Days of Jesse James (1939)

Roy Rogers portrayed a number of historical figures in a few of his late Thirties Westerns. Among the titles were "Young Buffalo Bill", "Young Bill Hickok", and "Jesse James at Bay" in which he had a dual role as Jesse James and an impersonator who committed crimes in Jesse's name. In this film, Roy plays a character going by his own name, a peace officer hired by the Bankers Association to track down the James Gang. Only problem is, Roy suspects someone else behind the robbery of a local bank, and is determined to bring the outlaws to justice.The story tentatively follows a sketchy outline of the real life James and Younger gangs, but not by much. In an effort to track down Jesse (Don Barry) and Frank (Harry Worth), railroad detective Worthington (Harry Woods) inadvertently burns down the home of a Doctor Samuels who's wife is injured. In real life, Pinkerton agents raided the James family farm, using an incendiary device that killed Jesse's younger half-brother and blew off his mother's arm.Roy's perennial sidekick Gabby Hayes is on hand here, unknown to each other at the start of the picture, but teaming up to track down the bank robbers. Gabby has a personal score to settle, as he's just deposited over forty thousand dollars in the Wyatt Bank after selling the rights to his gold strike back in California. Pauline Moore is Gabby's daughter Mary Whittaker, providing the romantic interest for Roy.You know, I thought I recognized that young boy Buster Samuels; it turns out that was Scotty Beckett who I remembered from his Our Gang Days, teaming up with Spanky McFarland in the mid-Thirties for a handful of shorts. He was the one with the over-sized cap and turtleneck sweater, and might have been the best looking kid in the bunch.There's not much in the way of songs here as was typical for a Roy Rogers vehicle. Something I haven't seen before in nearly fifty of Roy's flicks - he sits down to play an organ while serenading Miss Whittaker with a rendition of 'Echo Mountain'. I couldn't tell you if he was actually playing it or not, but if so, you can chalk up another talent to the King of the Cowboys.

Let's set the record straight. Jesse James was a slime-ball. He, his brother and their gang were thieves and murderers--there's simply no doubt about it. However, inexplicably, these folks (particularly Jesse) have been portrayed a bazillion times in movies as nice guys. Well, I have news for the filmmakers--nice folks don't murder people and steal! So, when I see films like "Days of Jesse James", the history teacher in me (yes, I taught US History) cringes. That reason alone is why I wouldn't recommend the film. However, there is one other reason--it's a pretty dull movie as well.Jesse James is played by Red Barry of the Red Ryder series fame and while he's not as important a character in the story, Cole Youngeris played by Glenn Strange who later played Frankenstein in several Universal films (such as "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein"). This is pretty interesting, though Strange did appear in lots of westerns.The film begins with Gabby and his daughter heading to the city to put his fortune in the bank and settle down to a life of retirement. However, soon after, the bank is robbed and his money is stolen. At the same time, Roy Rogers (once again playing himself, of sorts) arrives in town to investigate some robberies attributed to James. Rogers thinks James isn't that bad a guy and isn't sure whether many of the crimes were really perpetrated by James or his friends. And, to find this out, he and Gabby infiltrate the gang.The plot is pretty predictable--even for a Roy Rogers film. It lacks any sort of twist and the film is certainly not among his best. Oddly, Rogers also made a film that involved Billy the Kid--and it wasn't so inaccurate and was quite entertaining. This one, however, just seems pretty ordinary--at best. Even the songs are pretty flat.

Jesse James is robbing banks and trains all over the west. When he seems to be repeatedly hitting one town in particular Roy Rogers is sent to investigate at the same time that a hot shot railroad cop is dispatched to get to the bottom of it all. Really good western adventure film hits all the right notes. The singing and musical interludes are kept to a minimum and seem to be logically placed. I liked that the film allowed for several plot lines to be developing together with the Rogers, the railroad cop, villain and Jesse James threads all moving about on their own, yet clearly all moving toward a singular outcome. One of the better Roy Rogers westerns I've seen because its not just the same old straight forward plot. If there is any flaw its that Rogers looks a bit too slight and youthful to a rough and tumble western cop, especially compared to some of the others in the mix. Worth a look.

Inspired no doubt by the success of Fox's Technicolor saga, JESSE JAMES (1939), Republic Pictures cranked out DAYS OF JESSE JAMES (1939) which turned the Jesse story into a vehicle for Roy Rogers at a time when the actor was specializing in historical westerns with a minimum of songs (BILLY THE KID RETURNS, YOUNG BUFFALO BILL, YOUNG BILL HICKOK, etc.). As a result, poor Jesse gets short shrift here, functioning as a red herring in a standard B-western tale of a corrupt banker robbing his own bank and blaming it on the James gang.Roy Rogers stars as Roy Rogers, a freelance peace officer hired by the Bankers' Association to track down the stolen money, a mission which compels him to go undercover and masquerade as an ex-con to join the James gang. Complicating matters is the presence of a corrupt railroad detective (Harry Woods) seeking to use Rogers' efforts to get the reward money for himself. Gabby Hayes plays Gabby Whitaker, a former California miner whose savings were stolen from the bank and who tags along with Roy. Gabby's granddaughter Mary, played by Pauline Moore, provides the female love interest. Donald Barry plays Jesse James and Glenn Strange (a future Frankenstein monster over at Universal Pictures) shows up briefly as Cole Younger.The film follows the lead of the Fox hit (which starred Tyrone Power in the role) in whitewashing the reputation of the famed outlaw. Jesse is let off the hook pretty easily and is played by Barry as a fairly conscientious fellow although he does try to rob a bank at one point. In general, the film takes a pretty casual view of the rule of law. Roy commits crime in the course of the film--all in the aim of solving the bank robbery, of course--but suffers no consequence. Even the Missouri sheriff (Fred Burns) working with Roy gets into the act, at one point entering a man's home looking for "outlaws" Roy and Gabby. When the homeowner asks to see a warrant, the sheriff thrusts his pistol at him and declares, "This is all the search warrant I need."Despite the potential for suspense and conflict, there is far less action here than usual for a Rogers western of this period and far too much talk. Barry does a good, quick turn as Jesse, a role he would play again 15 years later in an even lower budgeted western, JESSE JAMES' WOMEN (1954), which he also directed. (As Don "Red" Barry, the actor achieved some success as a Republic Pictures B-western star in the early-to-mid 1940s.) The character of Jesse fared slightly better in a subsequent Rogers western, JESSE JAMES AT BAY (1941), in which Rogers himself played both a noble Jesse and a less-than-noble look-alike who commits crimes in Jesse's name.