rdoyle29 Sam Fuller's directorial debut is more of a character study than a traditional western. John Ireland stars as Bob Ford, who kills his friend Jesse James in order to get immunity for his past crimes so that he can settle down with the girl he loves. Wracked with guilt and feelings of inadequacy, Ford pursues the girl in the face of a rival for her heart. Fuller hasn't fully developed his dynamic style yet, in fact, this feels more like a low budget Nicholas Ray film than a Fuller film. A scene where Ford forces a dude to sing the ENTIRE song about Jesse James being killed by "that coward Robert Ford" is priceless and worth the price of admission.

Armand a good work, interesting western, smart story. in fact, more than adaptation of an American modern history episode, it seems be adaptation of Ahasverus myth. because it is portrait of a sin committed with noble intention. and that fact is basic virtue of that drama. it does a simple movie, mixture of love and revenge, who can impress first for its deep roots. it is a a film remarkable for actors performance because the acting is , in this case,precise tool not for present a story but to discover the profound human side of characters. and that fact has a correct result and the force of seduction for large public. it is a good work. and that thing is a real admirable virtue for the manner to expose the story in inspired light. and , for that fact, the merit of John Ireland is not little.

lastliberal If you have not seen Samuel Fuller's White Dog, you need to get it quick to see what a great director he was. This is his first film. He wrote and directed this, and his promise shows throughout.Jesse (Reed Hadley) doesn't have the young look that I have come to expect. He almost looks like Abe Lincoln with his beard and mustache.John Ireland, who received an Oscar nomination for All the King's Men the same year as this film, was Bob Ford, whose love for Cynthy Waters (Barbara Britton) caused him to kill Jesse.Of course, everything goes wrong as people likes Jesse, and he was shunned. He also suffered remorse for killing his friend, but you know the story.It was a good tale of the killing of Jesse James, and the aftermath for Ford.The bar scene with the traveling troubadour (Robin Short) singing about the "coward Robert Ford" was hilarious.

sol1218 (Some Spoilers) Having had his fill of robbing banks and shooting people as a member of the notorious James Gang young Robert Ford, John Ireland, only wants to get himself a piece of land that he can farm and live with his actress/singer girlfriend Cynthy Waters, Barbara Britton.Having no real money and being always on the run from the law Robert sees that a life with Cynthy is nothing but a pipe dream. In him not being able to care for here as well, in being a wanted man, putting her life, as well as his, in danger. It's when Robert sees an ad in the local papers offering a $10,000.00 reward, as well as total amnesty from the law, in bringing Jesse James, Reed Hadley, to the bar of justice dead or alive that a light bulb suddenly lights up in his head.Planning to off his boss Jesse James but not really having he heart or guts to do it Robert finally catches Jesse off-guard as he turned his back on him while adjusting a picture in his living-room. Robert's plan works perfectly as he blasts Jesse from behind and thus becoming eligible for the $10,000.00 reward.What the not so on the ball Robert soon finds out in that he gets stiffed by the authorities by getting only $500.00 of the $10,000.00 that he expected due to a slight technicality as well as becoming the most hated man in the west. That's in Robert being the man who shot the great Jesse James in the back! Not in a fair fight where he met the legendary bank robbing gunman face to face in the town square at high noon!What's worse for Robert is that his perfumed and rosy girlfriend Cynthy dropped him like a bag smelly horse manure when she found out that he murdered Jesse James whom she always thought that he was, by being so close to him, his best friend! And far worse then that is that Cynthy is now in love with John Kelly, Preston Foster, a sneaky sort of guy who was always after her by posing as a talent agent who can open doors, in the theater business, for her.Of course Robert, in being overly stupid or just plain love-sick, doesn't know that Cynthy dropped until much later in the film. Which leads to a showdown with Kelly in the town square but not at high noon but at sunset where he hopes he's be invisible to the naked, or Kelly's, eye.With the exception of the beginning and end of "I Shot Jesse James" that rest of the film tries to make Robert Ford into a truly tragic figure who got caught up in him being a member of the James gang who ended up corrupting him. It was that fact that director Samuel Fuller wanted to bring out in the movie in showing the audience that the great Jesse James was nothing but a murderous, some 30 years before the name was even coined, gangster who got just what he deserved! Even if it was a bullet in the back by one of his fellow gang members from a gun that he gave him for birthday present!