I Shot Jesse James (1949)

Simply Perfect

Absolutely Fantastic

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Sam Fuller's directorial debut is more of a character study than a traditional western. John Ireland stars as Bob Ford, who kills his friend Jesse James in order to get immunity for his past crimes so that he can settle down with the girl he loves. Wracked with guilt and feelings of inadequacy, Ford pursues the girl in the face of a rival for her heart. Fuller hasn't fully developed his dynamic style yet, in fact, this feels more like a low budget Nicholas Ray film than a Fuller film. A scene where Ford forces a dude to sing the ENTIRE song about Jesse James being killed by "that coward Robert Ford" is priceless and worth the price of admission.

Sam Fuller's first film direction is a version of what happened to Robert Ford (John Ireland), the man who famously killed his friend - Jesse James (Reed Hadley).Taking up the basic elements of the real life story, Fuller keeps the narrative tight whilst ensuring the complexities of the main characters come to the fore. All the quirks and peccadilloes of the human condition are explored (the detail of Ford's torments and troubles superbly told), which is something of a rarity for a late 1940s "B" standard Western. The use of close-ups are to purposely highlight the psychological discord on show, marking this out as a good pointer to the later work of its maverick director. Ernest Hiller photographs the exteriors out of Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth and support to Ireland comes from Preston Foster, Barbara Britton and J. Edward Bromberg. 7/10

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.

This is Samuel Fuller's first effort;it is a western and it's got something bizarre,something unusual which we find in every work of this director,whatever he films :films noirs ("underworld USA" ),melodramas ("the naked kiss" ) ,thrillers verging on horror ("shock corridor" ) or westerns ("run of the arrow" and "forty guns").They say that Fuller approved of Robert Ford's attitude.But his movie is not so simple.It seems that Jesse really WANTS to be killed ;we might take the lines "what are you waiting for?here's my back " literally.Once Robert Ford has taken the plunge ,his fate is sealed;there's no coming back,no hope for the life he dreams of with his gorgeous girl.Anyway,Cynthy's love has turned to despise at worst ,pity at best.The scene on the stage is some kind of mirror ,where Ford fully realizes what he has done -a scene which contains an unusual inventive use of the flashback-,as is the folk singer who performs his "ballad of Robert Ford": when he sings his last verse ,he may be frightened,but it's Cain's eye all over again.I do not have to kill you,Jesse's brother says ,you're already dead.