Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 26-August-07
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Jesse James (1939)

As stated before, I do not go in for the glorification of criminals even though this is an extremely common motif in American entertainment. Yet I greatly enjoy the Tyrone Power version of the Jesse James tale because it offers the kind of storytelling that keeps legends alive.

I emphasize storytelling and legend, for "Jesse James" is largely fiction. Superbly written and directed by Nunnally Johnson and Henry King, respectively, the movie depicts a folk hero who was both elevated and destroyed by answering the call of destiny. The young Jesse and his brother Frank (Henry Fonda) first turn to crime seeking revenge for the theft of their land and the murder of their mother. We today can easily sympathize with their cause since they are taking a stand against unscrupulous corporate bastards who want to run the world. In this case it's the railroad, blazing towards the West by knocking dirt farmers out of the way.

Their poor momma raised the boys well, for at first they act as gentlemen bandits who hold up trains not to steal ladies' jewelry but to scare off business from the evil corporation. (Says one upon departing the scene, "Don't forget to sue the railroad!") Even as his notoriety grows, Jesse continues to court his childhood sweetheart "Zee" (Nancy Kelly) and eventually agrees to give himself up when she deems it necessary. She is worth the sacrifice, being a fine woman who has brokered a light jail sentence for him with an upright lawman (Randolph Scott). Also on the lovers' side is Zee's uncle, a quirky newspaperman (Henry Hull) who daily prints editorials about how lawyers, dentists, governors, and sundry others ought to be taken out and shot like dogs.

But as the movie is quick to note, once crime becomes a person's habit he finds it difficult to let go. After the railroad mogul thwarts Zee's plan and nettles the James boys again, they turn to bank heists and a greater amount of killing. Jesse's personal life unravels, his motives become unclear, and his crude but admirable thirst for justice starts to look a lot like basic thuggery. This leads to dissension among his ranks, which is fanned by the vile and incessant manipulation of his enemy.

The stature of the protagonist is enhanced by the casting of Power, who has never looked sexier. (Let's face it, a gorgeous outlaw is always more romantic than a homely one.) Fonda does not say much but still manages to be the wanted poster child for cool. These are men who feel deeply, whine little, and get the job done. In this rendering of their story you understand their actions even when you don't agree with them and mourn their downfall because it doesn't make the world right. "Jesse James" extracts lasting meaning from history in the heroic rise and unheroic fall of an essentially human figure.

Copyright © 2007 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.