Christopher Evans This film was a very enjoyable and accomplished western with Tyrone Power doing well and Henry Fonda great as always and other cast generally good and plenty of entertainment.However, there is a 'stunt' in the film where horses go off a cliff and in fact they really rode horses off a cliff to their deaths. Apparently the horses were blindfolded. This is totally unnecessary cruelty purely for entertainment. It might make for a good stunt scene but there is no excuse for such cruelty.It is tempting to mark the film as a 1/10 for this but I will still acknowledge all the good there is in the film and not artificially reduce the mark to a 1 even though my feelings on animal cruelty of this kind are very strong. I take into account that other films contain animal cruelty behind the scenes that we may be unaware of, particularly before this time but even in recent times (Water For Elephants is a recent film in which apparently an elephant was cruelly treated in real life).One good thing is that this cruel stunt received a strong reaction from the film industry which brought about the creation of new rules to protect animals in film. So in fact, as well as being an important film cinematically and in re-establishing westerns as box office successes, this was very important in bringing about less cruelty to animals in films.Taking all this into account I will reduce my rating from the 8/10 it would have been, down to a 4/10.Very sad.

deickos This film's beauty is that it is so simple. This is by far the best version of the Jesse James story - there is not a sign of formalism as is regularly seen in later westerns, especially modern ones. When you are able to tell a story the way Henry King does, simply and clearly, then you begin to discover many other stories inside the main one. And then you know you have the original, the prototype.

jotaemesg Now, first and foremost let me put this straight: I don't care about the historical lack of accuracy, I don't care about some cattle getting hurt in the making of this film, I don't care about Henry King being an allegedly rank-and-file director - Baloney!! What I see is a masterful movie, a tragic and epic tale of how America was made, a proof that also the WASPS were often victimized by the corporations and the Govermnemt, an extraordinary screenplay getting the most from the hero's and his beloved ones' ups and downs, as well as a superbly beautiful cinematography, all set on the original location where the events took place around the 1870s (quite different from the Arizona landscapes we are used to). All these elements were not put together by way of accident. A major studio, run by a very intelligent Zanuck was behind it. This is the evidence of what the old studio system could achieve in the golden age. This is the kind of movies that made Henry Fonda and Tyrone Power the big stars they were. This is why MGM got to admire, envy and plagiarize 20th Century Fox's ideas. No wonder it became instantly a legend when it was first released early in 1939. Indeed, one of the most glorious years of that era.This film is priceless. To my taste, it is the best western of the thirties. The story is told ruthlessly, just as reality was, but not without tenderness and utmost respect for the characters. You're not given a chance to breath a sigh of relief. The players work like masters. The very young Nancy Kelly is incredibly convincing as Jesse's wife. Silent star Henry Hull's performance throughout the movie is beyond telling. You have to see and hear. Not a single shot or line is wasted and the story is wise enough to be sprinkled with some bouts of good American sense of humour, very much in line with the ironic style of Mark Twain, another Southerner, very much in the 19th century mood. To think this was filmed in 1938 leaves me with a feeling of awe and admiration. Those guys and girls did know their business. I can't find the right words to praise this sensational movie as strongly as it deserves it. I shall only say this: This is one of the very few films that had me weeping and crying and I insist there's very good reason to be moved and touched by it. I give it 10 out of 10.

vitaleralphlouis When I was a kid, back in 1949, this movie was already 10 years old. One Sunday, my brother comes inside and tells my Dad that "Jesse James" and "The Return of Frank James" were playing downtown at the Pix. My father dropped his newspaper, told my Mom to "hold dinner" and put us in the car to see these two gems. The extremely popular "Jesse James" quickly spawned a sequel; both made by A-list director (Henry King & Fritz Lang). The movies meld together to perfection.Beginning with a great screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, top flight performances, and the exceptional beauty of original 3-strip Technicolor, these movies are often imitated, never equaled. 1972's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" was obviously an imitation of "Jesse James" in mind, in spirit.We no longer have top stars like Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda, but at least they live on in videos. Wonderfully committed to the Confederate cause, these movies take a few liberties with history, are accurate in many details; but most important in casting "the railroad" as the bad guys. I remember my history, and while many like to bellyache about slavery, the real slave-masters of the era were the railroads -- who stole the earnings and impoverished the lives of the ordinary Americans living in their path. As with slavery, with the full blessing of the government.Once hard to see, I now watch this double feature every year. They never grow old.