Pretty Good

Better Late Then Never

best movie i've ever seen.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There's an on screen narrative at the start of the picture that states that this is an alternate legend of Jesse James, citing the historical accuracy of his being gunned down by one of his own gang. The version offered here avows that it's possibility has been 'vouched for by many old-timers'.Roys Rogers (my favorite movie and TV cowboy by the way) not only portrays a historical figure here, but also has a dual role as the infamous Jesse James and a character that resembles the outlaw going by Clint Burns. Interestingly, the character Clint is hired by crooked land dealer Phineas Krager (Pierre Watkin) to impersonate Jesse, while Jesse later impersonates Clint Burns after a fatal shoot-out for Burns. It probably sounds more complicated than it actually is, so you'll just have to check it out for yourself.Gale Storm fans, who remember her from the early Fifties TV series 'My Little Margie", might be surprised to see that she turns up here as a newspaper reporter from the St. Louis Journal doing a story on Jesse James. Actually, she was in a couple more flicks with Roy and Gabby Hayes during this time frame, 1941's "Red River Valley" and "Man From Cheyenne" the following year. She's teamed up with fellow reporter Sally Payne, a regular in Roy's early films from Republic.It wasn't until near the end of the picture that I made a mental note to go back and check something out. Roy Rogers rides his (almost) equally famous horse Trigger BOTH as Jesse James and Clint Burns. This is most evident in an early scene when the outlaws hired by Krager raid Sheriff Gabby Whitaker's ranch led by Clint Burns. Clint arrives and leaves aboard Trigger, and as Jesse arrives on the scene shortly after, he's also riding Trigger! And what are the odds that Clint and Jesse would be wearing the exact same outfits? Probably as good as Roy portraying two different characters in 1942's "Sunset on the Desert" doing the same thing. I wonder what movie audiences of the Forties thought about this coincidence.If you're expecting a handful of tunes from Roy as usual you might be disappointed here. There's only one when Roy serenades Gale Storm while horseback riding through the countryside. It must have done the trick because at the end of the story, Gale's character decides to hand her newspaper story over to partner Polly Morgan (Payne) to ride off into the proverbial sunset with Roy, ...er Jesse, ...er whoever.

When a crooked banker/railroad man attempts to swindle some farmers, Sheriff Gabby Hayes sends word to his old friend Jesse James (Roy Rogers), who robs the banks and railroads in order to make things right. The villain retaliates by hiring Jesse's slack-jawed double (Rogers again) to make trouble in order to discredit James.Jesse James At Bay is a typical but okay vehicle for Roy, who's pretty good at playing the heavy, though he gets to sing only once during the movie and then only a few verses.This is Roger's second time playing double in a movie, the first time being as Billy the kid and Billy's good-guy replacement in 1938's Billy The Kid Returns and the third being 1942's Sunset On The Desert.

Roy Rogers stars as Jesse James and his look-alike, gambler man Clint Burns. George "Gabby" Hayes is Mr. Rogers's ex-pal, Sheriff Gabby. Gale Storm (Jane Fillmore) and Sally Payne (Polly Morgan) are a noteworthy team, as two reporters on the lookout for stories about the elusive outlaw hero.Of course, mistaken identity / impersonation is a plot development, since Rogers essays a "dual role". Rogers is charming, as usual; but, there is nothing really elevating this his performance above the ordinary - any potential to deliver a memorable Jekyll/Hyde performance is done in by poor material. The better pair to watch are Ms. Storm and Ms. Paye as the St. Louis Journal reporters - they are the film's highlight. The songs are fine, though badly synched. *** Jesse James at Bay (1941) Joseph Kane ~ Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Gale Storm

In JESSE JAMES AT BAY (1941), Roy Rogers does a good job enacting a dual role as Jesse James and Clint Burns, a Jesse look-alike employed to commit crimes to besmirch Jesse's reputation among the farmers of Missouri. The plotting of this Republic Pictures B-western starts out strong as farmers are given options on parcels of land along the railroad right-of-way in order to encourage development, only to lose the land after they've farmed it when the court throws out their options. The broker who convinced them to make the deal then forces the farmers out so he can sell the land at a profit. The real Jesse comes out of retirement to rob the land broker and give the money to the farmers so they can buy up their own land. The land broker then hires the Jesse look-alike to burn farmhouses and terrorize farmers in Jesse's name in order to thwart their support of Jesse. One's credulity gets severely strained, however, when the Jesse look-alike begins palling around with the land broker in full public view and no one puts two-and-two together. At this point, two goofy lady reporters from St. Louis (played by Gale Storm and Sally Payne) start nosing around and popping up everywhere and the whole plot starts to sink under the weight of its own silliness. Now it was a given in B-westerns that the villains behind the scenes were usually high-level capitalists and land barons, but they usually had plenty of henchmen to do the dirty work. Here, things get utterly ridiculous when the land broker and the shady lawyer get on horses and whip out guns themselves and chase the sheriff and the incorruptible judge into the foothills, culminating in a shootout in the rocks among middle-aged men, three of them in suits.Roy is quite a revelation in his scenes as the criminal look-alike. His sullen look and behavior in the role indicate a darker side that, unfortunately, never got exploited in his long career. Also on hand are Gabby Hayes as the sheriff, Hal Taliaferro as the lawyer, Roy Barcroft as a henchman, and Pierre Watkin as the devilishly smooth land broker. Storm and Payne are actually quite funny as the lady reporters, but the comic relief seems a little misplaced at that point in the film, helping to undermine the already weakened suspense. The film has a lot of good elements and started out on a promising note, but the script ran away from itself making the end result just another minor B-western capitalizing on the Jesse James name.