No stranger to comedy Westerns, Bob Hope's film with Roy Rogers in the early Fifties ("Son of Paleface") is better regarded than this one, but "Alias Jesse James" has it's share of laughs and offers a terrific punch at the finale. Hope's character is a hapless insurance salesman who's latest client is the notorious outlaw, who figures on cashing in by having his alter-ego Martin Farnsworth (Hope) replace him in a pine box.In hindsight I guess one could question the choice of Wendell Corey to portray Jesse James, since he doesn't have any significant Western movie or TV screen credits. By contrast, Jim Davis starred as Matt Clark, Railroad Detective in the early Western TV series "Stories of the Century", and also appeared in a passel of movie Westerns. Corey did portray Frank James in 1951's "The Great Missouri Raid", so maybe flip-flopping their roles here might have made more sense, but Corey did a pretty good job anyway.As saloon gal and Jesse's fiancé Cora Lee Collins, Rhonda Fleming seemed to get prettier throughout the picture, but falling for Hope's Farnsworth character seemed a bit of a stretch for me. But let's face it, it would have meant a one way ticket out of the Dirty Dog saloon, so I guess you can't blame her.Say, did you catch the bit with Milford Farnsworth's horse pushing him along to his showdown with Snake Brice? Back in 1952's "Son of Paleface", Bob Hope was upstaged by Roy Rogers' horse Trigger in a bedroom scene that was just hilarious. You read that right, but I won't give it away here, you'll just have to look it up yourself.Getting back to my earlier tease - the final shoot out with Farnsworth and Jesse's gang was a veritable trip down memory lane for long time Western fans. Making cameos in order of appearance were Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brian), Major Seth Adams (Ward Bond), Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness), Roy Rogers, Davy Crockett (Fess Parker), Annie Oakley (Gail Davis), Gary Cooper, and Tonto (Jay Silverheels). Each one shot a bad guy, only to be upstaged by the Bingster who told the viewer Hope could use all the help he could get. Actually, I think he got it.

This is one of Bob Hope's films before his movies really went downhill in quality in the 1960s. And, like his better films this is a period piece--his last one, in fact. Now I am not saying it's a great film but it is amusing and features a truly wonderful final climactic scene that makes the film worth seeing--but I'll say no more about this because it would ruin it.The film begins with Hope working for an insurance company but it's hard to understand why his poor boss (Will Wright) keeps him on the payroll. He hasn't sold a single policy and the closest he came to it was a guy who died before they could complete the required physical! In fact, after further screw ups, Wright has finally had enough and tells him to get lost. Soon afterwords, Hope meets up with a stranger (Wendell Corey--in an odd bit of casting) who buys a huge policy. Wright is so happy he rehires Hope. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent the new policy holder is Jesse James and Wright is worried this policy will bankrupt them, as EVERYONE seems to want James dead! So, he sends Hope out west--to find Jesse and stay with him to prevent an early demise or give him a refund and cancel the policy. Along the way, Hope has various cute encounters with tough guys and Rhonda Fleming. I don't want to say more, but this mildly amusing farce works up to a wonderful finale and was a was worth my time. Not a great film but pretty good.

I first saw this move in 1959 as an 11-year-old, and thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. When Hope jumps into the back of the buckboard and falls through and can't climb out so he's forced to run to keep up with the horses, his legs were a blur, and I remember laughing so hard my ribs ached.I'm well past 11 today, and I see things differently. The scene in question evoked not so much as a chuckle from me when I saw it recently, though it was fun to reconnect with such a vivid memory from my childhood. (It was the same sense of deja vu I got watching Gene Autry and the Phantom Empire).Even by the low movie standards of Bob Hope, this is lesser Hope. He doesn't act in this movie, he monologues. It's one one-liner after another. And, really becomes quite tedious after awhile.The premise .. not that anyone cares .. Hope plays an insurance agent who sells a policy to Jesse James (played by Wendell Corey, who was terrible). James is a somewhat high-risk customer, so Hope is sent out by his company to protect their investment by protecting James, which puts him at risk from all sorts of people and goings-on, including Jesse James himself. The idea is Hope's character gets into one hopeless situation after another, and comes through without a scratch, oblivious even to what's going on, then offers some awful one-line commentary on what just happened. Repeat for 90 minutes. Boring.There's a ton of cameos at the end of the picture from many of your favorite western stars: Hugh O'Brien, Ward Bond, James Arness, Gary Cooper, Gail Davis, Fess Parker, Roy Rogers, and many others. All these characters appear without explanation to side Hope's character in the climactic gunfight.My favorite was Jay Silverheels as Tonto, who plonks one of the James Gang with an arrow in the back, and in the denouement of the picture, this same guy, arrow sticking from his back, gets up and walks meekly off to jail. If you're beginning to feel this was a live action Looney-Tune, you're getting the picture of what this picture was about.Rhonda Fleming was slumming and stuck in this disaster with Hope, but she never looked lovelier. Lord, but that was a beautiful woman! In addition to the cameos mentioned earlier, this movie featured some of my favorite minor-league players: Jim Davis as Frank James, craggy-faced Will Wright as Hope's boss, and the exotic-looking Gloria Talbot as an Indian princess.I loved it in spite of myself. 6 out of 10.

Funny film as Bob Hope portrays insurance salesman Milford Farnsworth. As Wendell Corey, who portrays James asks, "What's a Milford Farnsworth?"As far as I'm concerned, Mary Young as Ma James steals this picture as the soft spoken mother of the outlaw who only wants her Jesse to eat a good breakfast before he goes out to steal. With her sing-song voice, Ma comes across as a kindly old lady only to resort to the shotgun when Rhonda Fleming jumps ship in her wedding dress and flees with Hope.The plot is hilarious. The inept Farnsworth sells James an insurance policy and James in turn plans to have Hope dressed like him, and killed so that he can enjoy the $100,000 that the policy is worth. What's even funnier is that dance hall queen Cora Lee, Fleming, falls for Hope.The picture provides good laughs and was appropriate for the 1950s light comedies with Hope.