The Long Riders

Okay, so finally I found a film about Jesse James that at least approaches historical accuracy. The Long Riders, made in 1980 by Walter Hill, featured the gimmick of having actual brothers play brothers: James and Stacy Keach as Jesse and Frank James; the Brothers Carradine, David, Keith, and Robert, as the Youngers; Dennis and Randy Quaid as Ed and Clell Miller; and Nicholas and Christopher Guest as Bob and Charlie Ford. But the movie does transcend the gimmick, as it's a better than average Western.

The movie starts with the James-Younger gang in full operation. Ed Miller is kicked out of the gang for shooting an innocent bystander, which almost gets Jesse killed. James Keach makes a great Jesse--his piercing blue eyes are reminiscent of the photos of Jesse, and the script correctly portrays him as the organizer of the outfit.

The film then follows the futile attempts of Pinkerton agents to catch the gang. The raid on the farm of Jesse's mother is true--a torch tossed inside the house explodes, killing their half-brother. We also see an innocent member of the Younger family murdered by a Pinkerton agent. While the film does not engage in making heroes of these guys, we can at least see their source of anger.

Finally they decide to head to Minnesota to rob the Northfield bank. In another touch of accuracy, and despite the title, we see them take the train, not ride horses. The robbery is portrayed fairly accurately, though they did scout other cities and were undone because they were too conspicuous--the long leather dusters they wore were out of place in Minnesota.

The shootout is too melodramatic, with a citizen being shot off a rooftop, and much of it done in slow motion, in Peckinpah style, but it scratches the itch of one who wants to see that sort of thing in an oater. The subsequent manhunt is boiled down to just a few minutes--the James and Youngers traveled together quite a ways before separating.

The film did tell me one thing I didn't know. Cole Younger is seen having a relationship with notorious soiled dove Belle Starr (played by Pamela Reed). I figured that was nonsense, but sure enough, she grew up alongside the James and Youngers, and may have been married to Cole's uncle. The fight Younger has with her husband, Sam Starr, is probably pure fiction.

The ending, in which Bob Ford shoots James, seems tacked on and rushed, as if they were running out of film. Of course, this was presented as its own movie, the fine The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which is up to now the best and most accurate of the films about the James-Younger gang.