Oh boy, I really wanted to like this film, but as the story progressed it just got more and more unbelievable as major plot holes kept creeping into the story taking away any sense of credibility. I'm not disputing the historical accuracy of Jesse James riding with Quantrill's Raiders during the Civil War, in fact, at the start of the war, he would only have been about fourteen. So all those references to the boys being just kids when they first entered Quantrill's camp were more than justified.
Here's where the problems start. Quantrill's (Brian Donlevy) third in command is a fellow named Tate, later revealed to be a Union plant. So why would Tate accept Jesse James' (Audie Murphy) challenge to a handkerchief fight with Bowie knives, putting his own life at risk above the call to duty? That one just doesn't make sense. But besides that, in addition to Tate, Jesse knocks off Quantrill's number two man Anderson (Scott Brady) later in the story without repercussion.
All throughout the film, Jesse's disillusionment with Quantrill's methods is consistently put to the test, and each time he decides to hang around. For Quantrill's part, when Jesse challenges the killing of innocent civilians during his attacks, why would Quantrill simply allow the James boys, the Youngers and Kit Dalton to just sit out one of his raiding parties?
There's more. It doesn't take long for Quantrill's lady Kate (Marguerite Chapman) to figure out just how ruthless he and his men are. "Kill 'em and bury 'em, all in a day's work, huh?" is how she sums things up. But she sticks around too, even while trying to talk Jesse and his comrades to leave the 'Butcher's Brigade'. As the Civil War rages on and Quantrill's ranks grow thin, there's a scene when all of his men dessert, along with Kate, and Quantrill seems no more upset than if he missed breakfast.
But here's the best! During one of Quantrill's raids near the end of the movie, he's blinded by a gunshot from Union forces. Unable to see, and with his eyes blindfolded besides, he and Jesse's men arrive at the site of an earlier raid, and he says, "It looks like we've been here before Jesse". At that point, the movie nailed it's own coffin for me.
I have to say though that the casting for the picture at least was inspired. I always enjoy seeing James Best, this time as Cole Younger riding with Jesse's crowd. Kit Dalton was portrayed by Tony Curtis, and Scott Brady looked a bit paunchy as Bloody Bill Anderson. It's a quandary to describe my feeling for Marguerite Chapman in the role of Kate; she managed to convey her anxiety about Quantrill's villainy well enough, but didn't do anything about it.
I'm already on record with my thoughts on Audie Murphy playing a screen heavy ("Gunsmoke", "No Name On The Bullet"). Granted he was World War II's most decorated hero, but with his baby face he doesn't convince as a desperado. In keeping with the historical accuracy of Jesse James' age during the time of this story, Murphy's casting makes some sense, but I would have preferred to see him play it with the kind of intensity Emilio Estevez used in portraying Billy the Kid in "Young Guns".
Here's where the problems start. Quantrill's (Brian Donlevy) third in command is a fellow named Tate, later revealed to be a Union plant. So why would Tate accept Jesse James' (Audie Murphy) challenge to a handkerchief fight with Bowie knives, putting his own life at risk above the call to duty? That one just doesn't make sense. But besides that, in addition to Tate, Jesse knocks off Quantrill's number two man Anderson (Scott Brady) later in the story without repercussion.
All throughout the film, Jesse's disillusionment with Quantrill's methods is consistently put to the test, and each time he decides to hang around. For Quantrill's part, when Jesse challenges the killing of innocent civilians during his attacks, why would Quantrill simply allow the James boys, the Youngers and Kit Dalton to just sit out one of his raiding parties?
There's more. It doesn't take long for Quantrill's lady Kate (Marguerite Chapman) to figure out just how ruthless he and his men are. "Kill 'em and bury 'em, all in a day's work, huh?" is how she sums things up. But she sticks around too, even while trying to talk Jesse and his comrades to leave the 'Butcher's Brigade'. As the Civil War rages on and Quantrill's ranks grow thin, there's a scene when all of his men dessert, along with Kate, and Quantrill seems no more upset than if he missed breakfast.
But here's the best! During one of Quantrill's raids near the end of the movie, he's blinded by a gunshot from Union forces. Unable to see, and with his eyes blindfolded besides, he and Jesse's men arrive at the site of an earlier raid, and he says, "It looks like we've been here before Jesse". At that point, the movie nailed it's own coffin for me.
I have to say though that the casting for the picture at least was inspired. I always enjoy seeing James Best, this time as Cole Younger riding with Jesse's crowd. Kit Dalton was portrayed by Tony Curtis, and Scott Brady looked a bit paunchy as Bloody Bill Anderson. It's a quandary to describe my feeling for Marguerite Chapman in the role of Kate; she managed to convey her anxiety about Quantrill's villainy well enough, but didn't do anything about it.
I'm already on record with my thoughts on Audie Murphy playing a screen heavy ("Gunsmoke", "No Name On The Bullet"). Granted he was World War II's most decorated hero, but with his baby face he doesn't convince as a desperado. In keeping with the historical accuracy of Jesse James' age during the time of this story, Murphy's casting makes some sense, but I would have preferred to see him play it with the kind of intensity Emilio Estevez used in portraying Billy the Kid in "Young Guns".