Twentieth Century Fox-1939
Starring Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott, Donald Meek, John Carradine
Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck
Associate producer and original screenplay by Nunnally Johnson
Historical data assembled by Rosalind Schaeffer and JoFrances James
Directed by Henry King

“After the tragic war between the states, America turned to the winning of the West. The symbol of this era was the building of the trans-continental railroads. The advance of the railroads was, in some cases, predatory and unscrupulous. Whole communities found themselves victimized by an ever-growing ogre-The Iron Horse. It was this uncertain and lawless age that gave to the world, for good or ill, its most famous outlaws, the brothers Frank and Jesse James.” The opening narration contains the only mention of the Civil War, casts the railroad in the villain’s role, and ignores both the James brothers’ participation in the war and the other members of the James-Younger Gang, namely the Younger brothers. This is fitting since the plot has only the slimmest connection to the actual Jesse James.

The movie begins with a smooth talking railroad representative intimidating poor, ignorant farmers into selling their land to the St. Louis Midland Railroad for a pittance, claiming that the government will take it anyway even if they don’t sign. Anyone who resists is beaten up by his thugs, but the James brothers are too smart and too tough. The boys are organizing the neighbors when they learn that the smooth talker got himself and his bully boys sworn out as deputies, so they leave to avoid trouble. Refusing to believe they have left, the railroad representative throws a bomb that blows up the James’ house and kills their mother. After Jesse has avenged his mother in a fair fight a gang is quickly formed and they start robbing trains, targeting the Midland Railroad because it started the whole problem.

The romantic interest, Zee, is the local newspaper editor’s niece, not Jesse’s cousin, presumably because cousins marrying each other would appear a little too hillbilly. Zee’s uncle steals the movie with editorials on topics such as shooting all the lawyers is the only way to bring about law and order or there will be order only when all the railroad presidents are taken out and shot. He was probably modeled on John Newman Edwards, Confederate general Jo Shelby’s former adjutant and editor of the Kansas City Times, who wrote editorials in support of the James brothers and helped Jesse write his frequent letters giving alibis and protesting his innocence.

Randolph Scott is his usual tough, decent man as Liberty’s marshal and rival for Zee’s heart but as the hero, Tyrone Power gets most of the screen time, and is presented as a successful bandit, a Robin Hood type, who is protected by the community.

Jesse only gives up after Zee makes a passionate plea that he surrender because otherwise the violence will get into his blood and he will become like a wolf, although it being 1939, she has to cry at the end of her speech. He expects that he will be given a light sentence but the owner of the St. Louis Midland Railroad arranges for him to be tried by a judge who intends to hang him. Frank breaks Jesse out, while Zee goes on the run with her man since Jesse kept his promise.

The film does not whitewash the misery of living on the run, never staying long in one place. Jesse is not even there for the birth of his son and Zee does not hide the fact that she hates living like an animal, scared of every step on the porch. When she eventually gives up on Jesse and leaves, he lets her go, knowing that it is no life for a family. He then declares war on the St. Louis Midland until the gang rides into a rather ludicrous trap in Northfield where the entire town rushes inside when the signal is given. Filmmakers seem to view the fact that the James-Younger Gang was taken down by ordinary townspeople who had no warning of the robbery as a demeaning end for such famous outlaws.

The eulogy at the end of the movie sums up why America worships outlaws. “ America wasn’t ashamed of Jesse because he was bold and lawless, like people wish they could be. Times made him what he was. People admired him because he was so good at what he did. Died April 3, 1882, 34 years old.”

It is historically inaccurate, since aside from their names and Bob Ford, it gets almost nothing right, but it is a very enjoyable film that moves along well and has a surprisingly bleak view of the price of the outlaw life.