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With: Preston Foster, Barbara Britton, John Ireland, Reed Hadley, J. Edward Bromberg, Victor Kilian, Tom Tyler, Tommy Noonan, Eddie Dunn, Margia Dean
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Written by: Samuel Fuller, based on an article by Homer Croy
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Directed by: Samuel Fuller
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MPAA Rating: NR
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Running Time: 81
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Date: 02/26/1949
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I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Shooting Back
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Like many other writers,
Fuller's debut feature I Shot Jesse James (1949) came after he grew disenchanted watching others
mangle his work. It was shot on an extremely low budget (about
$100,000), with very few exterior shots, and it feels a bit stagebound.
John Ireland plays Robert Ford as slightly clueless, as if he doesn't
fully comprehend his actions. Nevertheless, Fuller's film has a dynamic
psychology at work; the Ford character has a kind of sour presence that
follows him around. Characters don't quite know how to deal with him.
Ford's early scenes with Jesse (Reed Hadley) effectively set the tone
with their homoerotic touches; a bathing Jesse asks Ford to scrub his
back. Some critics called it the "first psychological Western." Barbara
Britton plays the girl that Ford wants to marry, but she's almost
incidental. Preston Foster is top-billed, but plays a relatively minor
character.
Criterion Eclipse continues its series of excellent DVD box sets devoted to "lesser" films by great directors. The idea is that, by packaging these films together for a bargain price with no "extras," they are more easily accessible than they would be individually. The First Films of Samuel Fuller, containing three DVDs, is the fifth in the series.
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