IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.6K
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Outlaw T.J. "Jesse" James tries to kill insurance agent Milford Farnsworth, who has been mistaken for him in order to collect on a big policy.Outlaw T.J. "Jesse" James tries to kill insurance agent Milford Farnsworth, who has been mistaken for him in order to collect on a big policy.Outlaw T.J. "Jesse" James tries to kill insurance agent Milford Farnsworth, who has been mistaken for him in order to collect on a big policy.
Gloria Talbott
- Princess Irawanie
- (as Gloria Talbot)
Fred Kohler Jr.
- James Gang Member
- (as Fred Kohler)
Richard Alexander
- Jeremiah Cole
- (uncredited)
James Arness
- Marshal Matt Dillon
- (uncredited)
Al Bain
- Train Passenger
- (uncredited)
Eddie Baker
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Margaret Bert
- Townswoman
- (uncredited)
Oliver Blake
- Mortimer Hopelaw
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsAccording to the date on Queasley's telegram, the film takes place in 1880. Yet Milford and Cora Lee sing a song mentioning Grant's Tomb, even though former President Ulysses S. Grant didn't die until 1885, and his tomb in New York City wasn't built until many years after that. Also, Milford sees a young boy playing the piano, who tells him his name is Harry Truman. Truman wasn't born until 1884.
- Quotes
Titus Queasley: Farnsworth, what do you expect to achieve with such crass ineptitude, such utter incompetence, such colossal stupidity?
Milford Farnsworth: Well, I was hoping to become your assistant.
- Alternate versionsIn various literary sources (Citadel press' "The Films of Gary Cooper" for one), both Gene Autry and James Garner are quoted making cameo appearances in the film, but neither is to be found in the present US video version.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Bonanza: Alias Joe Cartwright (1964)
- SoundtracksAlias Jesse James
Lyrics by 'By' Dunham (as William D. Dunham)
Music by Marilyn Hooven and Joseph Hooven (as Joe Hooven)
Performed by Guy Mitchell
Featured review
Amusing Hope comedy as another cowardly hero out west...
The Bob Hope movies I liked best were the ones that were a mixture of mirth and murder (CAT AND THE CANARY, THE GHOST BREAKERS), where he played the cowardly hero who gets the girl in the final reel. His westerns were fun too, films like THE PALEFACE or SON OF PALEFACE. It's good to report that ALIAS JESSE JAMES fits the standard for his western spoofs, all done up in fancy Technicolor and given a good cast.
The comic set-up has him selling a life insurance policy to Jesse James (WENDELL COREY) and then told by his bosses that he must go out west and get the policy back at all costs--even if it means his own life, since the policy is worth $100,000. BOB HOPE, of course, takes the assignment and gets mixed up with the James brothers (brother Frank James is played by JIM DAVIS). Not only is he surrounded by a gun-toting gang but he falls in love with Jesse's girl (RHONDA FLEMING), who is fed up with Jesse and ready for a new beau.
The laughs are steady as Hope fumbles his way through one laughable but impossibly silly situation after another, ready with the one-liners and getting the most out of a zany script. A chase toward the end is full of sight gags that work and the final shootout shows him shooting at the town villains while others do the actual killing shots--including GARY COOPER, JAMES ARNESS, WARD BOND, ROY ROGERS, GAIL DAVIS and, no surprise, BING CROSBY.
It's a lightweight romp for Hope and Fleming, with WENDELL COREY surprisingly good as Jesse James and MARY YOUNG doing a nice job as his gun-toting ma.
Briskly directed by Norman Z. McLeod, it's simple minded fun played in broad farcical style by a pleasant cast and one of Hope's better films during the '50s.
The comic set-up has him selling a life insurance policy to Jesse James (WENDELL COREY) and then told by his bosses that he must go out west and get the policy back at all costs--even if it means his own life, since the policy is worth $100,000. BOB HOPE, of course, takes the assignment and gets mixed up with the James brothers (brother Frank James is played by JIM DAVIS). Not only is he surrounded by a gun-toting gang but he falls in love with Jesse's girl (RHONDA FLEMING), who is fed up with Jesse and ready for a new beau.
The laughs are steady as Hope fumbles his way through one laughable but impossibly silly situation after another, ready with the one-liners and getting the most out of a zany script. A chase toward the end is full of sight gags that work and the final shootout shows him shooting at the town villains while others do the actual killing shots--including GARY COOPER, JAMES ARNESS, WARD BOND, ROY ROGERS, GAIL DAVIS and, no surprise, BING CROSBY.
It's a lightweight romp for Hope and Fleming, with WENDELL COREY surprisingly good as Jesse James and MARY YOUNG doing a nice job as his gun-toting ma.
Briskly directed by Norman Z. McLeod, it's simple minded fun played in broad farcical style by a pleasant cast and one of Hope's better films during the '50s.
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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![Bob Hope and Rhonda Fleming in Alias Jesse James (1959)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMDllNDZkOTgtYmRmNS00YWM0LTgzODQtOWZjYWM0ODg2ODYyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDI2NDg0NQ@@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,2,90,133_.jpg)