Jesse James is a 1939 American Western film directed by Henry King and starring Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly and Randolph Scott. Written by Nunnally Johnson, the film is loosely based on the life of Jesse James, the outlaw from whom the film derives its name. The supporting cast includes Henry Hull, John Carradine, Brian Donlevy, Jane Darwell and Lon Chaney Jr.
The American Humane Association began to oversee filmmaking after a horse appeared to die when it was driven off a cliff on set. The film has been described by the British Channel 4 website as being "notorious for its historical inaccuracy."
Plot
A railroad representative named Barshee forces farmers to give up the land the railroad is going to go through, giving them $1 per acre (much less than fair price) for it. When they come to Jesse's home, Barshee is told by Jesse that his mother Mrs Samuels is the farm's owner.
Barshee repeatedly tries to force her into selling, until her other son Frank James gets involved. Frank fights and easily beats Barshee, but Jesse shoots Barshee in the hand, in self-defence. When arrest warrants are issued for Frank and Jesse, Major A. Rufus Cobb, an editor in nearby Liberty, Missouri and uncle of Zerelda (Zee) Cobb, 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. They are pursued relentlessly by the unscrupulous railway boss, McCoy. Three years later, with a $5,000 reward on his head, Jesse marries Zee and turns himself in, at her insistence, having been promised a light sentence by Marshall Will Wright. But McCoy manages to manipulate the situation through his connections, by having the judge dismissed pre-trial, and installing a new judge, who is likely to favour McCoy's recommendation of imposing the death penalty for Jesse.
Frank breaks Jesse out of jail, and the James gang continue their life of crime. Eventually Zee leaves him, taking their son Jesse Jr. with her. Years later, following an unsuccessful robbery, a wounded Jesse returns home and Zee joins him in the belief that they will escape to California. Meanwhile, Bob Ford, an old member of the James gang, together with his brother Charlie Ford, contact Jesse, claiming that Frank sent them to ask Jesse to participate in their next robbery. They assert that the job will earn them all a large sum of money for very little risk. Jesse nevertheless refuses the Ford brothers' offer, and the brothers exit the house. However, sensing an opportunity to claim the generous reward for Jesse's death, Bob Ford sneaks back inside, and shoots Jesse in the back, thereby killing him.
Cast
Tyrone Power as Jesse James
Henry Fonda as Frank James
Nancy Kelly as Zerelda (Zee) Randolph Scott as Will Wright Henry Hull as Major Rufus Cobb Slim Summerville as Jailer J. Edward Bromberg as Mr. Runyan Brian Donlevy as Barshee John Carradine as Bob Ford Donald Meek as McCoy John Russell as Jesse James Jr. Jane Darwell as Mrs. Samuels, James' mother Charles Tannen as Charles Ford Claire Du Brey as Mrs. Bob Ford Willard Robertson as Clarke Harold Goodwin as Bill Ernest Whitman as Pinkie Eddy Waller as Deputy Paul Burns as Hank Spencer Charters as Minister Arthur Aylesworth as Tom Colson Charles Middleton as Doctor Charles Halton as Heywood George Chandler as Roy Harry Tyler as Farmer Virginia Brissac as Boy's Mother Ed Le Saint as Judge Rankin John Elliott as Judge Mathews Erville Alderson as Old Marshall George Breakston as Farmer Boy Lon Chaney Jr. as One of James' Gang Tom London as Soldier (uncredited) Lorenza Dow Bone as Bartender (uncredited)
Production
Much of the filming for Jesse James took place around the town of Pineville in McDonald County, Missouri, because at the time the town and surrounding area looked much as it would have in the 1880s and 1890s. The town's historic Old McDonald County Courthouse, a National Register of Historic Places site, was featured in the film serving as a stand-in for the Liberty, Missouri, courthouse. 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 relaxation at the Shadow Lake resort in Noel, Missouri, on the shores of the Elk River (Oklahoma).