Jesse James' Women (1954)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Don 'Red' Barry

Writers:

Don 'Red' Barry (writer)
William R. Cox (writer)

Release Date:

4 September 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

HIS DEADLY EXPLOITS, ADVENTURES...and Women! (original ad - mostly caps)

Plot:

Jesse James keeps so busy skirt-chasing that his outlaw career starts to suffer.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Character Name In Title

Cast

Don 'Red' Barry	...	Jesse James, alias J. Woodsen (as Don Barry)
Peggie Castle	...	Waco Gans
Jack Buetel	...	Frank James
Lita Baron	...	Delta
Michael Carr	...	Bob Ford (as Mike Carr)
Joyce Barrett	...	Caprice Clark
Sam Keller	...	Cole Younger
Betty Brueck	...	Cattle Kate Kennedy
James Clayton	...	Cameo Kane (as Cully Abrell)
Laura Lea	...	Angel Botts
Alton Hillman	...	Sheriff Clem Botts (as Al Hillman)
Curtis Dossett	...	Banker Clark (as Curtiss Dossett)
Jimmie Hammons	...	Champ O'Toole
Mac McAllister	...	Ace, O'Toole's Manager
Frank Cunningham	...	Pete

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16886, General Audience)

Filming Locations:

Silver Creek, Mississippi, USA

Company:

Panorama

Soundtrack:

Careless Lover

A few good moments, some good camera angles

Don Barry was a heck of an actor; he probably could have been a good director, with a better script and a bigger budget.

As it was, he showed some inventiveness with camera angles in this generally not very good movie.

The title could be rather off-putting, sounding like some kind of exploitation film. As it turned out, the title actually made sense, or at least as much sense as the story could provide.

Peggie Castle was lovely, and actually quite good in a role that could have been ruinous if played differently.

Some of the cast members seemed to have been recruited from bystanders, but ultimately most of them did as well as they could with the script.

Jack Buetel showed he could perform and should be known as more than Jane Russell's leading man in "The Outlaw." Several others did little or nothing other than this film, but one, Mac McAllister, showed enough professionalism and personality I think it's a shame he didn't do more.

In some ways this is a standard Western, but the saloon brawl was definitely non-stereotypical. If you see this film, be sure to pay attention to the sheriff during the fight.

My copy of this film is a DVD in Volume 36 of The Great American Western series from Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. It is not a very good quality picture, and, in too many places, the film was broken and spliced resulting in a jumpiness.

Still, all in all, this is a movie for Western fans and Don Barry fans to see at least once.