I Shot Jesse James *** (1949, Preston Foster, Barbara Britton, John Ireland, Reed Hadley) – Classic Movie Review 3516

Writer-director Samuel Fuller’s 1949 Western stars Preston Foster as old sheriff John Kelley, who helps a guilt-attacked Bob Ford (John Ireland), the man who shot his old best friend Jesse James (Reed Hadley) in order to obtain a pardon to marry his girlfriend, Cynthy Waters.

Fuller’s intriguing movie is imbued with a serious, if obvious theme about conscience – it makes cowards of us all apparently. The pluses are decent playing by Ireland, attractive cinematography by Ernest Miller relying on big face shots and some flashy directorial work by Fuller (in his debut).

Some hesitancies and uncertainties in the acting and in Fuller’s screenplay (based on a story by Homer Croy) count against it, but it’s still a must-see for all Western and Fuller buffs.

Also in the cast are Barbara Britton as Cynthy Waters, J Edward Bromberg, Victor Kilian, Tom Tyler as Frank James, Tom Noonan as Charles Ford , Barbara Woodell as Mrs Zee James, Byron Foulger, Margia Dean and Eddie Dunn.

Fuller said he saw Jesse James as a cold-blooded psychopath who shot down women, children, the elderly and the helpless, and thought Bob Ford ‘did something that should have been done quite a bit earlier’.

The story is revisited in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3516

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