utgard14 Laid-back cowboy Melody Jones (Gary Cooper) rides into town with his partner George Fury (William Demarest). The men are surprised by how everybody seems to be especially nice to Melody, almost as if they're afraid of him. After being saved from a shot in the back by a woman named Cherry (Loretta Young), Melody finds out the townspeople think he is a notorious outlaw named Monte Jarrad (Dan Duryea) and that was the reason for their deference. Melody quickly falls in love with the pretty Cherry but he doesn't know that she is actually Monte Jarrad's girlfriend and has him hid out on her farm.Delightfully pleasant western satire with a terrific cast. Cooper doesn't always get the respect he deserves as an actor but movies like this remind you of how talented he was. Loretta Young is great as well. It was interesting to see a movie made in 1945 where the hero had to be saved by a woman and that was treated as OK. Dan Duryea makes for a great villain, as he always did. But the man who steals the show is the great William Demarest. Every line that comes out of his mouth is better just for him having said it. This actor was a highlight of many a Preston Sturges film and here he plays his comedic sidekick role just right. He never overplays it or hams it up. Check this one out if you get the chance. A fun, likable western with lots of comedy and some romance too.

TedMichaelMor What a fun movie! For one thing, it is funny. It is also tender. This gentle send-up of westerns sometimes looks like a serious western. The cinematic style has a classic-well almost classic high contrast look. Cuts from outdoor shots played again sound stage shots date the film but that hardly matters. The style is almost as tongue-in-cheek as the story is.I love the line from Melody, "But you don't want to forget: when a posse makes a mistake, it's a mighty hard thing to unmake." That sums up many westerns. Then there is the line from Melody about women, "Pa gave me a piece of advice that ain't never failed me yet. Son, he says, if you ever fool around with a woman, always hide a dollar in the toe of your boot and you'll come out a dollar to the good. That is, Pa says, if you keep your boots on." Good description of life.Nice surprise. Enjoy it.

Michael_Elliott Along Came Jones (1945) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Gary Cooper plays a shy and timid cowboy who gets mistaken for a notorious murderer after getting involved with the man's girlfriend (Loretta Young). This film is a spoof of the Western genre and it comes off cute and charming but I must admit that I didn't laugh very much. The film tries to be funny but it never really worked with me because I thought the laughs were too slow and in fact I thought they were pretty lazy. The film tries going for wilder laughs but this goes against the type of acting Cooper is doing so I think this is the main reason the laughs didn't work. However, as I said, the movie is very charming with Cooper and Young turning in fine performances and the two work very well together. William Demarest steals the film as Cooper's silly sidekick. The most memorable thing about this film are the various kisses between Cooper and Young, which are certainly a lot different than what was being done at the time. The best one has to be the very first where Cooper, acting like a touch guy, just grabs her behind the neck and pulls her to him.'

MartinHafer While this film is far from great, I appreciated how at least those who made the film tried to make something different than the usual insipid Western. While I love a well-made Western, I think most Hollywood Westerns of the 30s, 40s and 50s were incredibly formulaic and routine. As a result, I usually avoid them like the plague! So I was very, very happy to stumble upon this film since it is far from typical of the genre.Gary Cooper and his buddy, William Demarest wander into a small town and Cooper is mistaken for a desperado who just robbed the stage coach. Instead of apprehending him, everyone is so afraid and treat him royally! However, Loretta Young quickly comes up and whisks them out of town. She knows that they are not the robbers and gets them out before they accidentally get shot! She knows, by the way, because the REAL robber is her boyfriend! Well, instead of continuing to explain the plot, I'll leave this up to you. Bowever the film is excellent due to very good acting by all the stars. Cooper and Young are wonderful and that's no surprise, and Dan Duryea is a great slimy villain (as usual), but the stand-out performance for me was Demarest. Instead of the usual idiotic supporting character he usually played in the 30s and 40s (especially in Preston Sturgess films), his supporting role was pretty serious and he effectively played a slightly older tough cowboy, so he was effective without being overly comical--I liked that.See this film if you want something different AND has decent production values. While not a great film, it is very entertaining and fun--though not exactly a comedy like the videotape jacket said it was.