Main Cast: Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott, Brian Donlevy, Henry Hull
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: GP
Plot
The real Frank and Jesse James were murderous thugs, light years away from the Robin Hood image imposed on them by revisionist dime novelists. But in 1939, 20th Century-Fox wasn't about to build an expensive Technicolor feature around the exploits of a couple of low-lives, thus Jesse James upholds the mythos, offering us the standard whitewashed version of the James boys. According to Nunally Johnson's irresistibly entertaining screenplay, Jesse (Tyrone Power) and Frank (Henry Fonda) become train and bank robbers to avenge the death of their mother (Jane Darwell), killed at the behest of greedy railroad interests. Once he feels his work is done, Jesse settles down to a life of marital domesticity--only to be shot in the back by cowardly Bob Ford (John Carradine). Frank James is left alive at film's end, paving the way for the 1941 sequel The Return of Frank James. Director Henry King stages the action sequences in glorious outsized fashion, notably the famous bank-robbery scene in which Jesse rides his horse through a plate glass window. The scenes involving both James brothers are stolen hands-down by Henry Fonda, not so much because he was a better actor than Tyrone Power but because his character had all the best lines. Jesse James was filmed largely on location in Missouri, resulting in crowd-control nightmares for the picture's beleaguered assistant directors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A railroad worker named Barshee (Brian Donlevy) forces farmers to give up the land the railroad was going to go through, giving them $1 per acre (much less than fair price) for it. When they come to Jesse's home, Jesse (Tyrone Power) tells Barshee that his mother Mrs. Samuels (Jane Darwell) is the farm's owner. Barshee repeatedly tries to force her into selling, until her other son Frank James (Henry Fonda) gets involved. Frank fights and easily beats Barshee, but Barshee's men get involved and Jesse shoots him in the hand. When arrest warrants are issued for Frank and Jesse, Major A. Rufus Cobb (Henry Hull) editor in nearby Liberty, Missouri and uncle of Zerelda (Zee) Cobb (Nancy Kelly), Jesse's lover, quickly comes to tell them to leave. Frank and Jesse learn that Barshee is responsible for the death of their mother and Jesse kills him in revenge. This begins Frank and Jesse's career as outlaws. Three years later, with a $5000 on his head, Jesse marries Zee and turns himself in, having been promised a light sentence by Marshall Will Wright (Randolph Scott). But the judge supersedes Marshall Wright's recommendation and Jesse is given a stiff sentence. So Frank breaks Jesse out of jail but is captured in the process. Jesse continues his life of crime and eventually Zee leaves him, taking their son Jesse Jr. Years later, a wounded Jesse returns home and Zee joins him in the belief that they will escape to California. Meanwhile, Frank has escaped and sends Bob Ford (John Carradine) to Jesse with a message. But Bob Ford betrays and kills Jesse instead.
Reception
Jesse James became a moderately successful film upon release, but was mostly ignored at the time, as a number of more notable films were released either at the same time or shortly thereafter (Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, etc.). A sequel, The Return of Frank James, directed by Fritz Lang and with Henry Fonda reprising his role as Frank James, was released in 1940.
The film gained a measure of notoriety, however, for a scene in which a horse falls to its death down a rocky slope toward the end of the film. This scene was one of many cited by the American Humane Association against Hollywood's abuse of animals, and led to the association's monitoring of filmmaking.[2]
Much of the filming for Jesse James took place around the town of Pineville, Missouri in McDonald County, Missouri, because at the time the town and surrounding area looked much the same as it would have in the 1880s and 1890s. Pineville still celebrates Jesse James Days annually in homage to the film and the movie stars who descended on the small town to make it. In their off time from filming, the films' stars and crew, including Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda and Randolph Scott, would seek out relaxation at the Shadow Lake resort in Noel, Missouri, on the shores of Elk River (Oklahoma).
