(Some Spoilers) Having had his fill of robbing banks and shooting people as a member of the notorious James Gang young Robert Ford, John Ireland, only wants to get himself a piece of land that he can farm and live with his actress/singer girlfriend Cynthy Waters, Barbara Britton.Having no real money and being always on the run from the law Robert sees that a life with Cynthy is nothing but a pipe dream. In him not being able to care for here as well, in being a wanted man, putting her life, as well as his, in danger. It's when Robert sees an ad in the local papers offering a $10,000.00 reward, as well as total amnesty from the law, in bringing Jesse James, Reed Hadley, to the bar of justice dead or alive that a light bulb suddenly lights up in his head.Planning to off his boss Jesse James but not really having he heart or guts to do it Robert finally catches Jesse off-guard as he turned his back on him while adjusting a picture in his living-room. Robert's plan works perfectly as he blasts Jesse from behind and thus becoming eligible for the $10,000.00 reward.What the not so on the ball Robert soon finds out in that he gets stiffed by the authorities by getting only $500.00 of the $10,000.00 that he expected due to a slight technicality as well as becoming the most hated man in the west. That's in Robert being the man who shot the great Jesse James in the back! Not in a fair fight where he met the legendary bank robbing gunman face to face in the town square at high noon!What's worse for Robert is that his perfumed and rosy girlfriend Cynthy dropped him like a bag smelly horse manure when she found out that he murdered Jesse James whom she always thought that he was, by being so close to him, his best friend! And far worse then that is that Cynthy is now in love with John Kelly, Preston Foster, a sneaky sort of guy who was always after her by posing as a talent agent who can open doors, in the theater business, for her.Of course Robert, in being overly stupid or just plain love-sick, doesn't know that Cynthy dropped until much later in the film. Which leads to a showdown with Kelly in the town square but not at high noon but at sunset where he hopes he's be invisible to the naked, or Kelly's, eye.With the exception of the beginning and end of "I Shot Jesse James" that rest of the film tries to make Robert Ford into a truly tragic figure who got caught up in him being a member of the James gang who ended up corrupting him. It was that fact that director Samuel Fuller wanted to bring out in the movie in showing the audience that the great Jesse James was nothing but a murderous, some 30 years before the name was even coined, gangster who got just what he deserved! Even if it was a bullet in the back by one of his fellow gang members from a gun that he gave him for birthday present!

How sane can people idolize a cold-blooded, murdering and thieving scum like Jesse James? Over the decades, many, many films have portrayed James as sort of a "Robin Hood of the West", even though there was nothing to admire about the man. And, after he was killed by a member of his gang, songs were composed to the honor of James and declaring that the shooter, Bob Ford, was a coward. The way I see it, cowardly or not, shooting Jesse James in the back was a great day for mankind! Now I cannot compare this film to the recent film "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" since I haven't seen it--hopefully it sticks closer to the facts. However, it's pretty obvious by the title that they take a very strong anti-Ford position. While Ford was a bad man, I just can't see how his killing James was anything other than a glorious day for mankind--just as if someone had "murdered" Ted Bundy.I SHOT JESSE JAMES repeats many of the myths since they abounded even during the time of James' death, but tries to explain Bob Ford's motivations--though I am unsure just how much anyone today can explain this accurately. At least it doesn't try to show the conflict in the usual black & white terms--with the myths of Jesse as the victim and Ford as a coward. Unfortunately, while the film debunks some of the worst myths about James and Ford, it creates some new ones---particularly how Ford died at the end of the film. Like the death of Jesse James, Ford was shot in the back at close range in real life--why they made him die in an "honorable" shoot-out is beyond me. This is specially strange when the film appears to be an attempt to tell Ford's true life story.The part of Bob Ford was played in I SHOT JESSE JAMES by John Ireland. Ireland was an extremely effective actor in Film Noir pictures of the day and is one of my favorite actors in the genre. Here he's in one of the rare Westerns he made and he did a pretty good job. I couldn't believe that one reviewer admitted that although they didn't know much about Ireland said how much they hated his acting. This seemed like a cheap shot and I wish they'd see some of his other films, such as THE GOOD DIE YOUNG or RAILROADED!.As for Sam Fuller's direction, this was his first effort and was amazingly effective even if the script was full of holes and clichés. Apparently this was all filmed in only 10 days, but the film appears complete, tight and well thought-out. For a 10 day effort, the film SHOULD suck--which it certainly does not.My advice is probably not to watch any of the films about Jesse James--after all, he was scum. Plus, until they free these films from all the clichés and rhetoric, I'm inclined to recommend that you instead read a book about him or Bob Ford.By the way, the famous song about the sad death of James at the hand of Ford that you hear in the film wasn't written until the 1920s, though there were other similar songs and stories written around the time of his death.

It's one of the oldest Western stories: Jesse James was a big-time outlaw, robbing banks left and right, alongside his gang, including Robert Ford. One day, upon hearing of the huge bounty (and possibility of amnesty for anyone in the gang) for Jesse's murder, Ford took it upon himself to kill him so that he could be free and clear to mary his would-be wife. But things didn't quite turn out right afterwords, and Ford was considered more-so a coward, a traitor for doing this act, and any gunslinger who could gun Ford down would then be seen as the baddest dude in the west. At least, that's the legend anyway that comes out of the main plot. But there's more to it, at least under the surface, that Samuel Fuller gets to in his take on the legend of one man's existential downfall from killing his best friend, who happened to be the most feared- and yet most admired- bank robber in America for a short while. Fuller might be asking why he was admired, when he didn't do anything that really merited praise only in hindsight. There's a sense of pure melodrama, brimming with acting that is typical for the budget, but somehow Fuller brings out the best in what might be a little limited in the character actors.John Ireland says a lot in the understated expressions on his face, the tense feeling of rejection from the only one he can get close to- once Jesse is out of the picture- and likewise Cynthy (Barbara Britton) is very good at doing the 'acting-concerned' woman that is reluctant to be on Ford's sleeve. It's all the more compelling because Fuller could easily make the direction more into a black and white category, that Ford is bad like Jesse was, and Cynthy is more than in her reasoning for not wanting to marry him. But even in the pulpy world of Jesse James and Robert Ford, there is room for compromise. I liked seeing the scenes where Ford goes through the humiliating act of doing a theater re-enactment of the killing scene, but suddenly seeing in a vision the actual act he performed superimposed over the pantomime. And, immediately after, as one of the very best scenes in the film, a traveling singer who sings a song terrified in Ford's face about how much of a traitor he was for killing such a man like Jesse James.It's a sharp script considering what Fuller would have to work with, but it's also the simplicity of his craft (it might be one of those genre films where the style is so stripped down to bare essentials with necessary close-ups, consistent medium shots, that when something 'stylistic' happens like in the last shootout between Kelly and Ford that it is shocking), how Fuller pushes it into looking like a tale that on the surface as a conventional feature. But watch how the suddenness of violence sparks up interest in the craft, how the opening bank robbery is timed and shot with the same level- or even more- tension than your average heist thriller. Or in the actual infamous scene itself, which is preceded by Ford getting a chance beforehand when James was in the bath, and the cut-aways to the POV at the back. It's bold-faced type through a crisp full-frame lens.And while Fuller would still go on to make greater films, I Shot Jesse James is a fantastic prototype for a great career, where history merges with the human process of change, and how love, however a typical thing in a triangle situation, complicates even the strongest of men.

The Jesse James gang was a group of Missouri farmers turned outlaws. Heading the gang was Jesse (Reed Hadley)and his brother Frank (Tom Tyler). Other members included Charlie Ford (Tommy Noonan)and his younger brother, Bob (John Ireland.)While the law hunts him, Jesse lives quietly in a rented house on the corner of Lafayette and Twenty-first street in St. Joseph, Missouri, under the alias of Tom Howard. His wife Zee (Barbara Woodell) begs him to end his association with the Ford brothers. Before they can leave on a "last" bank holdup, Bob learns that is childhood sweetheart, Cynthy Waters (Barbara Britton), now an actress, is in St. Joe and he brushes aside all caution to see her.Cynthy is beginning to realize that she is a liability to her manager, Harry Kane (J. Edward Bromberg), because she will not leave Missouri. Meanwhile, John Kelley (Preston Foster), has come into her life. She pleads with Bob to turn honest.Cynthy tries to get a pardon for Bob, but the best offer she can get is for a 20-year stretch in prison. Then, the Governor offers amnesty and a $10,000 reward to any member of the James gang betraying Jesse. When his chance comes (April 3, 1882)Bob shoots Jesse in the back. He gets the amnesty but the reward is cut to $500. He also loses the love and respect of Cynthy, but he blames John Kelley. Bob, needing money, joins Kane's show in an act showing how he killed Jesse James, but the act is a miserable flop.Bob goes to crowded Creede, Colorado, scene of a silver boom.There, he has to share a room with another prospector, who turns out to be Kelley. The next morning, Kelley and a diamond ring that Bob had bought for Cynthy are both gone. While hunting for Kelley, Bob meets an aged prospector, Soapy (Victor Kilian), who takes him in as a partner. They strike it rich and Bob sends for Cynthy, who arrives accompanied by her maid (Jeni LeGon) and Kane, and Bob meets the arriving party.Kelley also shows up, dragging a hotel clerk who admits to stealing the ring. Kelley is surprised to find Cynthy with Bob and thinks they are married. He is relieved to learn the truth and soon accepts the job of Creede's town Marshal. Cynthy admits to Kelley that she does not love Bob, but she feels responsible for his having killed Jesse.Frank James comes to her hotel suite demanding that Cynthy tell him where Bob is. Kelley disarms him and locks him in jail. Days later, Bob and Soapy and others are celebrating in the hotel bar, awaiting news of the verdict on Frank James. The news of his acquittal and Frank himself arrive simultaneously, and Frank, who holds the upper hand informs Bob of Kelley's and Cynthy's relationship, knowing its effect on Bob would be worse than death.Bob leaves to have a shoot-out showdown with Kelley. This film was the third time Tom Tyler had played Frank James. Reed Hadley played Jesse James in this film and had the role Frank James in 1950's "The Return of Jesse James," making him and Wendell Corey the only two actors who had portrayed both brothers on the screen.