ADVENTURES OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES

Steve Darrell and Clayton Moore as Frank and Jesse James

ADVENTURES OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES (13 chapter Republic serial/1948). Directed by Fred C. Brannon and Yakima Canutt.

After the events of Jesse James Rides Again, Jesse (Clayton Moore) is reunited with his brother, Frank (Steve Darrell). Although it is hinted that the men may have been up to nefarious doings in their younger days, all they want to do is go straight, and pay back some of their supposed victims, who were actually robbed by a phony Jesse James -- a man named Rafe (George J. Lewis). The James' boys think the answer to their troubles is a gold mine, but Amos Ramsey (John Crawford of Zombies of the Stratosphere), who covets the gold for himself, is working against them every step of the way. Jesse and Frank pretend to be the cousins of sympathetic Judy Powell (Noel Neill of Freddie Steps Out) and they also have banker Paul Thatcher (Sam Flint) on their side.

Clayton Morre and Noel Neill

Although as portrayed herein the James Brothers seem to come from an alternate dimension, Adventures of Frank and Jesse James is another exciting and well-done Republic western serial. There's a thrilling stage coach race in chapters five - six that seems like a blueprint for the chariot race in Ben-Hur, which is no wonder since Adventures' co-director Yakima Canutt helped stage both. Notable cliffhangers include a carriage flying off of a shattered bridge sans horses; a fiery explosion in a mine; Jesse caught beneath a falling plank with embedded nails; the Marshall (Gene Roth) about to see the boys' real signatures on a real estate deal; and Jesse and an assailant punching each other out and falling off a very high cliff. The uncredited, probably stock musical score for this is especially effective. 

Verdict: Another Western winner from Republic. ***.