Along Came Jones (1945)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Stuart Heisler

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (written by)
Alan Le May (novel)

Release Date:

19 July 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Western

Tagline:

IT'S THE WEST AT ITS BEST! WITH ROOTIN'...TOOTIN'...SHOOTIN' COOPER! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

Riding into Payneville, easy-going cowboy Melody Jones is mistaken by the townsfolk for notorious gunman Monte Jarrad...

Plot Keywords:

Posse | Ranch | Saloon Owner | Shoot Out | Jealousy

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Melody Jones
Loretta Young	...	Cherry de Longpre
William Demarest	...	George Fury
Dan Duryea	...	Monte Jarrad
Frank Sully	...	Avery de Longpre
Don Costello	...	Leo Gledhill
Walter Sande	...	Ira Waggoner
Russell Simpson	...	Pop de Longpre
Arthur Loft	...	Sheriff
Willard Robertson	...	Luke Packard
Ray Teal	...	Kriendler
Lane Chandler	...	Boone

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G (TV rating) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #10665) | Norway:16 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cinema Artists

Trivia:

Loretta Young was pregnant with her son Christopher Lewis during shooting and was told by her doctor to take it easy because of all the horseback riding she had to do during filming.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the film, Melody Jones (Gary Cooper) is shot in the left shoulder. Later, he is shown with his right arm in a sling.

Quotes:

George Fury: You always want to shoot them in their right eye. It spoils their aim.

Movie Connections:

Featured in John Wayne Made Me Cry: Our Western Heros (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Round and Round

Playing the wrong melody

Poor Melody Jones, a simple soul, a good cowboy who has never really developed skill with firearms, gets himself mistaken for notorious western badman Monty Jarrad. Same general build, same initials and both are known to hang around with a cantankerous old timer. A recipe for trouble?

For Melody yes, but for the viewer it's a recipe for one of the best comic westerns ever made. Gary Cooper who produced as well as starred in this film, seems to be having a grand old time spoofing all the western heroes that people like he have played for years.

Quite a few stock western types are here. Loretta Young is the killer's girlfriend, a Calamity Jane type who's pretty accurate with a rifle fortunately. William Demarest is the cantankerous old timer sidekick, he could have had a great career portraying those had he stuck to westerns. And Dan Duryea is just fine as the real Monty Jarrad who's coming back to his hometown to get the loot he's stashed there.

Cooper as Melody gets in one fix after another at almost a dizzying pace. His final showdown with Dan Duryea must have influenced John Ford when he made The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Though this is a comedy and Ford's film was deadly serious, the showdown between Cooper and Duryea is quite serious.

I'm also sure that Mel Brooks was influenced by Along Came Jones when he created his classic Blazing Saddles.

Thank you to director Stuart Heisler and writer Nunnally Johnson for creating a fabulously funny film.