True Story of Jesse James
Encyclopedia
The True Story of Jesse James is a 1957 American Western
drama film
adapted from Henry King
's 1939 film Jesse James, which was only loosely based on James' life. The remake was directed by Nicholas Ray
, with Robert Wagner
portraying Jesse James
and Jeffrey Hunter
starring as Frank James
. Filming took place during 1955. Titled The James Brothers for release in the United Kingdom
, the movie focused on the relationship between the two James brothers during the last 18 years of Jesse James' life.
) and Frank James (Jeffrey Hunter
) ride with their gang into Northfield, Minnesota
for a raid. While robbing a bank, gun fighting breaks out and two of the gang are killed. The James Brothers and another gang member head out of town and hide out while investigators from the Remington Detective Agency search for James to receive a $30,000 reward. While the three are hiding, the film tells the story of how the James Brothers came to be criminals in flashback.
, Ray was hired to direct this movie based on Jesse James' later life. He had only one movie left under his contract with 20th Century Fox
, before he would depart for Europe
and film Bitter Victory. The studio suggested a remake of King's 1939 biography of Jesse James.
It is speculated that had James Dean
not died in a car crash before production began, he would have starred in this movie as Jesse James. In place of Dean, director Ray hoped to cast Elvis Presley
, who had successfully completed his first film, Love Me Tender
. Ray's son Tony also was cast in the film as Bob Younger, the first time he appeared in one of his father's movies.
Hope Lange
, a contract player for 20th Century Fox
, was hired for the role after her Academy Award-nominated success with Peyton Place
. John Carradine
had appeared in the first Jesse James film as Bob Ford and appears in the 1957 version as Rev. Jethro Bailey.
Ray shot the movie using CinemaScope
, a new technology at that time. The movie was shot in 1955. Stock footage that had previously been used on the earlier James film which inspired this one was re-used and reconfigured for CinemaScope.
) in Rebel Without a Cause
and Jesus Christ in King of Kings.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
adapted from Henry King
Henry King (director)
Henry King was an American film director.Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres, and first started to take small film roles in 1912. He directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the...
's 1939 film Jesse James, which was only loosely based on James' life. The remake was directed by Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
, with Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
portraying Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
and Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
starring as Frank James
Frank James
Alexander Franklin "Frank" James was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.-Childhood:...
. Filming took place during 1955. Titled The James Brothers for release in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the movie focused on the relationship between the two James brothers during the last 18 years of Jesse James' life.
Plot
Jesse (Robert WagnerRobert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
) and Frank James (Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
) ride with their gang into Northfield, Minnesota
Northfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,147 people, 4,909 households, and 3,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,452.2 people per square mile . There were 5,119 housing units at an average density of 732.1 per square mile...
for a raid. While robbing a bank, gun fighting breaks out and two of the gang are killed. The James Brothers and another gang member head out of town and hide out while investigators from the Remington Detective Agency search for James to receive a $30,000 reward. While the three are hiding, the film tells the story of how the James Brothers came to be criminals in flashback.
Cast
- Robert WagnerRobert WagnerRobert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
as Jesse JamesJesse JamesJesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary... - Jeffrey HunterJeffrey HunterJeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
as Frank JamesFrank JamesAlexander Franklin "Frank" James was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.-Childhood:... - Hope LangeHope LangeHope Elise Ross Lange was an American stage, film, and television actress.- Early life :Lange was born into a theatrical family in Redding, Connecticut...
as Zerelda "Zee" JamesZerelda MimmsZerelda Amanda Mimms James was the first cousin and wife of Jesse James.-Personal life:Zerelda Amanda Mimms was the daughter of Mary James and Pastor John Wilson Mimms. Her mother was a paternal aunt of Jesse James', the sister of his father, Robert S...
, wife of Jesse - Agnes MooreheadAgnes MooreheadAgnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. Although she began with the Mercury Theatre, appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences...
as Zerelda Cole JamesZerelda JamesZerelda Elizabeth Cole James Simms Samuel was the mother of Frank James and Jesse James.Born as Zerelda Elizabeth Cole in Woodford County, Kentucky her parents were James and Sarah Lindsay Cole; she had one younger brother, Jesse Richard Cole...
, mother of the James brothers - Alan Hale, Jr.Alan Hale, Jr.Alan Hale, Jr. was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Skipper on the popular sitcom Gilligan's Island. Hale was the lookalike son of popular supporting film actor Alan Hale, Sr....
as Cole YoungerCole YoungerThomas Coleman "Cole" Younger was an American Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War and later an outlaw with the James-Younger gang... - John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
as Rev. Jethro Bailey - Biff ElliotBiff ElliotBiff Elliot is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as popular detective Mike Hammer in the 1953 version of I, the Jury, and as his guest appearance in the Star Trek episode "The Devil in the Dark".-Early life:...
as Jim YoungerJim YoungerJames Hardin "Jim" Younger was a notable American outlaw and member of the James-Younger gang. He was the brother of Cole, John and Bob Younger-Life:... - Frank GorshinFrank GorshinFrank John Gorshin, Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He was perhaps best known as an impressionist, with many guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show...
as Charley Ford - Carl Thayler as Robby Ford
- Adam Marshall as Dick Liddell
- Anthony Ray as Bob YoungerBob YoungerRobert Ewing "Bob" Younger was an American criminal and outlaw, the younger brother of Cole, Jim and John Younger , he was a member of the James-Younger gang.-Life:...
- Louis Zito as Clell MillerClell MillerClell Miller was an outlaw with the James-Younger Gang who was killed during the gang's robbery at Northfield, Minnesota....
Production
Shortly after his success with 1955's Rebel Without a CauseRebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
, Ray was hired to direct this movie based on Jesse James' later life. He had only one movie left under his contract with 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, before he would depart for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and film Bitter Victory. The studio suggested a remake of King's 1939 biography of Jesse James.
It is speculated that had James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
not died in a car crash before production began, he would have starred in this movie as Jesse James. In place of Dean, director Ray hoped to cast Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, who had successfully completed his first film, Love Me Tender
Love Me Tender (1956 film)
Love Me Tender is a 1956 American black-and-white CinemaScope motion picture directed by Robert D. Webb, and released by 20th Century Fox on November 21, 1956. The film, named after the song, stars Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Elvis Presley in his film debut. It is in the Western genre with...
. Ray's son Tony also was cast in the film as Bob Younger, the first time he appeared in one of his father's movies.
Hope Lange
Hope Lange
Hope Elise Ross Lange was an American stage, film, and television actress.- Early life :Lange was born into a theatrical family in Redding, Connecticut...
, a contract player for 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, was hired for the role after her Academy Award-nominated success with Peyton Place
Peyton Place (film)
Peyton Place is a 1957 American drama film directed by Mark Robson. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes is based on the bestselling 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious.-Plot:...
. John Carradine
John Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
had appeared in the first Jesse James film as Bob Ford and appears in the 1957 version as Rev. Jethro Bailey.
Ray shot the movie using CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, a new technology at that time. The movie was shot in 1955. Stock footage that had previously been used on the earlier James film which inspired this one was re-used and reconfigured for CinemaScope.
Characterizations
In the movie, James is portrayed as "Nicholas Ray hero"-- a consistent type of character seen throughout Ray's films and thought to be based on Ray himself. Ray's similar characters include Jim Stark (James DeanJames Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
) in Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
and Jesus Christ in King of Kings.