Flagrant Historical inaccuracies aside, The Return of Frank James (1940) is a fine Western film if taken at face value. When Fritz Lang left Germany in 1935, he came to Hollywood and found work with 20th Century-Fox. He took on several films which seemed uncharacteristic for his style, but which he made his own nevertheless. The Return of Frank James was two "firsts" for Lang. It was his first Western film, a decidedly American genre, and it was his first color movie. The film also marked the debut of Gene Tierney, a lovely young talent, whom many now consider to be the most beautiful of all Old Hollywood actresses.
When Bob Ford (John Carradine) and his brother murder Jesse James for reward money and fame, Jesse's brother, Frank James (Henry Fonda), vows to avenge his death and kill the rotten Fords. Frank leaves his quiet farm life, where he lives under an assumed name, and goes off in pursuit...
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| The Return of Frank James. 1940 |
Along the way, Frank robs the payroll of the Railroad, the entity which supplied the reward money for killing Jesse. He meets Eleanor Stone (Gene Tierney), a newspaper reporter for the Denver Star...
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| The Return of Frank James. 1940: Gene Tierney |
Miss Stone, not knowing who Frank is, unwittingly takes down a false story told by Frank's young companion (Jackie Cooper) detailing Frank's death in Mexico. Franks hopes that if people think he is dead, suspicions will let up...
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| The Return of Frank James. 1940: Gene Tierney |
Miss Stone learns Frank's true identity along the way, and having gotten to know him, in now beginning to fall in love with him...
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| The Return of Frank James. 1940: Gene Tierney |
Frank James now has more things to reconcile than just killing the Ford Brothers...
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| Gene Tierney |
