BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

wes-connors In a "Jesse James" (1939) recap, cowardly John Carradine (as Bob Ford) shoots handsome Tyrone Power (un-credited as Jesse James) in the back. In this sequel, the outlaw hero's tobacco-spitting brother Henry Fonda (as Frank James) is understandably miffed. Basically a peace-loving man, Mr. Fonda expects the captured killer to be executed. But, when Mr. Carradine and his brother are unexpectedly pardoned, Fonda must take the law into his own hands. Fatherly Fonda leaves his quiet farm in the care of adopted teenage partner Jackie Cooper (as Clem) and slavish Ernest Whitman (as "Pinky" Washington)...Unable to keep Mr. Cooper down on the farm, Fonda reluctantly allows him to tag along. Assuming the alter egos "Ben Woodson" and "Tom Grayson", the dynamic duo spread a story about witnessing the death of Frank James, believing this will lure the Ford brothers out of hiding. In her first movie, pretty "Denver Star" reporter Gene Tierney (as Eleanor Stone) gets the word out. This successful sequel features great colorful photography by George Barnes. It's very nicely directed by Fritz Lang. The subservient, superstitious and mentally challenged "darkies" (as they are called herein) may have missed the emancipation.****** The Return of Frank James (8/10/40) Fritz Lang ~ Henry Fonda, Jackie Cooper, Gene Tierney, Henry Hull

secondtake The Return of Frank James (1940)The Western is back, as of 1939 when four big ones were released, including John Ford's "Stagecoach" with John Wayne, which has lasting critical acclaim, and also "Jesse James" which was the fourth largest moneymaker for that blockbuster year. Maybe it was the war breaking out in Europe, or just a realization that if you lifted a Western from its usual B-movie status the public would respond. Henry Fonda starred as Frank James in that one, and so this is really a sequel with the same chronology and feel as the first one. It is clearly A-list movie material with genuine Technicolor, a year after "Jesse James," "The Wizard of Oz," and "Gone with the Wind" had all made clear Technicolor was no passing gimmick.Frank James is now out to seek the killers of the more famous outlaw. The fact we are rooting for the renegade through his surviving brother is slightly odd--the anti-hero or negative stereotype as protagonist wasn't really respectable (or possible) until the 1960s, full fledged. Jesse James was a brave Civil War guerrilla fighter but he became an uncommonly violent criminal and murderer after the war. Frank James was probably as ruthless and bad (he was part of the same gang), but after the death of Jesse he escaped prison (in real life) and lived into the Twentieth Century.In this movie, Frank is not portrayed as a bad person. He just wants his brother's killers dead. And Henry Fonda is a kind of low key, determined fellow throughout. We naturally run into the standard assortment of types that are almost required in period Westerns--drunks and sheriffs and pretty girls out of place in this rough manly world. And there are shoot outs and a court trial and so on.Of all people to approach this genre, and in color, you'd least expect Fritz Lang, the recent émigré with "Metropolis" and "M" and "Fury" all in his portfolio. He gets rising star Henry Fonda in the loner lead for this sequel, naturally, and Fonda is the meat of it, really terrific (in an echo, actually, of the loner lead in John Ford's "Grapes of Wrath" in the same year). And then there's Gene Tierney playing a pseudo-reporter in her very first film role, showing early on that she is mostly a pretty face, but a decent actress at least. There are other great character actors (like John Carradine, fresh off of "Stagecoach" as well as "Jesse James") but specially notable (to me) is the African-American farm hand Ernest Whitman, who has to suffer from some awful stereotyping, but who is malleable and likable (and turns a verbal mistake into a catchy little song without a hitch).I love Lang's movies, even his weaker ones, and I really think he didn't quite "get" what a Western was about the way Ford did in the same period. It becomes something like a Hollywood drama that happens to be set in this post Civil War place west of the Mississippi. The stereotypes and archetypes are in play, but he misses the combination of grit and certitude that is part of the scene. Even Fonda comes across as slightly underplayed, a rather nice fellow who just happens to be out for blood. The photography is strong and vivid even though trapped to some extent on being "pretty" because of the rich color and beautiful scenery and by the bright lights so often used to blast the scenes for the tri-pack film. And then there is the ridiculous plasticity of the facts--most of what happens in the movie didn't happen at all in real life. Everyone is really just cashing in on the folk hero status of this killer, and on the success of "Jesse James" the movie the year before.

jwseed1 If you are watching this and thinking you might be getting the true story of Frank James, think again. The only thing that is even close to being accurate in this WHOLE film is that there was a man named Bob Ford who killed Jesse James, and that Jesse James had a brother named Frank. That's it. The rest is just Southern revisionist crap and doesn't even come close to the actual story. As movie making goes, I suppose it was fine. The acting, though over-the- top and full of stereotypical characterizations, especially among those playing various "Negroes" was entertaining. The story moved along just fine, which is why I did not give the movie a rating of 1 out of 10.

Spikeopath Frank James, after learning that the men who killed his brother, Jesse, have been pardoned, comes out of hiding to enact revenge.Following straight on after the ending of Henry King's 1939 Tyrone Power starrer, Jesse James, The Return Of Frank James sets its stall out from the off to entertain without giving much credence to history. Back by popular demand as Frank is Henry Fonda, who in turn is joined by the returning John Carradine and Charles Tannen as Bob and Charlie Ford respectively. Along for the ride and offering up petite beauty and innocence is Gene Tierney in her first starring role.Directed by Fritz Lang, who had cemented his glowing reputation with the likes of M & Fury, The Return Of Frank James is a solid if unspectacular Western entry. Certainly the dark theme of revenge is not to be sniffed at, nor is the strand dealing with the influence of the press. Whilst the California photography from George Barnes is appropriate and pleasing on the eye. It's just that the film, in spite of its fine production, feels like the cash in sequel it obviously is. It's a hard film to take seriously, which in a film dealing with serious issues such as revenge, is not particularly good really is it?!It's actually the jovial nature of it that stops it from veering towards the maudlin. Certainly the court case sequences are joyous and give Fonda and the team something to get stuck into. But it's an odd mix of a film, with its main allegiance difficult to really pin down. Yet in spite of my own protestations, it's a film I heartily recommend to those interested in light hearted Westerns, regardless of if that was Lang's intention from the off? It's also fair to say that those who enjoyed Henry King's far better first movie, will doubtless enjoy this sequel as well.Safe, solid and definitely enjoyable, but ultimately it's not very memorable. 6/10