weezeralfalfa I don't like the uninformative title. The title of the Brazilian version : "The Death of Jesse James" is much better. Or perhaps my review title, for example. For an excellent summary of the many deviations from historical records, see reviewer aimless-46. For a good review of the important details of the screenplay, see reviewer silverscreen 688. Thus, I don't need to repeat these in full here. ......Strangely, neither the actor(Robert Vaughn) portraying Bob Ford, nor the actor(Henry Brandon) portraying Jesse James. are at the top of the list. Instead, Stephen McNally, as Vic, is first billed. Vic is a sometimes member of the James Gang, and a friend of Bob Ford, as well as Bob's sister, Paula(blond Peggie Castle). The up and down relationship between Vic and Paula, and Paula's father constitutes the second theme of the plot, which appears periodically through the film. Paula's father, Clay(ably played by Harry Shannon), disapproved of Vic as a husband some years ago. So, Paula married another, with a respectable job. But, he was killed in a bank holdup by the James Gang. Now, Paula and Vic want to renew their relationship, but Clay is still opposed, until late in the film, when he asks Vic to help rescue Bob from a lynch mob. Vic wants to go straight, but doesn't know how to go about it. He's involved in a complex shootout out of town, that includes Bob on his side, Frank James(Douglas Kennedy) and Cole Younger against them, trying to extract revenge for killing Jesse, and Sheriff Oliver plus Pinkerton agent Clyde O'Connell, wanting to arrest or kill both pairs. Vic is shot in the back and barely survives, while Bob doesn't survive. In contrast, the real Bob Ford lived another decade before being gunned down. He and brother Charlie used to charge admission for reenactments of the James shooting.......Vic seems to be a modified version of brother Charlie, who is transformed into a friend, so that he can court sister Paula. The character of Vic seems to be typical of the characters McNally played: often villains or minor heroes. Here, we might think of him as being a mix of both.......More credible versions of Ford's shooting of Jesse are enacted in the 1939 "Jesse James" and the 2007 "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" The latter film is twice as long as the present film. Although acclaimed by many reviewers as the most authentic version, I tend to agree with the minority, who found it mostly tedious and too long. Thus, I won't be surprised if you find the present version and the 1939 version more entertaining. See it at YouTube

aimless-46 "That dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard", the coward was Bob Ford and Mr. Howard was Jesse James. Ford murdered James, who was unarmed and straightening a picture when Ford shot him in the back. Ford had been promised amnesty (for another murder-he had never been involved with Jesse or the illegal activities of the James gang) and a $10,000 reward. In "Hell's Crossroads" (1957), they recreate the event, although this time Jesse James is hanging decorations on his Christmas tree. I mention this because it is about the only time the movie approaches historical accuracy despite claiming to chronicle the exploits or Bob Ford (Robert Vaughn) and a friend named Vic Rodell (Stephen McNally). What actually happened was that in 1882 Jesse James, living peacefully under the Mr. Howard name, recruited Bob Ford and his brother Charlie for one last robbery. Bob had never been involved with the James gang (which was long disbanded by that point) and the three men were living in the same house while planning the robbery. Unfortunately the producers of "Hells Crossroads" decided the true story was not good enough. So they replaced brother Charlie with friend Vic, threw in a romance between Vic and Bob's sister Paula (Peggy Castle) and made the two men longtime members of the James Gang. The film's climax takes place a few days after Jesse is killed. It features Frank James (Douglas Kennedy) and Cole Younger (Myron Healey) coming after Bob and Vic to avenge the 1882 killing; and Cole Younger is killed in the poorly staged climatic gunfight. In fact Cole was in prison from 1872 until 1901; and died of natural causes in 1916 (outliving everyone associated with the real James gang). The historical nonsense showcased in "Hell's Crossroads" is nicely matched with the film's poor direction and staggeringly bad acting. By 1957 Warner Brothers was cranking out several weekly westerns for television; most of which are now available on DVD. I challenge anyone to find a single episode of "Cheyenne", "Maverick", "Gunsmoke" or "Have Gun Will Travel" that is quite as lame as this film. Peggy Castle made a career out of appearing in these television westerns. What is sad is that the television casts she worked with were far stronger than the ensemble she must struggle with in this lame movie. If Stephen McNally is the leading man you can safely assume that they are pulling from the absolute bottom of the casting barrel. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

classicsoncall With the Brad Pitt/Casey Affleck film (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) still in limited release at present, this picture managed to temporarily satisfy my curiosity about the death of Jesse James and see it from a 1950's perspective. Since the title of the picture doesn't hint at the story line, I was surprised to hear the names James and Ford used early in the picture. Putting two and two together came pretty easily at that point, and even better, the story managed to rise above the level of a lot of the Western genre output of the period.Oddly, the lead character in the film is neither James OR Ford, but an unknown member of the James Gang going by Victor Rodell (Stephen McNally). Rodell resumes a romantic involvement with Bob Ford's (Robert Vaughn) sister following a botched bank hold-up in Muncie, and the story continues to follow events that lead to the governor of Missouri offering clemency to Ford if he agrees to turn in Jesse. The climactic scene is similar to the finale of 1939's "Jesse James", with a Christmas tree scenario replacing that of Jesse hanging a picture on the wall.There's an interesting scene near the end of the movie when Frank James (Douglas Kennedy) and Cole Younger (Myron Healey) come gunning for Rodell. Bob Ford's father (Harry Shannon), expecting his son to help Rodell escape, frustratedly remarks when it looks like Bob won't interfere - "Why you coward, you dirty little coward". Fifty years later, the coward tag comes full circle to describe the man who killed the most famous and notorious Western outlaw.In addition to the players already mentioned, it was cool to see Barton MacLane on hand as a Pinkerton agent, and Peggie Castle in the role of Paula Collins, the sister of Bob Ford. A couple of years later, Castle appeared as a regular on the classic TV Western series "Lawman", as saloon owner Lily Merrill.It's always a treat to come across a movie I'd never heard of before, and even better when it exceeds expectations. Though I presume a lot of the film to be fictional, it's still an engrossing story and worthy of a recommendation.

Rifleman44 This is an excellent western. With the exception of unlimited rifle ammo fire, the movie was made in super black & white and is well shot and directed. I think that it is excellent in authenticity of equipment and props while the story line might be a little off. Certainly could be one to allow the kids to see without worry. MUCH better than most westerns. Mr. Man from Uncle plays the part of a coward who finds his courage and comes to the aid of his allies. The casting was extremely well done with each of the role players being a natural for their part. Look at the background props and see how well they were thought out. If I had a person from overseas come visit, I would show this movie as one which represents a good western movie.