I SHOT JESSE JAMES
DIRECTED BY SAMUEL FULLER
LIPPERT PICTURES
SCREEN GUILD PRODUCTIONS
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Plot Summary
While the law hunts him, Jesse James lives quietly in a rented house
on the corner of Lafayette and Twenty-first street in St. Joseph, Missouri,
under the alias of Tom Howard.
His wife Zee begs him to end his association with the Ford brothers.
Before they can leave on a "last" bank holdup, Bob learns that his childhood sweetheart,
Cynthy Waters, now an actress, is in St. Joe and he brushes aside all caution to see her.
Cynthy is beginning to realize that she is a liability to her manager, Harry Kane,
because she will not leave Missouri.
Meanwhile, John Kelley has come into her life.
She pleads with Bob to turn honest.
Cynthy tries to get a pardon for Bob, but the best offer she can get
is for a 20-year stretch in prison.
Then, the Governor offers amnesty and a $10,000 reward to any member
of the James gang betraying Jesse.
When his chance comes (April 3, 1882)Bob shoots Jesse in the back.
He gets the amnesty but the reward is cut to $500.
He also loses the love and respect of Cynthy,...
Written by Les Adams
Cast
Preston Foster ... Kelley
Barbara Britton ... Cynthy
John Ireland ... Bob Ford
Reed Hadley ... Jesse James
J. Edward Bromberg ... Kane
Victor Kilian ... Soapy
Tom Tyler ... Frank James
Tommy Noonan ... Charles Ford (as Tom Noonan)
Eddie Dunn ... Joe
Margia Dean ... Saloon Singer
Byron Foulger ... Silver King Room Clerk
Jeni Le Gon ... Veronica
Barbara Woodell ... Mrs. Zee James
Phillip Pine ... Man in Saloon (as Phil Pine)
Robin Short ... Troubadour
and many more...
Directed
Samuel Fuller
Writing Credits
Samuel Fuller ... (written by)
Homer Croy ... (article)
Robert Gardner ... (uncredited)
Produced
Carl K. Hittleman ... producer
Robert L. Lippert ... executive producer
Music
Albert Glasser
Cinematography
Ernest Miller
Trivia
Shot in ten days.
Director Samuel Fuller said that he wanted to make this picture because,
unlike many filmmakers in Hollywood, he did not see the real Jesse James
as a "folk hero" or someone to be admired.
Fuller saw him as a cold-blooded psychopath who shot down women,
children, the elderly, the helpless (his gang once stopped a Union hospital train
and executed every wounded federal soldier on it)
and, in Fuller's words, Bob Ford "did something that should have been done
quite a bit earlier in the life of Jesse Woodson James".
The skilled gunman who attracts younger opponents who want to defeat him
is very commonplace in the world of westerns.
This movie is said to be the one that started this trend.
Directorial debut of Samuel Fuller.
The character played by Robin Short, identified in the cast merely as "Troubadour,
" is obviously based on the real-life traveling musician Billy Gashade,
who shortly after Jesse James' death wrote the "Ballad of Jesse James"
sung by Short in the film and also used as a recurring theme by composer Albert Glasser.
Goofs
Anachronisms
When Jesse's wife serves bread at dinner, the bread presented
has obviously been sliced by a modern bread-slicing machine.
Bread-slicing machines were not introduced until 1928.
Filming Locations
Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USARepublic Studios - 4024 Radford Avenue, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (interiors)