Samuel Fuller's directorial debut, made in 1949, 67 years after the actual events. Fuller saw Jesse James as a psychopathic killer who committed war crimes during the Civil War. It was about time someone killed him.
John Ireland and Tommy Noonan played brothers Bob and Charles Ford in the movie and were half-brothers in real life. A predecessor to The Long Riders (1980) in which Stacey and James Keach played Jesse and Frank James, David, Kieth and Robert Carradine played the Younger brothers and Randy and Dennis Quaid played the Miller brothers, whoever they were.
I saw I Shot Jesse James at the university when I was in high school, about 45 years ago. The scene that always stood out to me was the one where Jesse James is taking a bath in the barn. Bob Ford is standing behind him with a gun thinking about shooting him. Jesse James says, "Well, go ahead, Bob. What are you waiting for? There's m' back." Almost as if he has a sixth sense. Then he reaches back with a brush and says, "Here. Scrub it."
Available on the Criterion Channel.
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