7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The railroads are squeezing farmers off their land. When a railroad agent kills their mother, Frank and Jesse James take up robbing banks and trains. The public regard them as heroes. When Jesse retires, his erstwhile friend Robert Ford shoots him in the back to get the reward.
Starring: Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly (I), Randolph Scott (I), Henry HullWestern | 100% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Biography | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
French: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The late sixties were awash in films that pundits decried for “glorifying violence” or “glamorizing criminals”, big smash hits like Bonnie and Clyde and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Both of these films were huge critical successes from a purely filmmaking point of view, but both were held under a microscope for a supposed litany of historical inaccuracies, not the least of which was both films’ tendency to lionize their subjects, who were after all, ostensibly “bad guys” (and/or gals). That of course was probably part and parcel of the counterculture zeitgeist of that era, but a much more putatively staid and upright era produced a film that was met with some of the same criticism—and box office appeal. Jesse James has about as much relation to its subject’s actual true life history as a fairy tale, and yet it was one of 1939’s biggest hits, helping to firmly establish star Tyrone Power as one of 20th Century Fox’s biggest male attractions. It’s notable that when Nicholas Ray adapted the original Jesse James screenplay by Nunnally Johnson for a remake in 1957, the title of the film was changed to The True Story of Jesse James, as if to alert viewers that this film was not going to be the fanciful reinvention of the 1939 opus. Much as both Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Bonnie and Clyde did decades later, this Jesse James posits two basically decent people caught up in a maelstrom of events beyond their control, deciding to fight perceived injustices (which in this film are depicted as being very real) the only way they know how—with guns a-blazin’ and at least an occasional hold up or two. Johnson’s screenplay offers up a monolithic utility—in this case, a railroad—whose nefarious dealings with the public at large leave the James Brothers no recourse but to take the law into their own pistol totin’ hands. Along the way, romance and even a perhaps unexpected dash or two of comedy enters the fray, giving the film a surprisingly ebullient tone.
Jesse James is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1, and is yet another vintage Technicolor offering that suffers from the fact that no surviving original Technicolor elements exist. The attempts to replicate that creamy original Technicolor look results in varying dividends, but overall this is often a (literally) pale imitation of the robust three strip appearance. Flesh tones are often slightly tinged with purple (and sometimes green), Occasionally things look at least relatively accurate (see the screenshot of Jane Darwell sitting in her yard for a good example), but overall this is a fairly blanched "version" of Technicolor rather than the real thing. On the plus side, the elements are virtually problem free, and the image is certainly nicely detailed and organic looking, with a natural layer of grain and no signs of excessive digital sharpening.
As with other recent vintage "Fox Studio Classics" releases, Jesse James is presented with both a repurposed DTS- HD Master Audio 5.1 mix as well as the original soundtrack experience recreated via a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix. The 5.1 mix in this case seems like an odd choice, since there is next to no surround activity, aside from the score and the very occasional foley effect. Both tracks offer decent fidelity given reasonable expectations, with dialogue, score and effects presented cleanly, if narrowly.
Don't answer any trivia questions about Jesse James based on your knowledge of the character culled from this film. This is "pure Hollywood hokum", in that old oft-used phrase, but it's undeniably entertaining and provides Power with one of his most popular early roles. That said, it's really Henry Fonda who grounds this film, along with a spectacularly effective supporting cast. Director Henry King keeps things moving at a fairly brisk pace, spending at least as much (if not more) time on Jesse's romantic entanglements as any supposed villainous doin's. Fox has done a respectable enough job here with its restoration efforts, but as has been shown time and time again with these "Technicolor restorations", there's only so far current digital tools can go in recreating the lustrous look of three strip Technicolor, and that's certainly the case once again with this film. The supplementary features are also quite paltry here, but based on entertainment value alone, Jesse James comes Recommended.
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