The Return of Frank James (1940)

The Return of Frank James
Directed by Fritz Lang
Written by Sam Hellman
1940/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/ Amazon Instant Video

[box] Frank James: I can’t talk without thinking, not being a lawyer.[/box]

This was one Fritz Lang film I had never heard of.  There is little evidence of Lang’s signature touch but it is well-made and enjoyable.

The film is a sequel to 1939’s Jesse James and stars the same actors in the same roles as in that picture.  Aside from the character names, the plot appears to be more or less entirely fictional.  The real Frank James had nothing to do with the deaths of the Ford brothers.

Frank James (Henry Fonda) has retired to own a farm in the Ozarks under an assumed name.  Helping him are Clem (Jackie Cooper), the teenage son of a gang member who had been killed, and African-American Pinky (Earnest Whitman).  When Frank learns of Jesse’s murder he heads out to seek vengence on the Ford brothers.  He tells Clem to stay on the farm but cannot prevent the hotheaded boy from joining up with him.  To finance their search for the Fords, Frank and Clem rob a depot holding the payroll of the hated railroad company.  A watchman is killed by incoming fire during a gun battle with police so now Frank is on the run for more than one reason.

The hunt takes the men to Denver where the Fords are capitalizing on their fame by appearing in a melodrama about the death of Jesse James.  While in Denver, Frank starts spreading the story of his “death” in Mexico and gets much needed publicity from aspiring female reporter Eleanor Stone (Gene Tierney).  But after an exciting chase in which Frank kills Charlie Ford, Frank’s pursuit is cut short when Pinky is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and scheduled to hang.  With Donald Meek as the railroad owner, Henry Hull as a fiery newspaper editor who is Frank’s ally, and John Carradine reprising his role as the coward Robert Ford.

Henry Fonda is once again excellent as Frank James.  He makes the film. I got caught up in the story even though it seemed unrealistic even before I sought out the true history, Jackie Cooper certainly matured well.

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