The Long Riders (1980)

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
The origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the Jesse James gang
is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brother
s who begin their legendary bank raids because of of revenge.
Written by Keith Loh

Full Cast
David Carradine ... Cole Younger
Keith Carradine ... Jim Younger
Robert Carradine ... Bob Younger
James Keach ... Jesse James
Stacy Keach ... Frank James
Dennis Quaid ... Ed Miller
Randy Quaid ... Clell Miller
Kevin Brophy ... John Younger
Harry Carey Jr. ... George Arthur
Christopher Guest ... Charlie Ford
Nicholas Guest ... Bob Ford
Shelby Leverington ... Annie Ralston
Felice Orlandi ... Mr. Reddick
Pamela Reed ... Belle Starr
James Remar ... Sam Starr
Fran Ryan ... Mrs. Samuel
Savannah Smith Boucher ... Zee (as Savannah Smith)
Amy Stryker ... Beth
James Whitmore Jr. ... Mr. Rixley
John Bottoms ... Mortician
West Buchanan ... McCorkindale
Edward Bunker ... Chadwell
Martina Deignan ... Shirley Biggs
Allan Graf ... Bank Customer Graf
Chris Mulkey ... Vernon Biggs
Thomas Myers ... Gallatin Bank Cashier (as Thomas R. Myers)
Marlise Pierrat ... Wilhelmina (as Marlise Pieratt)
Glenn Robards ... Doctor
Tim Rossovich ... Pitts
Lin Shaye ... Kate
Gary Watkins ... Bank Teller Heywood
Peter Jason ... Pinkerton
Duke Stroud ... Pinkerton
Steven Chambers ... Pinkerton (as Steve Chambers)
William Traylor ... Pinkerton
J. Don Ferguson ... Preacher
Hugh McGraw ... Singer
Prentiss Rowe ... Sheriff Rowe (as Prentiss E. Rowe)
Stuart Mossman ... Engineer
Michael Lackey ... Gustavson
Mitch Greenhill ... Guitarist
Bill Bryson ... Banjo Player
Tom Sauber ... Fiddle Player
Jimmy Medearis ... Farmer
Edgar McLeod ... Photographer
Luis Contreras ... Man at the Bar
Kalen Keach ... Little Jesse
R.B. Thrift ... Archie
John Carradine ... (scenes deleted)
Ry Cooder ... Musician (uncredited)
George Miklos ... Clogger #1 (uncredited)
Bill Rampley ... Cowboy / Posse (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Bill Bryden (written by) &
Steven Smith (written by) (as Steven Phillip Smith) &
Stacy Keach (written by) (as Stacy) &
James Keach (written by)
Walter Hill uncredited

Original Music
Ry Cooder

Cinematography
Ric Waite

Trivia
Stuart Mossman, who played the "Engineer," was a renowned guitar maker and friend
of the three Carradine brothers, who all owned Mossman guitars.

The film stars four sets of actual brothers: the Carradines, the Keachs, the Quaids and the Guests.

Originally Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges were going to play the Ford brothers
but they could not fit it in their schedules.

Although John Younger is portrayed as a cousin of the Youngers, he was a brother.

Edward Bunker who plays Chadwell in the Northfield bank robbery was actually,
among many other things, a convicted bank robber.

The gentleman bothering Cole Younger (David Carradine) outside the bank
just before the shootout is speaking Swedish.
He asks (in Swedish) if he can buy Cole's horse, and is refused.
After being refused the Swede replies, "A shame. It's a beautiful horse".

The roles of Jesse James and his son, little Jesse, are played by father and son, James and Kalen Keach.

Dennis Quaid broke his nose during the making of this film as he did three years later on Tough Enough.

Cameo
Bill Bryden: the saloon singer. Bryden co-wrote the script.

Goofs
Anachronisms
The James gang is seen sitting for a portrait sometime before the Northfield raid in 1876.
The photographer uses flash powder, which was not invented until the late 1880s.

In some of the shots where there are horses pulling a wagon, it is clear that the trails
they are on were made by modern vehicles. Clearly if they were wagon trails,
the wheel lanes would be smaller and the center of the trail would be torn and scattered from horse's hooves.

The song "I'm a Good Ole Rebel", sung in the saloon scene, was not written until 1918.

The guitarist in the bordello is asked to sing "I'm a good ole rebel". The song was only copyrighted in 1915.
Although it is possible that it was known in the period portrayed (early 1870s),
it is unlikely that it would be so widely known that the performer would have been able to play it from memory.
If so, it would beg the question why the author had not copyrighted.

Continuity
When Bob Younger is thrown from his horse in Northfield, Minnesota, and in the next two shots of him
as he struggles to his feet under fire, he is holding a revolver in each hand.
When the shot next cuts to him, he is frantically working and firing a Winchester 1866 (Yellow-boy) rifle.
Presumably this came from the boot in his horse's saddle, but he has had barely a second in which to retrieve it.

During the Northfield bank robbery, when the bank customer is shot running out the door to warn the town,
he is shot in the back and blood splatters on the glass of the door. In subsequent shots
of the door the blood splatter disappears.

When Belle is shooting up the bar, the gun appears first in one hand, then in another,
though we never see her changing the gun from hand to hand.

Crew or equipment visible
During the train robbery, when Jesse kicks open the door to the passenger car, shot from inside,
a stage light is clearly visible behind him (above his right shoulder).

Errors in geography
Modern day power lines visible in the scenes shot in Georgia.

Factual errors
The revolver Frank James threatens Rixley with and carries throughout the movie is a
Smith-Wesson Schofield. In reality, Jesse carried a pair of Schofields while Frank preferred
the heavier Remington New Army (the type of pistol shown carried by Cole Younger).
After leaving prison, Frank James did a print testimonial for Remington referring to the
Remington as 'the finest hand gun I ever carried'.

Revealing mistakes
During the Northfield raid, when the steam engine came up the street, the tracks from the flat wheels
and the heavy weight could be clearly seen in the dirt of the street, but on the next scene as the riders
were coming up the street, there were no tracks visible.

In the Northfield raid Jesse fires his pistol at a bank employee, and hits him right in the forehead,
and the man is shown to have a wound there, just as it should have, but also,
the viewer sees a splash of blood, roughly six inches, diametrically. Highly unlikely, with most any handgun
that blood would be blasted out of the man's head like that, although the bullet might make it all the way through his head.
Now, if this had been a frangible bullet, this could happen, but dum-dum bullets hadn't been invented then anyway.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
California, USA
Georgia, USA
Northern California, California, USA
Parrott, Georgia, USA
Rusk, Texas, USA
Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA
Texas, USA
Tuolumne County, California, USA
Westville, Georgia, USA

Watch the Trailer

[extendedmedia]

The Long Riders is a 1980 western film directed by Walter Hill.
It was produced by James Keach, Stacy Keach and Tim Zinnemann
and featured an original soundtrack by Ry Cooder.
Cooder won the Best Music award in 1980 from the
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for this soundtrack.
The film was entered into the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.

Loook out for
Harry Carey Jr. as George Arthur

User Review

Quote

Hill almost elevates cinema violence into an art form...,
8 April 2004
8/10
Author: ironside from Mexico

As Sam Peckinpah's 'The Getaway,' Walter Hill's 'The Long Riders' almost elevates cinema violence into an art form…

Visually, 'The Long Riders' contains much that is stunning, even mesmerizing: the green Missouri scenic landscapes;
the train robbery sequence; the stagecoach heist; the crossing of a wild river;
but there is no question that it is the scene of the gang's disastrous foray into
Northfield, Minnesota - that highlight this film…
These specific episodes give 'The Long Riders' its rhythm, power, spectacle, and excitement…

With his slow motion 'terror shootout,' Hill seems to impress his viewers by showing them
an inventive montage of high-level gory violence… But Hill's most wonderful sequences
are those that were the most reserved: the wonderful moment when Frank is cutting the hardest wood
with a forest ax and his brother Jesse, walking with his fiancée, attempting to settle down and raise a family…

Hill may have a reputation for being a tough guy, but his best screen moments
(in "Hard Times", "The Warriors", "Streets of Fire") are the ones in which he allows
his romantic tendencies to slip through, when he gives his characters the dignity
that means so much to them… Hill tries to debunk the American myth that
Western gunfighters were "heroes," and to show these embittered guys for the 'rough men that they really were.'

Hill's real intention is to present us with a gang of four families of brothers, and get us to accept them on their own terms,
in their own brutal world… The men of 'The Long Riders' are at their most dastardly at the beginning of the film
when Ed Miller (Dennis Quaid) indiscriminately shoots an innocent clerk, but for the rest of the film -
one by one - Hill reveals their better, more 'human' sides…
We further get to appreciate them as we compare them to the awful men around them;
next to the Pinkertons killing a simple-minded 15 year old boy, they come out best, the 'good guys.'

To Hill, good and bad aren't on opposite sides of the coin; they share the edge…

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