When I was a kid who loved westerns in the early fifties Jesse James meant Jesse James (Henry King,1939), The Kansas Raiders (1950) and The Great Missouri Raid (1951). They were all exciting westerns, colorful, with a lot of action scenes and with a sad ending. In all of them Jesse was a hero, that by the unfortunate ways of destiny ended up on the wrong side of the law. Over the years Jesse kept changing (The Long Riders, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid), becoming more of a bad guy up to the complex and legendary Jesse played by Brad Pitt. This silent film made in 1921 leans more to the legend. There is an over sentimental scene when James brings a doll to a sick girl which is just too much manipulation of the spectator to make the point of how good Jesse was. The same goes for train robbers giving a card to a woman written "with the compliments of Jesse James". You don't have to be too smart to realize that those are people trying to put the blame on Jesse. Jesse is played by his son Jesse James Jr. and independent of his acting, which is not so great, gives the historic touch that makes the film worth seeing. But in spite of its faults, the film manages to be interesting showing us Jesse from his Quantrill days up to his final moment. One scene shows Cole Younger dying after the Northfield raid, when in fact he died much later. Never mind, it is one of the best scenes of the movie. I would say it is worth watching , specially to compare the same subject throughout the decades.

This is a Western of a totally different kind. First off, it is a silent movie complete with a narrator (so you don't have to read those cue cards) and sounds of gun fire, horses, music, etc.But what made the movie intriguing to me was that it starred the actual son of the famous Missouri outlaw--Jesse James Jr. He played two roles: First as himself and then, in the flashback portion (which is most of the movie) he played his father. Now we are talking about a star playing his father who was an outlaw and that star was 7 years old when, while playing in another room of the house, heard the gunshot that killed his father in the living room. As a boy, he knew the two men who were in the room with his father that dreaded April morning in northwestern Missouri. But his mother had ushered him into a back room to play with his sister when the two "cowards" came that morning so he didn't see his father shot but came into the room immediately after the gunshot. He saw his father lying on the floor and blood pouring from the back of his head. He watched as his mother cradled her dying husband--begging him not to die. He heard her cries and screams as the spirit of his father slipped from him and his mother realized the man she loved was dead. He certainly must have loved his father in those first 7 years and have been loved by his father in turn. So we are talking about a boy who grew up and idolized his father because his mother told him things about Jesse that no others knew. So his view is from that perspective. Thus a bit of background about the main star of this movie.The plot: Jesse James Jr. is at home and talking with a writer about their co-authoring a book about his father. A young man arrives and meets his daughter. He later returns and (though time must have elapsed) wants to marry his daughter. Jesse Jr. gives him a book about his father and tells the young man to read it and then, if he still wants to marry the granddaughter of a famous outlaw, OK. So now comes the flashback about what the young man is reading.It begins with Jesse joining up with Quantrill before the War of Northern Aggression (Civil War) began officially. It carries Jesse through the war years and then his attempt to settle down after the war and live a normal life. It details the fact that he was continually harassed by carpet-bagger governments. It gives many details about Jesse's kind nature toward the people in the area and why they loved him. It works its way up to where that "dirty little coward" murdered him in the back and the flashback is over.Then the young man (reading the book) is given the chance to marry the daughter of Jesse James Jr. Did he? You'll have to view the movie and see for yourself.The quality of the movie was really good compared to silent movies. I recently bought the video from Movies Unlimited and will certainly watch it again and again. For in my view, it gives me information about Jesse James that no other movie can ever give--a son's view of his father whom he loved.