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Post by snsurone on Dec 9, 2018 16:15:31 GMT
This Technicolor western stars Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, and Randolph Scott. It definitely is a whitewashed telling of the notorious outlaw, but it is hugely entertaining. I think my favorite scene is where Jesse and Zee go to get married. The fire-and-brimstone spouting preacher addressed Jesse as "Son" and blathered about how the railroad (the main villain of the story) had pushed him out of his land holdings, which included a number of outhouses, ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) . I also loved the tenderness Jesse showed toward his young son, played by Johnny Russell. Does anyone know if this is the same actor who starred in the TV series LAWMAN in the 1950's? IMHO, the best performance was from Fonda as Frank James. Books have said that, while Hank was not as big a star as Ty in 1939, he was by far the better actor. A very versatile player, he appeared in several movies that year, including YOUNG MR. LINCOLN. I don't know if this movie received any Oscar nods, but 1939 was a banner year for Hollywood, and competition was fierce. What are your thoughts?
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Post by politicidal on Dec 9, 2018 21:04:43 GMT
I saw it only once. Maybe I was in a foul mood but I couldn't get into it. Perhaps a rewatch is needed.
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Post by mattgarth on Dec 9, 2018 21:31:26 GMT
The film got into BIG trouble with animal rights groups over the scene where Jesse and Frank make their escape following the disastrous Northfield bank robbery by urging their horses over a cliff into the river below.
Yet that scene -- along with the one where they crash through the storefront window on horseback -- was used again in the 1957 remake with Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter as the brothers James.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Dec 9, 2018 21:32:07 GMT
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Post by BATouttaheck on Dec 9, 2018 21:33:01 GMT
Being Fully aware that the op is only asking for the sake of asking and that she doesn't really want or expect a reply … this information from IMDb and a link is provided for whoever might actually be interested in Johnny Russell. Johnny Russell : "Child actor whose credits are often confused with leading man 'John Russell'. Does not appear to have made films after 1940." Link to Johnny Russell IMDb and see following note for follow up. ![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODY3MDYyNDMtNTE0Yi00ZTI4LTkyNDItY2UyNDI5ZDBiMTQ1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzI5NDcxNzI@._V1_.jpg)
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Post by BATouttaheck on Dec 9, 2018 23:47:25 GMT
More on Johnny Russell His birth name was John Russell Countryman (born 1933) John R. Countryman (1933–) Career Foreign Service Officer State of Residence: District of Columbia Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Oman)
Appointed: August 27, 1981 Presentation of Credentials: October 14, 1981 Termination of Mission: Left post on July 29, 1985
and even more ! prabook.com/web/john_russell.countryman/563169
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Post by snsurone on Dec 10, 2018 0:15:52 GMT
The film got into BIG trouble with animal rights groups over the scene where Jesse and Frank make their escape following the disastrous Northfield bank robbery by urging their horses over a cliff into the river below.
Yet that scene -- along with the one where they crash through the storefront window on horseback -- was used again in the 1957 remake with Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter as the brothers James. Numerous films got into trouble with the ASPCA, for example, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, which used the "running W" to trip horses, often injuring them fatally. BTW, weren't plate glass windows actually made of clear sugar candy, with the sound effects dubbed in? If not, then Henry Fonda also risked injury by riding his horse through that shop window. How would the SAG dealt with that?
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Post by BATouttaheck on Dec 10, 2018 0:50:31 GMT
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 10, 2018 9:23:07 GMT
Special cast, special movie, just don't expect a history lesson.
We are at the time of the Iron Horse birth, the railroads are buying out the farm land at ridiculously low prices, even resorting to bully tactics to get the signature rights. When one particularly nasty railroad agent tries his strong arm tactics on the mother of the James brothers, he gets more than he bargained for. In an act of almost vengeful negligence, the agent causes the death of Mrs James and thus sets the wheels in motion for what was to become folklore notoriety, Jesse James, his brother Frank, and a gang of seemingly loyal thieves, went on to etch their names in outlaw history.
There is no getting away from the fact that history tells us that this is a highly fictionalised account of Jesse James and his exploits. What we are given here by director Henry King and his screenwriter Nunally Johnson, is a more romanticised look at the legend of the man himself - which sure as heck fire makes for one dandy and enjoyable watch. The cast is one to savour, Tyrone Power (Jesse James), Henry Fonda (Frank James), Randolph Scott (Will Wright), Brian Donlevy (Barshee) and John Carradine (Bob Ford) all line up to entertain the masses with fine results, with Fonda possibly owing his subsequent career to his appearance here. He would return a year later in the successful sequel The Return Of Frank James and subsequently go on to greater and more rewarding projects. Power of course would go on and pick up the trusty blade and start swishing away, a career beckoned for this matinée idol for sure, but it's nice to revisit this particular picture to see that Power could indeed be an actor of note, capable of some emotional depth instead of making Jesse just another outlawish thug. If the makers have made the character too "heroic" then that's for debate, it's one of the many historical "itches" that have irked historians over the years. But Power plays it as such and it works very well.
One of the film's main strengths is the pairing of Power and Fonda, very believable as a kinship united in ideals, with both men expertly handled by the reliable Henry King. The Technicolor from Howard Greene and George Barnes is wonderfully put to good use, splendidly capturing the essence of the time with eye catching results. While the film itself has a fine action quota, gun play and galloping horses all feature throughout, and the characterisations of the main players lend themselves to pulse raising sequences. To leave us with what? A highly accomplished Western picture that ends in the way that history has showed it should, whilst the rest of the film is flimsy history at best... Yes. But ultimately it really doesn't matter if one is after some Western entertainment, because for sure this picture scores high in that regard. 8/10
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Post by snsurone on Dec 10, 2018 13:20:37 GMT
Hitch, your splendid review omitted one important cast member: Nancy Kelly as Zerelda ("Zee") Cobb, the female lead and love interest. And Jane Darwell was excellent in the small role of the James' mother. She would team up with Fonda the following year in THE GRAPES OF WRATH--and win the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress.
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Post by biker1 on Dec 10, 2018 13:50:43 GMT
I think Fox technicolor productions were the best looking color movies of the late 1930s-1940s. Sublime, with Tyrone Power gracing a few; most notably Jesse James, the black swan, blood and sand, captain from castille.
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Post by mattgarth on Dec 10, 2018 14:07:17 GMT
Also noticing that pistol shots sound different in Fox Westerns.
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Post by snsurone on Dec 14, 2018 13:14:49 GMT
I think Fox technicolor productions were the best looking color movies of the late 1930s-1940s. Sublime, with Tyrone Power gracing a few; most notably Jesse James, the black swan, blood and sand, captain from castille. Actually, I think that Fox went a bit overboard with Technicolor in those flashy Betty Grable musicals, made primarily to entertain the troops overseas. Same with MGM and its Esther Williams extravaganzas. Can't imagine where these studios had the budget for those films, what with wartime rationing.
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Post by biker1 on Dec 14, 2018 14:27:13 GMT
My name is Natalie Kalmus..
Budgets weren't really an issue 'cause those movies raked in high returns when such movies appealed to large audiences apparently looking for a diversion from wartime life. Hollywood pumped out around 50 color musicals between 1940 and 1945. I don't mind them in small doses, but prefer the period movies a lot more. And of course the consummate Fox technicolor film, leave her to heaven in 1945.
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Post by snsurone on Dec 14, 2018 16:44:20 GMT
Apparently, it was domestic grosses, since most overseas markets were closed during the war. I'm glad to know that American audiences were able to go to the movies during that time. Rationing, and all that.
I'm a post-war Baby Boomer, and I confess that I know little about everyday life during that turbulent time.
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Post by biker1 on Dec 14, 2018 23:38:48 GMT
Initially, Hollywood struggled with wartime markets, but bounced back with all time peak attendance years, 1943-1946. The emphasis was on uplifting entertainment, of which music played a huge role in the USA, be it film, radio, or Glenn Miller.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Dec 15, 2018 0:28:59 GMT
Horses really have to put up with a lot of asshole human behavior. Sometimes when I watch a movie with a lot of horses in a sword fight scene I think how absurd it must be from a horse's pov--all these freaks on their backs waiving around and slapping each other.
Burt Lancaster in The Professionals said horses were stupid--tell that to my friend in Nevada--the horses next door to her would lift up their empty water trough, wave it in the air, and look at them to refill it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2018 3:28:59 GMT
Just looked up the competition that year. I knew, like the OP stated, it was a banner year, but I didn't realize exactly how good it was until looking at all the nominees. Several years worth of great film in that group. www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1940
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Post by snsurone on Dec 15, 2018 13:38:40 GMT
My name is Natalie Kalmus.. Budgets weren't really an issue 'cause those movies raked in high returns when such movies appealed to large audiences apparently looking for a diversion from wartime life. Hollywood pumped out around 50 color musicals between 1940 and 1945. I don't mind them in small doses, but prefer the period movies a lot more. And of course the consummate Fox technicolor film, leave her to heaven in 1945. I looked up "Natalie Kalmus" on Wiki. She was the "color coordinator" for Fox films. And if you are she, you've been dead for 53 years!
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Post by biker1 on Dec 15, 2018 15:51:59 GMT
Natalie Kalmus and husband Herbert were founders of the 3 strip Technicolor process of the mid 1930s. Her credit as color supervisor can be seen on virtually all technicolor film of the late 1930s-1940s. Apparently some directors found her a pain, but the results speak for themselves.
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