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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 30723
Released: March 6, 2007 |
| Our Price: $7.24 |
| Used Price: $6.28 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Legendary fifties director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without A Cause) retells the Jesse James saga starring Robert Wagner as the legendary bank robber. As Jesse James attempts to evade the law those who know him best -- his brother Frank (Jeffrey Hunter) wife (Hope Lange) and mother (Agnes Moorehead) -- ponder the question "What turned this simple farmboy to a life of lawlessness?" And as Jesse continues his ride into notoriety the key events in his life are scrutinized in a desperate attempt to close in on him for good.System Requirements:Running Time: 92 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. UPC: 024543244455 Manufacturer No: 2234445
Description of The True Story of Jesse James:
The best thing about this take on the celebrated Missouri outlaw is Nicholas Ray's dynamic use of CinemaScope, a format that left most mid-'50s directors flatfooted. Ray composes his action in slashing diagonals, over multi-leveled ground, with sectors of the wide screen defined by frames-within-the-frame and different qualities of light and color. Which is to say, he continues the radical experimentation of his 1955 James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause while attempting to develop a fresh, contemporary perspective on another violent young protagonist who's an outsider in his own society.
Nunnally Johnson's script for 20th Century-Fox's 1939 Jesse James is credited as source material, but Ray opted for a tortuous, balladlike flashback structure--beginning with the James-Younger gang's ruinous raid on Northfield, Minnesota, 400 miles from their Missouri stomping ground--that aims to deconstruct the outlaw's populist legend. "Jesse James" is an elusive subject; the Minnesota posse never sets eyes on him in the jagged first reel of the movie. How much of an Old West "Robin Hood" was he? And how murderously vengeful was his criminal career as he struck back against the railroads and their cold-blooded police force, the Pinkerton (here, "Remington") agency, and Union-sympathizer neighbors who hated this former member of the wartime guerrilla band, Quantrill's Raiders?
However radical the director's intentions, his movie runs afoul of studio recutting and an underwhelming cast of Fox contract players. Jeffrey Hunter (recently loaned out to play Ethan Edwards' companion in The Searchers) comes off best as Jesse's thoughtful brother Frank (a pattern that holds true for Henry Fonda in Jesse James and Stacy Keach in The Long Riders). But Ray was stymied by Robert Wagner as Jesse--in the phrase of Ray biographer Bernard Eisenschitz, a player "expressive of nothing but Californian physical culture." (James Dean being dead, Ray's first choice for Jesse was ... Elvis Presley!) --Richard T. Jameson
The True Story of Jesse James Reviews:
A timemachine to the 1950's, not the time of Jesse James 
2008-04-15 - Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Wagner, together in one movie. That's enough to send me running out of the room all by itself. The 1950's were an interesting time for Westerns, and we saw some good ones and some stinkers, too. Hunter and Wagner combined together in one movie would overpower any good that could possibly come out of it.
And this movie looks like the 50's, sounds like the 50's, was costumed like the 50's, was casted from what was available during the 50's, and takes horrific liberties with the facts, as many Westerns made during the 50's did. Does all this make this movie a "stinker". Well, I gave it two stars, and that was about right. I mean, moviemakers in the 50's didn't realize how stereotypical and shallow their movies were, so, in a sense, these movies weren't even Westerns -- they were 1950's renditions of Westerns. If you understand the enormous difference, you'll understand immediately that I'm certainly glad movies aren't made that way any more.
See the Pitt/Affleck version of the Jesse James story (or at least, the end of the man's life) if you want to see a thoughtful, realistic, artful rendition of the time, and the men who were part of the real story.
NICHOLAS RAY, OPUS 14 
2008-04-01 - **** 1957. Directed by Nicholas Ray. After the failed bank heist of Northfield, Minn., Jesse and Frank James try to come back home. Flashbacks show us the important moments of Jesse's life. Even if the 20th Century Fox producers carved up the movie, Nicholas Ray's hand is still visible in numerous scenes of THE TRUE STORY OF JESSE JAMES: the hero's longing for a quiet anonymous life as he understands that his legend is a decoy, the gang's heists which are shot in a so anti-heroic manner that the film radiates a melancholic mood. The flashbacks, imposed by the producers and introduced by ridiculous floating clouds fortunately don't spoil the power of such a sublime scene as the murder of Jesse that the director patently delays as if he wanted to struggle with the Legend. Highly recommended.
True Story of Jesse James
2008-02-24 -
In the movie "The true Story of Jesse James, the plot is certainly following the traditions of Jesse and Frank being Robin Hoods, when in effect they may have just been Hoods Robbin for Frank and Jesse and no one else. Still it is a good movie for the time and tells much of the story about the ill fated attempt to rob the bank at Northfield Minnesota. They should have never gone into that area in the first place as it took them totally out of their land of sympathizers and into the jowls of Northern veterans and citizens, Be that as it may, I have for years tried to find out who the blind balladeer who sings at the last. The choreagraphy of that final scene with the balladeer and his aid is very story telling and a fitting end to this episode. I wish i could find this song by him in its entirety. You cannot take anything from this movie but good thoughts about all the direction and acting that went ito it. Definitely a classic and worth the money.
Poor Jesse
2007-03-23 - Fox's "The True Story Of Jesse James" (1957) is a remarkably poor Widescreen remake of their prestigious 1939 Tyrone Power/Henry Fonda classic "Jesse James". I'm not sure where the fault lies but the casting in this version of the two central characters, the uneven direction by Nicholas Ray and the hamfisted screenplay must surely have something to do with it.
In the late thirties and forties Tyrone Power was Fox's top leading man but in the fifties his star began to wane and studio head Darryl Zanuck started to groom newcomer Robert Wagner to take his place. This was a major error on Zanuck's part as Wagner proved to be a
less than suitable replacemant. With the possible exceptions of "Broken Lance"(1954) and "Between Heaven & Hell" ('56) it is hard to think of Wagner distinguishing himself in anything!
Also, Jeffrey Hunter was nothing more than a Fox contract player before being assigned to play Frank James to Wagner's Jesse in "The True Story Of Jesse James". Borrowed from the studio the year before, this actor's one distinguishing mark was his excellent and revealing performance in John Ford's classic "The Searchers". But Hunter's and Wagner's playing here as the James brothers is nothing short of boring. They bring no personality or colour to their respective roles. They totally miss the mark, lacking the charisma and appeal so vividly displayed by Power and Fonda in the original. The movie is also marred by too many flashbacks. And with the all over the place screenplay Wagner - as the Robin Hood of the American West - comes across as a charmless introverted twit that you can feel no empathy
for whatsoever. The supporting cast are hardly worth talking about but it is a shame to see such a great actress as Agnes Moorhead barely getting a look in as mother James!
Best about this uninvolving so so western is the wonderful Cinemascope/
Colour cinematography by the great Joe McDonald and the excellent music by
the underrated and little known composer Leigh Harline.
Not very compelling
2007-03-20 - Although this version of the Jesse James story is more factual than most, it's at the expense of entertainment. Robert Wagner simply does not have the charisma that the character needs for us to believe that so many men, older than he was, were willing to follow him. Nor are any of the characters particularly well drawn, which doesn't give the actors much to do. The story is told in flashback form, starting with Northfield, but this does not seem to be to the film's advantage. The first 10 or more minutes are spent with the Northfield posse trying to track and find the gang, and because there are no characters to be invested in, it's rather dull. Later, when the flashbacks catch up to the present, we see some of the same material again. Interestingly, the screenplay credit says it's based on Nunnally Johnson's screenplay for the 1939 version with Tyrone Power. That version took a lot of liberties with the history, but is far more entertaining.
Technically, the DVD looks fine. It's a clean print, nice transfer with decent color. A trailer and a newsreel clip comprise the extras.
