The True Story of Jesse James **** (1957, Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Agnes Moorehead, Hope Lange, John Carradine, Alan Hale Jnr, Alan Baxter, Frank Gorshin) – Classic Movie Review 3,393

The 1957 action biopic The True Story of Jesse James takes a fresh look at the Western tale of the James Brothers, and has strong work from Robert Wagner (as Jesse James) and Jeffrey Hunter (as Frank James).

In the 20th Century Fox 1957 CinemaScope and DeLuxe colour action biopic The True Story of Jesse James, director Nicholas Ray takes a fresh look at the much told Western tale of the James Brothers, and coaxes surprisingly strong work from his two young actors, Robert Wagner (as Jesse James) and Jeffrey Hunter (as Frank James).

The True Story of Jesse James tells the story of the last 18 years in Jesse’s life, showing him at home in Missouri, his time with Quantrill’s raiders, his outlaw career with his brother Frank and the Younger brothers, and his bid to lead a peaceful life after the disastrous bank raid at Northfield, Minnesota.

There is good support too from Agnes Moorehead (as their mother), Hope Lange (as Jesse’s wife Zee James), John Carradine as the Reverend Jethro Bailey, Alan Hale Jnr as Cole Younger, Alan Baxter as Barney Remington, Biff Elliot as Jim Younger, Frank Overton as Major Rufus Cobb and Frank Gorshin as Charley Ford.

Comparisons with the 1939 Tyrone Power-Henry Fonda Jesse James movie are invited by including stock footage from that version reconfigured for CinemaScope, when Frank and Jesse go over a cliff on horseback into a river and when they crash on horseback through a store window during the Northfield Raid. UK versions are cut by nine seconds to remove the stock footage of the cliff-top jump that resulted in the death of a horse.

However, even with Walter Newman’s screenplay based on the earlier screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, Ray’s 35 mm film stands up in its own right, with its wonderful CinemaScope widescreen DeLuxe colour cinematography by director of photography Joe MacDonald and the excellent score by Leigh Harline in 4-Track Stereo.

The film originally had a non-linear plot with flashbacks, but the 20th Century Fox studio forced Ray to recut it with the scenes in chronological order. It hardly needs saying that both The True Story of Jesse James and Jesse James are only loosely based on Jesse James’s life.

John Carradine played Robert Ford in the 1939 Jesse James and his sons David, Keith and Robert play the Younger brothers in The Long Riders (1980), another film about the James-Younger Gang. Brad Pitt plays Jesse James in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).

The True Story of Jesse James was shot between September and October 1956 at the 20th Century Fox Ranch, Malibu Creek State Park, 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, and at 20th Century Fox Studios, 10201 Pico Blvd, Century City, Los Angeles. Modern buildings are visible in the background during the Northfield robbery scene.

It was originally titled The James Brothers in the UK.

It cost $1,585,000 and took $1,500,000 in US rentals, so it was not judged to be a hit.

Nicholas Ray’s son Anthony Ray is cast as Bob Younger, the first time he appears in one of his father’s films. Also in the cast are Carl Thayler as Robby Ford, Adam Marshall as Dick Liddell, Louis Zito as Clell Miller, Paul Wexler as Jayhawker and Clegg Hoyt as Tucker.

Nicholas Ray came aboard with the idea of casting Elvis Presley, whom he thought had the potential to be a new James Dean, as Jesse James, but the 20th Century Fox studio had always intended to cast its favoured contract star Wagner. However, Ray succeeded in overruling the studio’s choice of Joanne Woodward as Jesse’s wife in favour of Hope Lange. Twentieth Century Fox were carefully building Wagner and Hunter into top-level stars. Wagner recalled: ‘You were part of 20th Century Fox. You felt proud of being part of the organisation. When I wasn’t working, I was on the road, going out and selling movies or dancing on the stage and meeting the public. They never let you rest.’

Early on, Wagner and Hunter both appeared in supporting roles in The Frogmen (1951) and were teamed as stars in the Western White Feather (1955).

Wagner and Hunter also star together in A Kiss Before Dying (1956) and In Love and War (1958), which also features Hope Lange, who got to star with Elvis Presley in Wild in the Country (1961).

Robert Wagner turned 90 on 10 February 2020.

The True Story of Jesse James is directed by Nicholas Ray, runs 92 minutes, is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Walter Newman, based on a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, is shot in CinemaScope and Color by DeLuxe by Joseph MacDonald, is produced by Herbert B Swope, Jr, and is scored by Leigh Harline.

Release date: March 22, 1957.

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/