The True Story of Jesse James (1957)

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (earlier screenplay)
Walter Newman (screenplay)

Release Date:

February 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Western

Plot:

The last eighteen years in the life of Jesse James, showing his home life in Missouri, his experiences with Quantrill's raiders...

Plot Keywords:

Whipped | Shirtless Male Bondage | Remake | Character Name In Title

Cast

Robert Wagner	...	Jesse James
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Frank James
Hope Lange	...	Zee
Agnes Moorehead	...	Mrs. Samuel
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Cole Younger (as Alan Hale)
Alan Baxter	...	Remington
John Carradine	...	Reverend Jethro Bailey
Rachel Stephens	...	Anne James
Barney Phillips	...	Dr. Samuel
Biff Elliot	...	Jim Younger
Frank Overton	...	Major Rufus Cobb
Barry Atwater	...	Attorney Walker
Marian Seldes	...	Rowena Cobb
Chubby Johnson	...	Askew
Frank Gorshin	...	Charley Ford

Also Known As:

Jesse James (USA) (working title)
The James Brothers (UK)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (MPAA rating: #18321) | West Germany:18 (nf) | UK:U | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Behind scenes, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Footage from the original 1939 production was used when Frank and Jesse go over a cliff on horseback into a river and when they crashed, on horseback, through a store window during the "Northfield Minnesota Raid."

Movie Connections:

Remake of Jesse James (1939)

Rebels with a cause

There's not a big difference between the heroes of "Rebel without a cause" and the James bros.All are immature young people ,taking a rebel stand against the establishment (the well meaning society for Dean,Wood ,Mineo and their pals,the Yankees for these western Robin Hoods) .If the second movie is not as successful as the 1955 work (and as Ray's other "westerns " "Johnny Guitar" and "Run for cover" ) it's because the actors,with the staggering exception of Wellesian actress Agnes Moorehead,do not have great screen presence (Robert Wagner will improve with age).

This is a western "a la "Citizen Kane" ,using now dying Moorehead's memories,now Lange's regrets ,now Frank's remembering what went wrong. In the poems she wrote ,Bonnie Parker alluded to the James brothers and it's obvious that Arthur Penn was certainly influenced by Ray when he directed his "Bonnie and Clyde" .(Jess's desire to have a home and to live in peace with his wife is also Clyde's)

A minor work in Ray's canon,it's worth a watch though.