Jesse James (1939 film)

Jesse James
Jesse James movie poster
Directed byHenry King
Screenplay byNunnally Johnson
Produced byNunnally Johnson
(associate producer)
Starring
CinematographyGeorge Barnes, A.S.C.
W. H. Greene, A.S.C.
Edited byBarbara Mc Lean
Music byLouis Silvers
(musical direction)
Production
company
Distributed byTwentieth Century-Fox
Release date
  • January 14, 1939 (1939-01-14)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.6 million
Box office$2.335 million (U.S. and Canada rentals)

Jesse James is a 1939 American Western film directed by Henry King and starring Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, and Randolph Scott. Written by Nunnally Johnson, the film is loosely based on the life of Jesse James, the outlaw from whom the film derives its name. The supporting cast includes Henry Hull, John Carradine, Brian Donlevy, Jane Darwell, and Lon Chaney, Jr.

The American Humane Association began to oversee film production's care of animals shortly after this films release, in response to outcry over a scene in which a horse died after it was driven off a cliff.

The film has been described by the British Channel 4 website as being "notorious for its historical inaccuracy".