Main Cast: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Hope Lange, Agnes Moorehead, Alan Hale, Jr.
Release Year: 1957
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
Plot
Actually, this retelling of the life of outlaw Jesse James is only as true as its predecessor, the highly fanciful 1939 Tyrone Power-Henry Fonda starrer Jesse James. Generous chunks of stock footage from the earlier film are reused here, albeit reframed to accommodate the CinemaScope process. Robert Wagner makes an interesting James, though he is upstaged throughout by Jeffrey Hunter as his brother Frank. Adhering to the Canon, the film insists that the James boys were forced into a life of crime by greedy railroad men -- hence, their ongoing vendetta against trains. Director Nicholas Ray adds a few psychological nuances not found in the more prosaic 1939 film. John Carradine, who played "dirty little coward" Bob Ford in the original Jesse James, appears in the remake as Rev. Jethro Bailey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
John Carradine - Rev. Jethro Bailey; Rachel Stephens - Anne; Biff Elliot - Jim Younger; Frank Overton - Maj. Cobb; Barry Atwater - Attorney Walker; Marian Seldes - Rowina Cobb; Chubby Johnson - Askew; Frank Gorshin - Charley; Carl Thayler - Robby; John Doucette - Hillstrom; Robert Adler - Sheriff Trump; Clancy Cooper - Sheriff Yoe; Sumner Williams - Bill Stiles; Tom Greenway - Deputy Leo; Jason Wingreen - Peter; Aaron Saxon - Wiley; Anthony Ray - Bob Younger; Clegg Hoyt - Tucker; Thomas Pittman - Hughie; Joe di Reda - Bill Eyan; Alan Baxter - Remington; Barney Phillips - Dr. Samuel; Mike Steen - Deputy Ed
Credit
Addison Hehr - Art Director, Lyle Wheeler - Art Director, Mary Wills - Costume Designer, Joseph E. Richards - First Assistant Director, Nicholas Ray - Director, Robert L. Simpson - Editor, Leigh Harline - Composer (Music Score), Lionel Newman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Joe MacDonald - Cinematographer, Herbert Bayard Swope, Jr. - Producer, Stuart A. Reiss - Set Designer, Walter Scott - Set Designer, Walter Newman - Screenwriter
The True Story of Jesse James is a 1957 American Westerndrama film adapted from Henry King's 1939 film Jesse James, which was only loosely based on James' life.[1] The remake was directed by Nicholas Ray, with Robert Wagner portraying Jesse James and Jeffrey Hunter starring as Frank James. Filming took place during 1955.[2] Titled The James Brothers for release in the United Kingdom, the movie focused on the relationship between the two James brothers during the last 18 years of Jesse James' life.[2]
Jesse (Robert Wagner) and Frank James (Jeffrey Hunter) ride with their gang into Northfield, Minnesota for a raid. While robbing a bank, gun fighting breaks out and two of the gang are killed. The James Brothers and another gang member head out of town and hide out while investigators from the Remington Detective Agency search for James to receive a $30,000 reward. While the three are hiding, the film tells the story of how the James Brothers came to be criminals in flashback.
Shortly after his success with 1955's Rebel Without a Cause, Ray was hired to direct this movie based on Jesse James' later life. He had only one movie left under his contract with 20th Century Fox, before he would depart for Europe and film Bitter Victory. The studio suggested a remake of King's 1939 biography of Jesse James.[3]
It is speculated that had James Dean not died in a car crash before production began, he would have starred in this movie as Jesse James.[4][5] In place of Dean, director Ray hoped to cast Elvis Presley, who had successfully completed his first film, Love Me Tender.[6] Ray's son Tony also was cast in the film as Bob Younger, the first time he appeared in one of his father's movies.[6]
In the movie, James is portrayed as "Nicholas Ray hero"-- a consistent type of character seen throughout Ray's films and thought to be based on Ray himself.[3] Ray's similar characters include Jim Stark (James Dean) in Rebel Without a Cause and Jesus Christ in King of Kings.[3]
