Wednesday, August 3, 2011

I Shot Jesse James (1949)


Lippert Pictures
Directed by Samuel Fuller
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse Series)

Atypical western finds the gunslinger Bob Ford who kills his best friend Jesse James in order to get amnesty for past crimes and be free to marry his girl. However, since he shot Jess in the back, instead of a hero he is branded a coward. He flees to Colorado in the hopes of striking it rich in a silver boom town. His past follows him there. John Ireland is perfectly cast as Ford, his shy, quiet demeanor exuding an aura of mistrust. Barbara Britton is the girlfriend, an actress in cheap plays who unwittingly becomes his femme fatale. In fact, this is probably not a true western, more of western-noir hybrid, more concerned with psychology than action.

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