Review of The Return of Frank James (1940) by Blake P — 04 Nov 2010

I watched this just so to see a Lang western, but it was largely unimpressive. Fonda is fine, but Gene Tierney will be better in a few years. The railway policeman was probably the worst, and the scene between him and Tierney at the Dallas paper's office made me cringe.

There are a few powerful shots, characteristic Lang shadows and well used framing. I liked the court scenes, thought of the taming of the wild west in light of M. There is a faint subtext on the nature of justice running beneath this film, but it's not great art.