Jesse James

Great film, classic story but sad.

Avery good movie

Jesse James robbed trains. What people forget is the railroads killed his mother and took over his farm. What would you have done if it happened to you ? This Movie showed the down fall of a man and his hatred against the railroads and those connected with them. Life was not easy back then the Civil War proved that. Jesse and Frank James came back from the war broken and bitter they reverted to robbery only at the last minute. Jesse was a hero to some a devil to others the movie showed both sides. In the end Jesse was shot in the back and killed. Was justice served by this Murder or was it just another cover up? Watch this movie and you be the judge.

Tyrone Power was at the height of his movie career when he took on the role of "Jesse James"(1939). One of the most handsome leading men in cinema history, Power could act too. Acting was in his blood with both his father and mother being well known stage actors not to mention his grandfather. Darryl Zanuck must have been impressed too because he signed the young Tyrone to a long term contract with 20th Century Fox in 1936 and put him in some of their most important films such as "In Old Chicago", "Rose of Washington Square" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band". Although these last three films were in black and white, it wasn't until he made "Jesse James", his first Technicolor film for Fox, that his handsome movie star features were really put on display. You can see a lot of that in Fox's new Blu-ray presentation but probably not what audiences saw when they first viewed the film in 1939. For those that don't know the story, in one of the dumbest housecleaning or corporate decisions in movie history, all of the original Technicolor negatives in the Fox vaults were destroyed and replaced with "safety dupes" in the early Seventies. And that's a shame because I would have loved to experience "Jesse James" in all it's Technicolor glory. However,this new Blu-ray presentation from Fox is the best we will get for now. It's not bad, just not as great as it could have been had the original Technicolor negative been used. It is however a vast improvement over the standard DVD from years back. Every frame in this new Blu ray from Fox has been cleaned up(no vertical lines, white specks, dirt, torn frames, etc.) and some of the close-up scenes are nearly pristine(Bitrate: 33.97). Flesh tones however vary throughout the film but for the most part this is another standout Blu-ray upgrade from Fox. You can make out individual colors such as the flowers that Nancy Kelly holds on the way to her wedding and also the green countryside and blue skies of Missouri(location filming was done in Pineville, Missouri). Historically, the movie is not very accurate(neither was "Bonnie and Clyde" or "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid") but it's very enjoyable and is one of my favorite westerns. This is one of three Technicolor films that Fox has released this year starring Tyrone Power and although it doesn't quite reach the heights of "Blood and Sand" Blu-ray wise, it certainly looks much better on Blu-ray than "The Black Swan"(1942) which was released the same day. Although not a perfect Blu-ray, fans of Tyrone Power and Westerns in general shouldn't have any doubts about adding "Jesse James" to their Blu-ray library. "Jesse James" is 106 minutes(Aspect Ratio: 1.33.1) and contains the following subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, and French. Audio is as follows: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0; Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 and French DTS 5.1. Special features include two Fox Movietone News shorts and the original theatrical trailer. "Jesse James" was one of the many great film released in 1939 and comes highly recommended.

Tyrone power and Henry fonda are fantastic. The chemistry is very fìñè

This was a great movie. One the best Westerns from this Era

So glad I purchased it . Tyrone should never been allowed to be so handsome. I’m sure the history was distorted, it makes for an excellent film .

I’m reviewing video quality, not the movie. I hate when people write a review about a movie that’s 70 years old. Most of us know what we’re buying. It’s all about the restoration on blu rays. Btw, when they restore old films the goal is to get it as close to its original content. Grain and all!!! It’s not meant to look like a movie shot digitally in 2022.This blu ray misses. This studio destroyed all of its technicolor strips in the 1970s. This movie has that piss yellow or brownish look to it. It’s better than streaming it or watching on Turner classic. I was a bit disappointed. The Return of Frank James was nicely done.