1949·Western·1h 21m
7.0
★
Bob Ford murders his best friend Jesse James in order to obtain a pardon that will free him to marry his girlfriend Cynthy. The guilt-stricken Ford soon finds himself greeted with derision and open mockery throughout town. He travels to Colorado to try his hand at prospecting in hopes that marriage with Cynthy is still in the cards.
Directed by Samuel Fuller
saloon
killing
outlaw
jesse james
reward
pardon
st. louis, missouri
19th century
western noir
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
Preston Foster
John Kelley
Barbara Britton
Cynthy Waters
John Ireland
Bob Ford
Reed Hadley
Jesse James
J. Edward Bromberg
Harry Kane
Victor Kilian
Soapy
Tom Tyler
Frank James
Tommy Noonan
Charles Ford
Eddie Dunn
Joe, Silver King Bartender
Margia Dean
Saloon Singer
Byron Foulger
Silver King Room Clerk
Jeni Le Gon
Veronica, Cynthy's Maid
Crew
Samuel Fuller
Director
Samuel Fuller
Writer
Carl K. Hittleman
Producer
Popular Reviews
20 reviews
Sean
7.0★ · 04/05/26
***52 Westerns in 52 Weeks Challenge
***
Week 14: ****Released in the 1940’s**
Samuel Fuller’s directorial debut is a lovely little melodramatic look into the life of Robert Ford after his infamous killing of Jesse James that, in the end, despite a few things I wasn’t a big fan of, managed to charm me from the first minute to the last. After seeing Forty Guns and Park Row this year I knew Samuel Fuller would quickly become a favorite of mine as I deeper explored his filmography, and even though I Shot Jesse James certainly isn’t on the level of those two other films it does share a most important similarity with them which is it gives me even more excitement to continue watching Fuller’s movies. It does share some other important similarities that make this not so far off his other work, while it isn’t as developed as I’ve seen it later on his vision for shot composition and the way the movie flows is still so great and made this 81 minute movie feel no longer than 40. I think what hurts this movie just a bit compared to his other work and other westerns I’ve seen is how melodramatic his script is, I’m personally a big fan of melodrama and love to see layered in almost any genre but I felt this script leaned a little too far into it and ended up a bit on the inauthentic and cheesy side. Something this did have going for it though was the music, the songs throughout the movie were nice and the overall score from Albert Glasser also helped out Fuller’s tonal vision nicely. Aside from that I don’t think the movie really gives that much to talk about, all of the performers do the job well enough and like I said the technical experience was quite nice, despite the problems I did have it’s definitely still one of my favorite watches of my western challenge so far and one I think could warrant a rewatch someday in the future.
***
Week 14: ****Released in the 1940’s**
Samuel Fuller’s directorial debut is a lovely little melodramatic look into the life of Robert Ford after his infamous killing of Jesse James that, in the end, despite a few things I wasn’t a big fan of, managed to charm me from the first minute to the last. After seeing Forty Guns and Park Row this year I knew Samuel Fuller would quickly become a favorite of mine as I deeper explored his filmography, and even though I Shot Jesse James certainly isn’t on the level of those two other films it does share a most important similarity with them which is it gives me even more excitement to continue watching Fuller’s movies. It does share some other important similarities that make this not so far off his other work, while it isn’t as developed as I’ve seen it later on his vision for shot composition and the way the movie flows is still so great and made this 81 minute movie feel no longer than 40. I think what hurts this movie just a bit compared to his other work and other westerns I’ve seen is how melodramatic his script is, I’m personally a big fan of melodrama and love to see layered in almost any genre but I felt this script leaned a little too far into it and ended up a bit on the inauthentic and cheesy side. Something this did have going for it though was the music, the songs throughout the movie were nice and the overall score from Albert Glasser also helped out Fuller’s tonal vision nicely. Aside from that I don’t think the movie really gives that much to talk about, all of the performers do the job well enough and like I said the technical experience was quite nice, despite the problems I did have it’s definitely still one of my favorite watches of my western challenge so far and one I think could warrant a rewatch someday in the future.
***52 Westerns in 52 Weeks Challenge
***
Week 14: ****Released in the 1940’s**
Samuel Fuller’s directorial debut is a lovely little melodramatic look into the life of Robert Ford after his infamous killing of Jesse James that, in the end, despite a few things I wasn’t a big fan of, managed to charm me from the first minute to the last. After seeing Forty Guns and Park Row this year I knew Samuel Fuller would quickly become a favorite of mine as I deeper explored his filmography, and even though I Shot Jesse James certainly isn’t on the level of those two other films it does share a most important similarity with them which is it gives me even more excitement to continue watching Fuller’s movies. It does share some other important similarities that make this not so far off his other work, while it isn’t as developed as I’ve seen it later on his vision for shot composition and the way the movie flows is still so great and made this 81 minute movie feel no longer than 40. I think what hurts this movie just a bit compared to his other work and other westerns I’ve seen is how melodramatic his script is, I’m personally a big fan of melodrama and love to see layered in almost any genre but I felt this script leaned a little too far into it and ended up a bit on the inauthentic and cheesy side. Something this did have going for it though was the music, the songs throughout the movie were nice and the overall score from Albert Glasser also helped out Fuller’s tonal vision nicely. Aside from that I don’t think the movie really gives that much to talk about, all of the performers do the job well enough and like I said the technical experience was quite nice, despite the problems I did have it’s definitely still one of my favorite watches of my western challenge so far and one I think could warrant a rewatch someday in the future.
***
Week 14: ****Released in the 1940’s**
Samuel Fuller’s directorial debut is a lovely little melodramatic look into the life of Robert Ford after his infamous killing of Jesse James that, in the end, despite a few things I wasn’t a big fan of, managed to charm me from the first minute to the last. After seeing Forty Guns and Park Row this year I knew Samuel Fuller would quickly become a favorite of mine as I deeper explored his filmography, and even though I Shot Jesse James certainly isn’t on the level of those two other films it does share a most important similarity with them which is it gives me even more excitement to continue watching Fuller’s movies. It does share some other important similarities that make this not so far off his other work, while it isn’t as developed as I’ve seen it later on his vision for shot composition and the way the movie flows is still so great and made this 81 minute movie feel no longer than 40. I think what hurts this movie just a bit compared to his other work and other westerns I’ve seen is how melodramatic his script is, I’m personally a big fan of melodrama and love to see layered in almost any genre but I felt this script leaned a little too far into it and ended up a bit on the inauthentic and cheesy side. Something this did have going for it though was the music, the songs throughout the movie were nice and the overall score from Albert Glasser also helped out Fuller’s tonal vision nicely. Aside from that I don’t think the movie really gives that much to talk about, all of the performers do the job well enough and like I said the technical experience was quite nice, despite the problems I did have it’s definitely still one of my favorite watches of my western challenge so far and one I think could warrant a rewatch someday in the future.
ruth
6.9★ · 04/26/25
“I loved him.”
The idea of murdering your best friend and having to relive it every night and it’s haunting you because everyone knows who you are and what you did but you cling to the fame and the story because it is the only notable thing you have ever done has bewitched me body and soul.
No offense to John Ireland (he is significantly hotter) but GOD I never noticed how much him and casey affleck (i know) look alike in certain lights!
Also kelley and bob DEFINITELY fucked when they were sharing that room holy shit
The idea of murdering your best friend and having to relive it every night and it’s haunting you because everyone knows who you are and what you did but you cling to the fame and the story because it is the only notable thing you have ever done has bewitched me body and soul.
No offense to John Ireland (he is significantly hotter) but GOD I never noticed how much him and casey affleck (i know) look alike in certain lights!
Also kelley and bob DEFINITELY fucked when they were sharing that room holy shit
“I loved him.”
The idea of murdering your best friend and having to relive it every night and it’s haunting you because everyone knows who you are and what you did but you cling to the fame and the story because it is the only notable thing you have ever done has bewitched me body and soul.
No offense to John Ireland (he is significantly hotter) but GOD I never noticed how much him and casey affleck (i know) look alike in certain lights!
Also kelley and bob DEFINITELY fucked when they were sharing that room holy shit
The idea of murdering your best friend and having to relive it every night and it’s haunting you because everyone knows who you are and what you did but you cling to the fame and the story because it is the only notable thing you have ever done has bewitched me body and soul.
No offense to John Ireland (he is significantly hotter) but GOD I never noticed how much him and casey affleck (i know) look alike in certain lights!
Also kelley and bob DEFINITELY fucked when they were sharing that room holy shit
Fern
0.7★ · 01/04/25
So boring im sorry
So boring im sorry
Grilliam
6.0★ · 09/16/23
This is definitely an "inspired by" and not " the story of". They take some real liberties, which is fine (I did watch watch a movie and not a documentary after all) but the real story has so much excitement and drama and this felt like a sad episode of Bonanza or something. The acting was fine, except they make Ford into kind of a badass and that's just not who Ford was. Again, it's a movie, so they can rewrite characters as they wish, but they didn't make him better; they made him generic. I Killed Jesse James is kind of boring and the plot is so simple and underwritten that is was hard to care. This wasn't a Robert Ford story, it was a goofy love triangle that just so happened to contain Robert Ford. There isn't enough depth to anyone or their relationships, so being invested just wasn't going to happen
This is definitely an "inspired by" and not " the story of". They take some real liberties, which is fine (I did watch watch a movie and not a documentary after all) but the real story has so much excitement and drama and this felt like a sad episode of Bonanza or something. The acting was fine, except they make Ford into kind of a badass and that's just not who Ford was. Again, it's a movie, so they can rewrite characters as they wish, but they didn't make him better; they made him generic. I Killed Jesse James is kind of boring and the plot is so simple and underwritten that is was hard to care. This wasn't a Robert Ford story, it was a goofy love triangle that just so happened to contain Robert Ford. There isn't enough depth to anyone or their relationships, so being invested just wasn't going to happen
PeachSprite
5.8★ · 09/02/22
soapy was always real in my heart
soapy was always real in my heart