The True Story of Jesse James

It's a holdup! It's a holdup!

They're robbing the bank!

Tell them they'll be there in Douglas before he knows it.

Tell them to round up every man with a gun and head them off.

Tell them there's six. There was nine. Two we killed, one got away.

Not so fast!

They killed a Swede horse trader, wasn't even armed.

- Just shot him down. - They killed Mr. Burnside too.

He wouldn't open the vault.

Tell them they killed the bank cashier too.

- Did you recognize any of'em? - No.

- But one of them was called Jesse, and- - Jesse? Are you sure?

- Tell them it was theJames boys. - Hey, it was JesseJames!

Send that same message to Red Wing, Mancapo, Padilla...

And every sheriff between here and the Missouri line.

Tell them he's 400 miles from his own stomping ground!

Tell them it's a chance of a lifetime to getJesseJames! Let's go!

It's the only way.

We'll try to pick up Tucker on the other side.

If you please, Mr. Wiley, I'll have the obituary now.

Mr. Wiley, sir, theJesseJames obituary, if you don't mind.

Has the word come? Have they caught up with him?

No, though they say they're closer than they've been this whole week.

Well,just touch up one of these old obituaries...

you wrote the times he was reported killed before.

What's the key to him, Peter?

This one, about the war setting him on the path of violence.

- Write this one again. - You and I were in the war too.

This one about his being like Robin Hood. This is a good one.

I'm getting too old for this sort of nonsense.

Well, you're not leaving. The obituary, man! The obituary!

They haven't killed him yet.

They may at any moment. And what'll you say to the boss?

What I've been saying to myself all night-

What makes him JesseJames?

They told me I'd find Sheriff Hillstrom here.

Yeah?

- I'm Barney Remington. - Yeah.

Oh, that's right. They brought me your telegram this morning.

Or was it yesterday?

Boys, this is Mr. Remington.

He heads up the Remington Detective Agency.

What's the situation?

They're trapped. Hounds run 'em in there last night.

- TheJames boys too? - TheJames boys too.

What are we waiting for'?

Well, when we rushed them at daybreak...

it didn't work out so good.

I got a couple of men on their way up now with blasting powder.

When they're ready, they'll signal.

When the rain's over, we go.

Blasting powder? Don't you care about the reward?

I won't be turning my back on it.

You won't even be seeing it if you blow them to bits.

You think the railroad and banking people I work for...

intend to shell out $25,000 without positive identification?

We've lost a couple of men already!

I couldn't identifyJesse anyway.

I never heard of any law officer getting close enough to recognize him later.

Not a live one, that is.

Leo, give me my rifle.

Sheriff Yoe, take your men across the riverbed.

Yeah.

Mr. Remington, you wanna come with us'?

Thank you, Mrs. Toppins. We won't forget you.

You're welcome.

Don't do it, Hillstrom. Find some other way.

Jesse! Frank!

Toss out your guns! Give up! You don't have a chance!

If you don't surrender, we'll blast you out with dynamite!

Hillstrom, please! We'll never be sure!

Ed.

Now! Now! Now!

This isn'tJesse. His name is Sam Wells.

Where are they, Wells? Frank and Jesse and the others, where are they?

Leo, anybody else in there?

Nobody. He was in there by himself.

A couple of you men take care of him. Get him out of here.

- Ed, is that one of theirs? - Yeah, there's blood here.

There's a trail for a few feet to the other side of those reeds...

and then nothing but muddy water as far as you can see.

That's all right. We'll get 'em for sure now.

Yoe, have your men spread out.

Hold on. Now just hold on.

That's not just a mud puddle up ahead. It spreads out over half of the county.

How do you figure to comb through something like that?

- We're going in after them. - You maybe, but not me.

Nor me.

You pull your men out now and I swear to God-

Gentlemen, gentlemen. We're tired, sure.

But they must be exhausted.

I should tell you my clients have authorized me...

to raise the reward if necessary.

Looks like it's necessary.

Another 5,000.

That makes it $30,000.

All right, men, fan out that way!

All right, you men, spread out along that brush.

See anything up there?

He's dead.

- Did anyone see the flash? - I think it came from over there.

Jesse! Frank! Come out with your hands up!

Gentlemen.

The Younger brothers. Cole. Bob.

And Jim. We have their photographs in our file.

Are you a reporter, sir?

I've written this statement for the-

for the press.

Just tell us where to find JesseJames!

Who's JesseJames?

- We'll hold up here until it gets dark. - They're awful close.

There must be a thousand caves in these hills.

It'll take 'em a week to search every one.

Tucker, get up there and keep watch. Bring his horse in.

We oughta keep going.

We'll wait till night. It'll be easier to lose them.

This job never did feel right to me.

Don't blame me. I planned it perfectly.

Why did we have to come 400 miles all the way into Minnesota?

The Missouri banks are waiting for us. We never struck here.

- What went wrong? - We did.

Not you or me, but the rest.

Cole's gotten fat and slow.

Dick was hitting the bottle.

And Stiles, the only man who could lead us out of this state...

had to get himself killed right off the bat.

I wonder how many of us are still alive.

They'd all be if they had done what I told them.

You told them to come to Northfield.

That's it, Frank.

That's our next job- Northfield.

Are you crazy?

If we ever get out of here, we're not coming back!

It'll be the last place they expect us to hit.

I'm not worried about our next job. I'm just thinking about getting home.

That's all that's eatin' me.

We'll get home.

We'll be home in time for my birthday. Ma's expecting us.

Yeah, poor Ma. She's probably worried sick.

Not Ma.

She stood off the Yankee army for years.

Nothing bothers her.

Jesse-

They drove my son to it.

The Yankees drove him to it.

He's a good boy.

You're his wife, Zee. You know how kind he is.

Try and sleep, Mother Samuel.

You know, once...

he brought home a bird that had fallen from its nest.

His father was alive then.

And littleJesse wouldn't be comforted until...

Reverend James gave the little bird a funeral service.

Jesse always was a gentle boy.

A preacher.

Go fetch Preacher Bailey.

I want him to help me pray for my boys.

For myJesse and my Frank.

I'll send Robby for him.

Robby? Is he here?

You remember. He brought Zee over this morning.

I never liked that boy.

Why is he always hanging around here?

Try to rest.

Uh, how's your wife, Dr. Samuel?

She wants to see Preacher Bailey.

Fetch him like a good boy, will you, Robby?

You know, Zee...

Jesse was no older than that boy...

when he had to become a man.

That was early in the war.

The Yankees came riding down on this farm.

The neighbors dragged me out of the kitchen.

You help the soldiers. You two search that barn-

Stop it! Stop it!

Why don't you leave us be?

- What do you want from us'? - Where's your son, Frank?

Where he should be-

fighting for the South.

Missouri has taken sides with the North.

Any man from this state who joins the South is a traitor. We shoot traitors.

Well, you better shoot me then...

because if I were a man, I'd be right there with my son, Frank.

Frank was here last night. I saw him ride by my farm.

Where you hiding him, woman?

We've been neighbors for 20 years, Mr. Arkew.

The shame of you spying on us!

I serve my country as I see fit.

I never did hold with slavers.

- "We never owned a slave!" - But you're holdin' with the South.

This man has always hated real Southerners.

He's just using you to drive us out.

For giving comfort to the enemy, I can burn your house and shoot everybody on the farm.

You better tell us where your son is hiding.

He only stayed a minute...

to kiss me hello and good-bye.

By now he's back with his own company.

She's lying, Sergeant.

- "I am not!" - Who are they?

That's Hughie, the hired hand.