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.

If the "Paleface" films made me laugh, this film made me smile. But smiling also is pleasant and so is this film with the incredible story of a an insurance agent who sells a policy to Jesse James. Jesse made his beneficiary the lovely Cora Lee (Rhonda Fleming) and he plans to murder the agent (Hope) and make people believe Hope is Jesse James, so the real Jesse can stay with the insurance money. Wendell Corey who played Jesse in "The Great Missouri Raid" (1951) is Jesse again and Jim Davis is Frank. Norman Z. McLeod , is the director, he also directed "The Paleface"(1948). I kept wondering when Bing Crosby was going to show up, and the best thing about this film are the cameos, unfortunately Gene Autry and James Garner (Maverick) had their scenes deleted. But we can't complain , there are Gary Cooper, Bing, James Arness, Hugh O' Brian, Gail Davies (Annie Oakley), Roy Rogers, Trigger, Ward Bond, Iron Eyes Cody, Jay Silverheels (Tonto), Scatman Crothers, Fess Parker and others... isn' that plenty?

Not believable - and not meant to be.Prairie outlaw Jesse James (Wendell Corey) visits New York with a bagful of stolen dollars, and overhears a desperate salesman (Bob Hope) trying to sell life-insurance to a bartender. This gives him an idea - why not fake his own death and retire on the proceeds? The Hope character eagerly delivers the loot to his boss, proud of having sold such a huge policy, not realising he has just insured a famous bandit. The boss orders him to go West and guard Jesse at all times, to save a payout that would bankrupt the company.It's really an excuse for another Hope movie in the popular 'Paleface' style, and a vehicle for Rhonda Fleming as Jesse's fiancée, displaying reasonable talent as a singer and comedienne, but mainly just dazzling us with one look from those limpid eyes.The gags are seriously creaky, and there appears to have been some clumsy editing, with lines that don't lead anywhere. But all the expected shootouts, poker-games and bar-room brawls are there to keep the story moving.Hope is his predictable self. Corey is nowhere near sinister enough to be Jesse, and should have swapped roles with the famously lean-mean Jack Lambert, playing only a small part as Jesse's rival in town, spoiling for a fight.But in any case, the show is stolen by an 80-year old unknown (Mary Young) as Jesse's doting mother, and briefly by Gloria Talbot as a young Indian princess.Couple of Missourian in-jokes - Corey, but not Hope, pronouncing it as 'Missoura', and a small boy with glasses giving his name as Harry Truman.For reasons we won't reveal, an all-star cast of film and TV gunslingers, with Bing Crosby roped-in too, make their cameo appearance near the end.

Enjoyed this very funny Western Film with Bob Hope, ( Milford Farnsworth) starring as a life insurance salesman who sells a policy to Jesse James, (Wendell Corey) the famous gangster cowboy. Milford Farnswoth also follows Jesse James West to see that Jesse stays alive. Milford gets himself adjusted to the West and meets up with a very pretty young woman named Cora Lee Collins, (Rhonda Fleming). Cora Lee happens to be the saloon singer and girlfriend of Jesse James and Milford gets himself involved with a marriage ceremony and makes a good job of having the Bride run away with him and the funny thing is that Jesse James future wife Cora Lee happens to be the bride. There are plenty of cameos of famous actors in this film, namely: Trigger, the horse of Roy Rogers and Roy Rogers, James Arness, Ward Bond, Gary Cooper and Bing Crosby. This is a great entertaining film and you will not want to miss this film if you have never view this film. Enjoy.