I Shot Jesse James

I Shot Jesse James (Samuel Fuller, 1949) "Well, what're you waitin' for, Bob? There's my back!" That ironic line comes early on in Samuel Fuller's first director's effort, a low-budget Western he shot in 10 days and runs a quick hour twenty minutes. In it, he traces (somewhat truthfully) the story of Bob Ford, a member of the James Gang who shot Jesse James for the amnesty for past crimes and an offered reward (which was rescinded).

And a legendary status as a turncoat and a "dirty little coward" which was never rescinded.

Weep no tears for Jesse James. The guy was a psychopath drunk on his fame, a racist murderer of women and children, and loved his reputation as a Robin Hood who stole from the rich...and kept it. Forget that it was the money of ordinary citizens. It's those same ordinary citizens who lionized the creep. Fuller thought James was a rat and didn't want to romanticize him the way 20th Century Fox did.

But, he doesn't really paint the picture of James by historical record, either. The way James is portrayed (by Reed Handley), he's a smart, level-headed guy who robs banks and has a steely glare and a bit of a hair-trigger. Fuller always liked a "wow" beginning and after a Title sequence of wanted posters, he whip-pans to the "Cattlemens' Bank" as he holds a bank official at gun-point, while Ford (played by John Ireland) stuffs his money-bag. Fuller builds tension with close-ups of James and the official, who starts sweating more and more. The reason? He's inching his foot millimeter by millimeter to a foot-activated alarm button, as the sweat runs down his face. 

It's a new deal for Jesse and Bob—they've never seen anything like that alarm mechanism before. But, it causes enough confusion for Bob to get shot in the getaway—and drop the money. James decides to lay low for a while with the wife under the alias Tom Howard, and Bob and his brother stay with the James family. "Mrs. Howard" doesn't like it, is suspicious of Ford, but James won't relent. In fact, he gives no argument.

"So, what are you waitin' for, Bob? There's  my back!" The line comes when Jesse is taking a hot bath in the barn, Ford delivering freshly steaming buckets of water. James gives Ford a new pistol, and for long moments he stares at Jesse's naked back in the tub, thinking it would be so easy. But, what Jesse is talking about is scrubbing his back with a brush. The film has a few of these little Fuller tricks, raising expectations of one thing and totally subverting those expectations, keeping one step ahead of the audience.

Where Fuller departs from History is the back-story and what will comprise the main motivation behind the fatal shot to Jesse James. When Ford learns that his old sweetheart, actress Cynthy Waters (Barbara Britton) is in town appearing in a "heart-warming drama" (as they all seem to be), and he sees the amnesty promised for James' death as a way to have a future with Cynthy, who also has an interested suitor with John Kelley (Preston Foster), which only makes Ford more anxious to be able to walk free from regret. Killing James will only speed the way to his marrying Cynthy.

The opportunity will come soon enough, although there will be ample chances to make it happen, chances that Ford lets slip by for one reason or another. But, while James has his back turned, adjusting a picture on the wall, Ford shoots, using the same gun James has given him as a gift and seals both their fates. Ford gets his amnesty, but no reward, and when he rushes to Cynthy to tell her he's a free man, she's aghast, especially as he cites her as his main motivation—"It's just as if I pulled that trigger myself..." Ford is disappointed and confused by her reaction and her hesitancy to marrying him and becomes just as committed to making a stake so that he can have a foundation for a marriage not based on murder and betrayal.

Sounds reasonable, but not to Ford's twisted bubble of reality.

The remainder of the film is a mixture of some (but not much) of the history of Ford subsequent to the shooting of James—yes, he did tour towns doing dramatic re-enactments of the shooting (but no, he didn't quit doing them from experiencing guilt-ridden flashbacks), and yes, he was targeted for reprisals—but, there's more Fuller fictionalization—no, he didn't go into silver prospecting and make a fortune (he ran a series of taverns and dance-halls, usually ruinously), the major character of John Kelly who spirals in and out of Ford's life, and Cynthy's affections, is entirely fictitious (although Ford was eventually killed by an Edward O'Kelley). Given the contrivance of the love interest, and Ford's less-than-thrilling post-assassination career, one can hardly blame him. Besides, Fuller's interest is internal, not external; Ford's fate as a pariah in the eyes of the public, despite ridding the world of a murderous thug is far more interesting than how he earns his money. 

Bob Ford relives his shooting of Jesse James on-stage.

One of most tense scenes parallels that initial bank-robbery where it's done mostly in close-up, as the faces get more tense—it's when Ford is at a bar and a troubadour comes in to sing for drinks and tips and starts to sing a song "that everybody likes." He starts to sing "Jesse James"*, not realizing that one of the bar-patrons is the "dirty little coward" that is mentioned in the song. Once Ford identifies himself, he dares the singer to continue the song to the end, which he does, while sweat pours down his face. 

It's a tense scene with merely the threat of violence at its core. Fuller makes it excruciating and does it entirely in close-up, pushing the audience uncomfortably close, enough to make it squirm with the tension. It's the sort of in-your-face film-making that Fuller would perfect throughout his career. 

* Jesse James (Traditional)

Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man,
He robbed the Glendale train,
He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor,
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain.

Well it was Robert Ford, that dirty little coward,
I wonder how he feels,
For he ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed,
And he laid poor Jesse in his grave.

(chorus)

Well Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life,
Three children, [now] they were brave,
Well that dirty little coward that shot Mr. [Mister] Howard,
He laid poor Jesse [Has laid Jesse James] in his grave.

Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor,
He'd never rob a mother or a child,
There never was a man with the law in his hand,
That could take Jesse James alive.

Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor,
He'd never see a man suffer pain,
And with his brother Frank he robbed the Chicago bank,
And stopped the Glendale train.

It was on a Saturday night and the moon was shining bright,
They robbed the Glendale train,
And people they did say o'er many miles away
It was those outlaws, they're Frank and Jesse James

(chorus)

Now the people held their breath when they heard of Jesse's death,
And wondered how he ever came to fall
Robert Ford, it was a fact, he shot Jesse in the back
While Jesse hung a picture on the wall

Now Jesse went to rest with his hand on his breast,
The devil will be upon his knee.
He was born one day in the County Clay,
And he came from a solitary race.

(chorus)