The Great Missouri Raid

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The Great Missouri Raid
The Great Missouri Raid poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Screenplay by Frank Gruber
Produced by Nat Holt
Starring Wendell Corey
Macdonald Carey
Ellen Drew
Ward Bond
Bruce Bennett
Bill Williams
Anne Revere
Cinematography Ray Rennahan
Edited byPhilip Martin
Music by Paul Sawtell
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • January 16, 1951 (1951-01-16)(St. Louis) [1]
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Great Missouri Raid is a 1951 American Western film directed by Gordon Douglas, written by Frank Gruber, released by Paramount Pictures and starring Wendell Corey, Macdonald Carey, and Ward Bond. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

In Missouri during the final days of the American Civil War, brothers Frank and Jesse James engage in a skirmish with Union soldiers, killing one before fleeing. After the war's end, amnesty is declared, but the brothers are betrayed by Union officer Maj. Trowbridge, whose brother they had killed. Along with the Younger brothers, Frank and Jesse begin robbing banks, while Trowbridge, still seeking revenge, opens a detective agency to find and stop the brothers.

Cast

Production

The railroad scenes were filmed on the Sierra Railroad in Tuolumne County, California. [4]

Release

The film premiered on consecutive nights in the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, St. Joseph and Topeka from January 16 to 20, 1951. The film's stars Ellen Drew and Ward Bond attended and St. Louis native Frank Faylen acted as the master of ceremonies. [1]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic A. H. Weiler wrote:

At this point, this corner is willing to concede that Frank and Jesse James are among the most photographed characters of our folklore. And, the fact that another producer has seen fit to turn his cameras on the storied brothers should not come as news. But in 'The Great Missouri Raid,' the latest film view of those rampaging renegades ... the boys and their assistants are played by professionals, and they do their stuff in Technicolored surroundings which is more pleasant, if not more convincing, than black and white. What is a mite less than convincing is the sympathetic approach to an old legend. The James and Younger boys were forced into gangsterism, it says here, because they were hounded by Major Trowbridge, the Army man who later became a bank and railroad detective. Be that as it may—though it is hard to take—Frank Gruber's story and screen play give the outlaws decent lines to speak and loads of opportunities for hard riding, fast shooting and a modicum of romance for the Jameses." [5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Four Players to a Film Opening". The Kansas City Star . January 7, 1951. p. D1.
  2. ↑ "The Great Missouri Raid (1951) - Overview". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Great Missouri Raid". Afi.com. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ Jensen, Larry (2018). Hollywood's Railroads: Sierra Railroad. Vol. Two. Sequim, Washington: Cochetopa Press. pp. 25, 28. ISBN   9780692064726.
  5. ↑ Weiler, A. H. (April 9, 1951). "The Screen in Review". The New York Times . p. 31.


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