Jesse James' Women (1954)

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

Director:

Don 'Red' Barry

Writers:

D.D. Beauchamp (story), D.D. Beauchamp (screenplay),

Stars:

Don 'Red' Barry, Peggie Castle, Jack Buetel

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Jesse James / J. Woodsen (as Don Barry)
Peggie Castle	...	Waco Gans
Jack Buetel	...	Frank James
Lita Baron	...	Delta
Joyce Barrett	...	Caprice Clark (as Joyce Rhed)
Betty Brueck	...	Cattle Kate Kennedy
Laura Lea	...	Angel Botts
Sam Keller	...	Cole Younger
T.V. Garraway	...	Preacher (as Tom Garraway)
Michael Carr	...	Bob Ford (as Mike Carr)
Alton Hillman	...	Champ O'Toole
Curtis Dossett	...	Banker Clark (as Curtiss Dossett)
Jimmie Hammons	...	Sheriff Clem Botts
Mac McAllister	...	Ace, O'Toole's Manager
Frank Cunningham	...	Pete

Storyline

Jesse James leaves Missouri for Mississippi, and immediately charms all the women in Mississippi out of their bloomers and garters. His first conquest is the banker's daughter who helps him loot the bank in exchange for a promise of marriage; he wanders over to the saloon and runs the crooked partner of the proprietress out of town, takes all of his-and-her money and leaves her, between kisses, hounding him for her share; the third one, the saloon singer, actually makes a mark out of him as she cons him into a boxing match against a professional fighter and he loses the fight and his money, but he holds the singer and the fighter up as they leave town and gets his money back; and then he romances and swindles Cattle Kate, a replay of what he had done somewhere before to Kate and the "gotcha-again" Kate even ends up behind bars. But no film that contains a cat-fight between Peggie Castle and Lita Baron can be called a complete waste of time.

---

Plot Keywords:

jesse james | female gunfighter | street shootout | catfight | character name in title

---

Taglines:

BEAUTY vs. BEAUTY...for the love of JESSE JAMES! They met him on the double-cross roads of love!

---

Genres:

Western

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le amanti di Jesse il bandito

Filming Locations:

Silver Creek, Mississippi, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Panorama

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Careless Lover"
Music and Lyrics by George Antheil
Sung by Don 'Red' Barry

User Reviews

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.