I Shot Jesse James
Director: Samuel Fuller
Year Released: 1949
Rating: 2.0
Early Fuller feature about James' "assassin" Robert Ford is a marginal work, hindered by a rather blasé screenplay and a terminally bland performance by John Ireland. Fuller claims to have made this to 'demystify' the criminal Jesse James, which I can understand, but he doesn't really get 'into' the Ford character (like the way Casey Affleck would years later) and the close-ups don't accomplish a whole lot. It's certainly watchable for being Fuller's directorial debut, though it lacks the pulp flair and intellectual drive of his later pictures.
