shot Jesse James (1949)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writers:

Samuel Fuller (story)
Homer Croy (article)

Release Date:

26 February 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | Western

Tagline:

THE THRILLING AND COLORFUL LAST DAYS OF AMERICA'S MOST FABULOUS OUTLAW...POWERFULLY WRITTEN IN GUNSMOKE! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Jesse James | Amnesty | Prospector | Pardon | Reward

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 (as Barbara Wooddell)
Phillip Pine	...	Man in Saloon (as Phil Pine)
Robin Short	...	Troubadour

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Lippert Pictures

Trivia:

Director Samuel Fuller said that he wanted to make this picture because, unlike many filmmakers in Hollywood, he did not see the real Jesse James as a "folk hero" or someone to be admired. Fuller saw him as a cold-blooded psychopath who shot down women, children, the elderly, the helpless (his gang once stopped a Union hospital train and executed every wounded federal soldier on it) and, in Fuller's words, Bob Ford "did something that should have been done quite a bit earlier in the life of Jesse Woodson James".

Goofs:

Continuity: During the final shootout the background lighting on the closeups and master shots of John Ireland do not match.

Quotes:

John Kelley: Miss Waters, don't be worried about me losing any money in your show. I don't have any, but I'd still like to talk to you again.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best of Sex and Violence (1981)

Soundtrack:

The Jesse James Song

Hard to get too enthusiastic after seeing The Assassination of Jesse James

Six days after seeing Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, it's still the film at the forefront of my mind. I saw this as a followup to that. Like most Hollywood films of the era (and most of today), I Shot Jesse James plays fast and loose with the facts. In this film, Ford (John Ireland) shoots James for the reward money so he can marry his sweetheart (Barbara Britton). Unfortunately, that cowardly act turns her off of him, and she gravitates toward a man named John Kelley (Preston Foster). Kelley is a fictionalized version of Ed O'Kelley, the man who ultimately shot Robert Ford for nothing more than fame. It's pretty hilarious that he's more or less made into the hero of this picture. Jesse James is ludicrously depicted as an avuncular Abe Lincoln figure. Besides all of this hoo-ha, Sam Fuller, whose debut this was, does a decent job characterizing Ford. Too bad Ireland, an actor I immediately recognized but couldn't say for the life of me where I know him from (I looked it up – he also played the reporter, and pretty much the lead character, in the Best Picture of that year, All the King's Men), is a pretty boring actor. I usually associate Fuller with fast pacing and good plotting, but this one plods along lamely with its romantic triangle melodrama. It does have a couple of good scenes, though, like one where a goofy looking teen (Gene Collins) tries to assassinate Ford, and another where Ford encounters a folk singer performing the Jesse James ballad, a scene which is echoed in Dominik's film.