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The Return of Frank James (1940)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1

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Release Date: Jan 1, 1940 Wide

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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 399

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Movie Info

This Technicolor sequel to 1939's Jesse James does without the services of the earlier film's star Tyrone Power, who after all was shot dead by that "dirty little coward" Bob Ford (John Carradine). Repeating his portrayal of western outlaw Frank James, Henry Fonda is promoted to top billing here. As depicted by scenarist Sam Hellman, Frank has retired from his life of crime to become a peaceful farmer, though he has never given up his search for the treacherous Ford. The killer and his cohorts

Unrated, 1 hr. 32 min.

Western, Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics

Directed By: Fritz Lang

Written By: Sam Hellman

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1940 Wide

On DVD: Mar 6, 2007

20th Century Fox Film Corporat

Cast

Henry Fonda
Ben Woodson, Frank Jame...
Gene Tierney
Eleanor Stone
Jackie Cooper
Clem/Tom Grayson
John Carradine
Bob Ford
Henry Hull
Maj. Rufus Cobb
J. Edward Bromberg
Runyon
Donald Meek
McCoy
Eddie Collins
Station Agent at Eldora
George Barbier
The Judge
Ernest Whitman
Pinky Washington
Charles Tannen
Charles Ford
Lloyd Corrigan
Randolph Stone
Russell Hicks
Prosecutor
Victor Kilian
Preacher
Edward McWade
Col. Fentridge Jackson
George Chandler
Boy
Irving Bacon
Man at Wagon Sale
Frank Shannon
Sheriff Daniels
Barbara Pepper
Nellie Blane
Louis Mason
Wilson the Watchman
William Pawley
"Jesse James" Actor
Frank Sully
Pappy the Old Actor
Davison Clark
Officer
Matthew 'Stymie' Beard
Mose the Bellboy
Arthur Byron
Engineer
Kernan Cripps
Deputy
Lester Dorr
Reporter
Edmund Elton
Jury Foreman
Budd Fine
Deputy
Almeda Fowler
Mrs. Edna Stone
Sherry Hall
Court Clerk
Milt Kibbee
Reporter
Kermit Maynard
Courtroom Extra
Bob McKenzie
Old Man on Rocker
Lew Meehan
Bailiff
Frank Melton
Reporter
Adrian Morris
Detective
James C. Morton
Bartender
Hattie Noel
Chambermaid
Lee Phelps
Bartender
Russell Powell
Juror
Dale Van Sickel
Reporter
Lillian Yarbo
Maid
Bob Battier
"Frank James" Actor

Critic Reviews for The Return of Frank James

All Critics (9) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (1) | DVD (1)

The abstruse stylization of Rancho Notorious is still a decade away, though the frontier is already a severe plain enlivened by intimations of hellfire

September 25, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Fine Fritz Lang telling of Frank James (Fonda) in sequel to Jesse James.

June 21, 2008 Comment

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Gets by with its remarkable photography (an early attempt at color for Lang), crisp action sequences and breezy storytelling.

March 22, 2007 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

The film is short on action but long on courtroom melodrama, not a good balance for a routine Western.

February 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Audience Reviews for The Return of Frank James

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Average western, sequel to "Jesse James" with none of Lang's more familiar mood touches. Still not bad with Fonda strong in the lead. Gene Tierney is very green, lovely but a bit stiff and missing the sense of concealed hysteria under the placid exterior that the years and tragedy would bring to her best work.

April 29, 2010

jay nixon

Super Reviewer

This sequel to the 1939 Jesse James sees his brother Frank hunting down those responsible for his death. And I must say I've never seen such a bloodless warpath. We are are used to the way films can romanticise outlaws, but this one really takes the cake; Henry Fonda's Frank makes Robin Hood look like Charles Manson!

April 30, 2008

xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

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