I Shot Jesse James

1949 "THE THRILLING AND COLORFUL LAST DAYS OF AMERICA'S MOST FABULOUS OUTLAW...POWERFULLY WRITTEN IN GUNSMOKE!"
6.8| 1h21m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 26 February 1949 Released
Producted By: Lippert Pictures
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Bob Ford murders his best friend Jesse James in order to obtain a pardon that will free him to marry his girlfriend Cynthy. The guilt-stricken Ford soon finds himself greeted with derision and open mockery throughout town. He travels to Colorado to try his hand at prospecting in hopes that marriage with Cynthy is still in the cards.

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Reviews

Nonureva Really Surprised!
Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.
ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.
IncaWelCar In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.
Armand a good work, interesting western, smart story. in fact, more than adaptation of an American modern history episode, it seems be adaptation of Ahasverus myth. because it is portrait of a sin committed with noble intention. and that fact is basic virtue of that drama. it does a simple movie, mixture of love and revenge, who can impress first for its deep roots. it is a a film remarkable for actors performance because the acting is , in this case,precise tool not for present a story but to discover the profound human side of characters. and that fact has a correct result and the force of seduction for large public. it is a good work. and that thing is a real admirable virtue for the manner to expose the story in inspired light. and , for that fact, the merit of John Ireland is not little.
lastliberal If you have not seen Samuel Fuller's White Dog, you need to get it quick to see what a great director he was. This is his first film. He wrote and directed this, and his promise shows throughout.Jesse (Reed Hadley) doesn't have the young look that I have come to expect. He almost looks like Abe Lincoln with his beard and mustache.John Ireland, who received an Oscar nomination for All the King's Men the same year as this film, was Bob Ford, whose love for Cynthy Waters (Barbara Britton) caused him to kill Jesse.Of course, everything goes wrong as people likes Jesse, and he was shunned. He also suffered remorse for killing his friend, but you know the story.It was a good tale of the killing of Jesse James, and the aftermath for Ford.The bar scene with the traveling troubadour (Robin Short) singing about the "coward Robert Ford" was hilarious.
funkyfry Sam Fuller wrote and directed this unusual version of the Jesse James story from the perspective of his murderer, the "cowardly" Robert Ford (John Ireland). Although Ireland is billed beneath 30s oater star Preston Foster ("Outcasts of Poker Flat") and his love interest Cynthy played by Barbara Britton, he's definitely the star of this show and it's the story of Ford and not James or any other character. In fact James is shown as something of a trusting simpleton -- unless you want to dig into the possibility that's implied in some of the film's images that James and Ford are lovers. In fact if you've watched to the very end there's sort of a stark recognition there depending on how you see it. But there's a definite note of tenderness when James touches Ford's injured shoulder, and then there's that scene where James has Ford scrub his back in the tub....There's a lot of interesting character work from Ireland, who doesn't do that well with the earlier scenes like where he's supposed to be dreaming of his freedom, but who kicks into high gear as soon as his lady-love seems to reject him. Ireland is very convincing at conveying passion and also at playing a guy who's trying hard to hide his passion. That's never more clear than in the great scene when a wandering musician plays the song about "the dirty little coward Robert Ford" for him in the bar. I also really liked the scene with he and Foster when he held back from getting involved in the bar fight until the other man drew a gun.Foster himself isn't given nearly as much to do in the film but he was always a solid screen presence, he's convincingly grizzled and world-weary. A lot of times in these types of movies the Foster character would have ended up getting the girl, but things are a bit more unclear in this story. We don't get the sense that there's really much chemistry between them. Britton's work is pretty good I thought. She convinced me that her character didn't really know what she wanted.Good B movie, glad to finally get a chance to see it.
alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This was the first film directed by Samuel Fuller. The producer was Robert Lippert, who gave total freedom to Fuller as long as the budget was low. The result was a financial success considering the amount that was invested and it established the pattern that Fuller's films would follow: low budget, but control of the film by Fuller.If ever a film deserved to be called "noir" it is this one. Apart from being filmed in black and white, but more black than white, it is the story of a man so blinded by love that all through the film you feel his anguish and desperation. Fuller took the liberty of adding this love story to the tragic life of Robert Ford, who is known up to our days as "the dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard.". John Ireland is a convincing Ford, Preston Foster is John Kelley a man that is in love with the same woman.. Barbara Britton is outstanding as Cinthy Waters, the woman. She is beautiful and has an incredibly modern look for a film that was made in 1949, makes you think of Nicole Kidman. She is unreachable to Ford, he knew that as a fugitive their love could not survive, but he did not realize that as a cowardly killer, even though he was pardoned, the people would hate him and the odds would be that she would not accept him. She was unwillingly the cause of his tragedy.