Along Came Jones

Trailer—Along Came Jones

Along Came Jones

Loretta Young makes a rare foray into western territory with her role in Along Came Jones. This is a charming independent production from Gary Cooper's company. Mr. Cooper, of course, is calling all the shots here—especially when poking fun at the cowboy persona he has previously established in other pictures. Meanwhile, Dan Duryea is on hand as the villain (what else), which makes us take some of this a bit more seriously. The casting of the two leads, and Duryea-- plus William Demarest as Coop's exasperated sidekick-- make this a little film worth checking out. It succeeds, where other films fail, because the filmmakers keep it simple. They get by with so little, but it does so much in the way of entertaining the ordinary western fan.

A good premise runs out of ideas and becomes a talkfest, even getting a little mean spirited near the end. Cooper is good as Melody Jones, an amiable but inept cowpoke mistaken for a surly killer named Monte Jarrad played suitably well by one of the greatest movie villains of all-time, Dan Duryea. The first 20 minutes of the story has real promise but this is one of those movies which somehow didn't get developed beyond its first draft. Some good dialogue and a great cast get kind of squandered as the muddled plot thickens. Would have succeeded better with less talk and characters and more gags and action. A miss but worthy of a look. Not Cooper's worst by any means.

Disappointing 1945 film with Loretta Young, Gary Cooper and William Demarest caught up in some very bad writing. A near perfect role for Gary Cooper with his "aw shucks" western language like-attitude. Loretta Young suddenly turns into an Annie Oakley by film's end. The story where Cooper is mistaken as a notorious gunman is cliché as best. Amazing that Cooper and Young, who at first allows the confusion to continue so that the real villain, the usual Dan Duryea, can get away with all that he has done. True to Hollywood standards, Young falls for Cooper. The dialogue and even the shoot out scenes are quite dull. Nothing much going on here.

It's hard to see Gary Cooper as a singing cowboy, but that's exactly what he is in this film. He plays a cowboy who is mistaken for a bandit (played by Dan Duryea). Cooper is accompanied by his sidekick (William Demarest). Pretty soon, almost everyone is after them, including the bandit. Loretta Young saves Cooper's hide more than once in this mildly funny and rather slow-moving film. Loretta Young gives a strong performance as a woman torn between the bandit and the cowboy. Cooper is not really believable as the amiable but clutzy cowpoke. The plot for this movie is better than average, and I enjoyed the laughs. The worst thing about it is the amount of time spent on horseback. Most of these scenes were obviously filmed indoors and technically were quite funny. The movie is worth watching for its script and Loretta Young.

Gary Cooper, along with very few others in Hollywood (at the time this movie was made, 1945) had the ability of so many facial and physical nuances of comic dimensions as Coop did. Being old enough to have seen this movie on it's original release (and I did) you might say, this was an early satire of what characters of the old west were really like. The cast was very well selected for the time, and very well performed. Also, the fact that Coop himself produced, and as America was definitely needing a belly laugh, I felt this to be an excellent vehicle for all involved and a welcome film of comedic entertainment. Concerning the poorly made studio riding sequences, how else to get the point across on a limited budget. Thanks for listening.

Even fans of Gary Cooper may not see the artistry in his performance, but that's not what makes this film special. Nunnally Johnson's script is the thing, and it's a pretty lightweight thing, with subtle repetition, satire, and tongue firmly in cheek. Filmed like a western b-movie, played as a self-aware western b-movie, with all the cliches and set pieces intact, including indoor back projection riding scenes and more than one "stick 'em up" scenario. Your first tip-off should be the wanted poster for "Monte Jarrad, often in the company of Uncle Roscoe something." I can't imagine that Cooper and Demerest (as his sidekick) didn't have a grand time playing against the stereotype established by John Wayne and Walter Brennan. Don't take it seriously, just enjoy....

Basically, this is an entertaining western that sports a combination of suspense, action, romance and comedy. It also features an interesting cast, with names like Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, William Demarest and Dan Duryea. Cooper, as "Melody Jones," plays his normal low-key hero role and Demarest provides most of the laughs. Young is attractive and plays an intriguing character and Duyea does what he does best: play the villain. However, the latter has a smaller role than usual. This is corny in spots, but it was meant to be since this is supposed to be a spoof of westerns. The only thing that didn't come off well was the special-specials, but they weren't much back in the days of this film but they are very dated now. A nice, lightweight enjoyable satire.