IN FILM. Since the 1908 silent movie The
James Boys in Missouri, some 50 feature films
have centered on Jesse James. Left, the publicity
for the 1930 re-release of the 1921 Jesse James
Under the Black Flag, and below, a poster for a
1939 picture, with Tyrone Power in the title role.esse James was already a legend
when he was killed, the subject of
countless news articles and sever-
al blood and thunder books recounting
the purported exploits of the bandit and
his gang. Irish playwright Oscar Wilde
was in St. Joseph, Missouri, a week after
Jesse’s death and witnessed firsthand
the mad clamor for relics of the outlaw
at an auction of Jesse’s household be-
longings, commenting that “Americans
are certainly great hero-worshipers, and
always take their heroes from the crim-
inal classes.”THE ROMANCE OF JESSE JAMES
That hero-worshipping climbed to even
greater heights in the decades that fol-
lowed. The mythical Jesse would become
America’s Robin Hood, stealing from the
rich and giving to the poor, overlooking
the fact that the real Jesse stole from the
rich and gave to himself. He became the
hero of dime novels, folk songs, melodra-
mas, and, with the introduction of cinema,
silent films, B movies, serials, television
shows, and major feature films.
“Jesse James, outlaw though he was, had
his ideas of chivalry and kindness, and car-
ried them out in his own way as best hecould,” reads one dime novel. On the big
screen, Jesse battled the mean railroads
that were strong-arming good folks into
selling their land. As for Jesse’s victims,
the killings are usually in self-defense or
retribution for some heinous act against
Jesse’s family. And the movies invariably
end with Jesse deciding to abandon the
life of an outlaw and start anew with his
loving wife and children—just before he
is gunned down by the villainous Ford
brothers. In reality, a nearly broke Jesse
had plans to rob a Platte City bank with the
Fords when he was assassinated.PHOTOS: MARK LEE GARDNER COLLECTION, EXCEPT 1939 FILM POSTER: PICTORIAL PRESS/ALAMY/ACI