Watch Days of Jesse James For Free

A Masterpiece!

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Leonard Slye (Roy Rogers), George "Gabby" Hayes (Whittaker), Donald Barry (Jesse James), Pauline Moore (Mary Whittaker), Harry Woods (Captain Worthington), Arthur Loft (Banker Wyatt), Wade Boteler (Dr R. S. Samuels), Ethel Wales (Mrs James/Samuels), Scotty Beckett (Buster Samuels), Glenn Strange (Cole Younger), Olin Howland (sheriff's minder), Michael Worth (Frank James), Jack Rockwell (McDaniels, an outlaw), Fred Burns (sheriff), Eddie Acuff (newspaper seller on train), Monte Blue (Fields), Jack Ingram (Worthington's deputy), Bud Osborne (deputy), Fred "Snowflake" Toones (bank janitor), Carl Sepulveda (Jim Younger), Forrest Dillon (Bob Younger), Hansel Warner, Lynton Brent, Pasquel Perry.Director: Joseph KANE. Screenplay: Earle Snell. Story: Jack Natteford. Photography: Reggie Lanning. Film editor: Tony Martinelli. Music director: Cy Feuer. Songs: "I'm a Son of a Cowboy", "Saddle Your Dreams", "Echo Mountain" by Peter Tinturin. Production manager: Al Wilson. RCA Sound System. Associate producer: Joseph Kane. Executive producer: Herbert J. Yates.Copyright 20 December 1939 by Republic Pictures Corp. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 20 December 1939. No Australian theatrical release. 7 reels. 63 minutes.SYNOPSIS: The Bankers' Association details Roy Rogers to track down the James gang. However, on meeting up with Jesse, Roy decides to forget about the James gang entirely. Instead, Rogers decides to recover the loot stolen by an embezzling BANKER!VIEWERS' GUIDE: Strictly adults only. Children under the age of 18 should not be permitted to watch this film under any circumstances — even under parental supervision.COMMENT: One of the most obscene films Hollywood ever produced, this is indeed a remarkable entry in the Rogers' saga. The obscenities are deliberate. It's no excuse to say they were forced upon the film wholly by budgetary considerations. It's true, yes, that the movie was made on the cheap. The aim was obviously to save money by dispensing with the climax. But Rogers does nothing to bring the villains to justice. Absolutely nothing. He could at least have arrested the killer and his accomplice, or shot them down or winged them or telegraphed ahead. Instead, he adopts a ruse to recover the stolen money. The money, that's all he's after! He lets the killer and his henchman escape free. Then Rogers makes a big play about returning the money. You see the money belonged to white folks. The man who was killed, who was shot down in a chillingly casual and callous fashion, he was just an honest, hard-working janitor. A black man. In Rogers' philosophy, black men don't count. Shoot him down, is Rogers' implied attitude. This is the worst, but it's not the only act of gross immorality committed by the Rogers character in "Days of Jesse James". When Rogers catches up with the James Brothers, he and Gabby allow the two outlaws to get the drop on them. So then what do Roy and Gabby do? Why, they just turn tail and walk quietly and submissively away. That's what they do. Hardly the stuff "B" western heroes are made of. But that's what they do. Walk away and never come back. Do they send in the posse? Not them. You see in this movie the train robbers and the bank bandits are the good guys. It's the pursuing posse that's in the wrong. Why, in one scene, the posse accidentally burn down the James house. So the script keeps whipping up this conflict and potential showdown between milksop Rogers and the rough-armed posse who want to stop the James and Younger boys robbing and killing. Yes, killing! There's actually a scene in the movie where the bandits open fire on the surrounding townsmen during an attempted bank hold- up. So the script works up conflict between lily-livered Rogers and the rough-and-ready Captain Worthington. You see, the Captain is after the outlaws chiefly for the reward. Rogers, on the other hand, is just a natural-born do-gooder who hasn't the heart to arrest killers but just wants to give back the money they stole.Anyhow, what happens to this great conflict? You guessed it — nothing. Totally nothing. After a lot of hard riding, there's a bit of quick talking in which the sheriff convinces the posse that Rogers gets his vote for Mr. Good Guy. And so the film ends with Rogers singing a reprise of "Echo Mountain" on an appropriate organ.The fact that all these moral transgressions were the result of simple carelessness induced by the over-riding imperative to save money, doesn't excuse them. Of course, from an entertainment point- of- view, the movie's budgetary constraints are a liability too.For die-hard Slye fans, the hero acts and sings pleasantly enough. The pace is reasonably fast, the few action spots are efficiently staged, a large number of support players help out; but photography is flat and direction steadfastly routine.

Days of Jesse James (1939) *** (out of 4)A bank is robbed and Jesse James and his gang are accused of pulling off the heist. Special agent Roy Rogers thinks that James' bad reputation is getting him blamed for crimes that he didn't do so he joins the gang to try and find out what really happened. Of course, the real villain is the bank owner did the crime knowing he wouldn't be a suspect. DAYS OF JESSE JAMES was just one of many "historical" films that Rogers made during this period but if you're expecting some sort of documentary on the real history of James then you're going to be disappointed. All of these films obviously just used these historical names for marquee value so one should just expect entertainment and nothing else. This here is a pretty good one thanks in large part to the terrific cast. As you'd expect, Rogers is very good in the role of the good guy but then again I don't think he could be bad at pretty much playing himself. We have George 'Gabby' Hayes playing his sidekick so obviously you're in for a lot of good comic relief. Pauline Moore, one of my favorite love interests for Rogers, is also very good in her part as she has a lot of nice chemistry with the star. Don Barry does a nice job as well as Jesse James. Fans of Universal horror films will enjoy seeing Glenn Strange in a small role. With a short running time, fast action and a nice story, this here certainly won't be mistaken for a masterpiece or some sort of classic but fans of Rogers and "B" Westerns should at least be entertained by this.

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.

Roy Rogers (as Roy Rogers) is out to get Red Barry (as Jesse James), whom he believes has robbed a bank - now, who'd believe Jesse James has robbed a bank? George "Gabby" Hayes (as Gabby) is along for the ride as Mr. Rogers' loyal sidekick. To set things right, Rogers becomes a temporary member of the "James Gang".The film raises interesting questions about heroes and villains, but none of it is particularly unique. Rogers saving Scotty Beckett (as Buster) from a burning building, and a fast-moving posse, are the excitement highlights. Among the songs, Rogers' "Echo Mountain" is terrific; it's played a couple of times, and would have made a good title song (for a different film). With all that, "Days of Jesse James" is a fairly routine Rogers western. **** Days of Jesse James (12/20/39) Joseph Kane ~ Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Don 'Red' Barry