The True Story of Jesse James (1957)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

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:

Shirtless Male Bondage | Remake | Whipped | 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) | UK:U | West Germany:18 (nf) | Norway:16 | 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:

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed at the time, that Patricia Owens and Stuart Whitman had both been cast, neither of whom went on to even appear in the film.

Movie Connections:

Features Jesse James (1939)

Definitely NOT the True Story of Jesse James

20th Century-Fox and screenwriter Nunnaly Johnson's belated follow-up to their high-spirited and excellent 1939 smash hit JESSE JAMES has returned on DVD to annoy and bore another generation.

The 1957 True Story of Jesse James isn't such a bad movie, but it's inferior in every way to the 1939 movie as well as the 1940 sequel Return of Frank James. Also, the "true story" is no more historically factual than the revisionist history original. Just do a Google search and see what I mean.

Robert Wagoner and Jeffery Hunter were the pretty boys of 1957 but can't hold a candle to the excellent portrayals of Frank and Jesse by Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda. Screenwriter Nunnally Johnson wrote both, but was obviously more fired-up with inspiration in 1939, as that film had nary a dull 5 seconds. It was brilliantly staffed with one rich characterization after another, good guys as well as bad. Even the Technicolor was better in the original. They used 3-strip Technicolor and those cameras which were 1/2 the size of a Pontiac --- to produce a brilliantly rich color still unmatched in 2007.

The 1939 Jesse James was the obvious inspiration for 1972's great hit, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The 1957 version inspired only a Z-session.