The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid is more historically accurate than Jesse James, but not by much. Given it's time of creation, 1972, it's use of the the James-Younger gang and their botched robbery attempt is, like many Westerns of the period, a metaphor for modern times, and writer-director Phil Kaufman doesn't seem interested in telling the true story, even if it is far more interesting than what is on the screen here.

In this film, the main character is Cole Younger (Cliff Robertson), who is portrayed as the leader of the gang. The state of Missouri is voting on a full amnesty for the gang, but Jesse James (Robert Duvall) wants to hit the "biggest bank west of the Mississippi" in Northfield (the gang actually didn't originally target Northfield, and looked at many banks in Minnesota).

So four of the gang (at least the film gets the personnel and their names right) head up to rob the bank, and the Youngers head after them to stop them. But then the railroads pay off the legislature, and the amnesty is off, so Younger decides to rob the bank after all.

Many Westerns of this period, which might be called revisionist Westerns, weren't about the West at all, but addressed the controversies of America at the time. This really started with The Wild Bunch, and there was also Soldier Blue, Little Big Man, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and Buffalo Bill and the Indians. This one, I suspect, is about the corruption of America. It came out before the truths of the Nixon administration's crimes were exposed, but it was a bit prescient.

Instead of being a shoot 'em up about a bank robbery, Kaufman writes a perplexing angle--Younger enters town posed as a cattle baron. He finds out that the bank has no money, because the townspeople don't trust banks. So he strikes a deal with the bank owner to fake a shipment of gold, which will give the people confidence that their money is backed. Cole Younger thus becomes both the outlaw on the street and in the boardroom.

The film does get some things right--it kills off the correct two members, although Jim Younger was not shot in the mouth until after the robbery, and the actors are far too old for their roles. Duvall plays Jesse James as psychotic, which wasn't really true--James planned the crimes, and had a head for business. But since Robertson is listed as an executive producer perhaps he wanted to take the glory of playing the guy who planned things.

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid is not a very good movie--it has typical '70s stylings, including lots of abrupt editing, and it is not historically accurate, but it is a good example of the politics of film in the early '70s.