Frank and Jesse

{{Infobox film

| name = Frank and Jesse

| image = Frank and Jesse (1995) Theatrical Poster.jpg

| caption = Original Theatrical Poster

| director = Robert Boris

| producer = Cassian Elwes
Elliott Kastner

| writer = Robert Boris

| starring = Rob Lowe
Bill Paxton
Randy Travis
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson
Luke Askew
Alexis Arquette
William Atherton

| music = Mark McKenzie

| cinematography = Walt Lloyd

| editing =

| distributor = Trimark

| released = {{Film date|1994|10|28}}

| runtime = 105 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| gross = $ 50,004

}}

Frank and Jesse (also known as Frank & Jesse) is a 1994 American biographical Western film written and directed by Robert Boris and starring Rob Lowe as Jesse James and Bill Paxton as Frank James. Based on the story of Jesse James, the film focuses more on myths of The James Brothers than the real history. It originally aired on HBO.

Synopsis

Following the American Civil War, the two James brothers, along with the Younger brothers - Cole Younger and Bob Younger, Bob Ford and Charles Ford, Clell Miller, and Arch Clements, begin to feel oppressed by the Chicago railroad investors. They set off on a trail of bank robberies, train heists, and stage holdups while evading the dogged pursuit of Allan Pinkerton and his detective agency.

Cast

Rob Lowe as Jesse James
Bill Paxton as Frank James
Randy Travis as Cole Younger
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Annie
Maria Pitillo as Zee
Luke Askew as Lone Loner
Sean Patrick Flanery as Zack Murphy
Alexis Arquette as Charley Ford
Todd Field as Bob Younger
John Pyper-Ferguson as Clell Miller
Nicholas Sadler as Arch Clements
William Atherton as Allan Pinkerton
Tom Chick as Detective Whitcher
Mary Neff as Widow Miller
Richard Maynard as John Sheets
Jim Flowers as Bob Ford
Mari Askew as Ma James
William Michael Evans as Jesse Jr.
Lyle Armstrong as McGuff
Cole S. McKay as Sheriff Baylor
Dennis Letts as Railroad C.E.O.
John Stiritz as Ruben Samuels
Micah Dyer as John Younger
Jackie Stewart as Governor Crittendon
Chad Linley as Archie Samuels
Rhed Killing as Stage Driver
Jerry Saunders as Northfield Teller
D.C. 'Dash' Goff as Engineer
Robert Moniot as Young Captain
Norman Hawley as Baptist Preacher
Jeffrey Paul Johnson as Davies Bank Teller
Bryce Thomason as Reporter
John Paxton as Working Man
Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis as Woman on Train
Sudie Henson as Old Woman on Train
David Arquette (uncredited)
Ron Licari as Townsman (uncredited)Frank and Jesse, 1995, Cast and Crew, Internet Movie Database [accessed] April 30, 2011.

Soundtrack

{{Infobox album

| name = Frank and Jesse

| type = Soundtrack

| artist = Mark McKenzie

| cover =

| caption =

| alt =

| released = 1995

| recorded = 1995

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Soundtrack

| length =

| label = Intrada Records

| producer =

| prev_title =

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}}

The music score was composed by Mark McKenzie and released by Intrada Records.Frank & Jesse, 1995, Music Score, IMDB [accessed] April 30, 2011.

"Frank and Jesse Suite"
"Main Title"
"Family Moments"
"Gentle Spirits"
"Tragedy At Home"
"Meet the James Gang"
"Marauding"
"Daring Escape"
"Frank's Despair"
"The Peace Ranch"
"Mountain Top Dance"
"The Lord is Callin' You"
"Northfield Battle"
"I Play Not Marches ..."
"Goodbye Jesse"
"Justice Will Be Served"

Production

The film is the second collaboration of director/writer Robert Boris with Rob Lowe after Oxford Blues in 1984.{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Guy |date=1994-02-25 |title=James Gang spotted in Arkansas |url=https://variety.com/1994/film/news/james-gang-spotted-in-arkansas-118627/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

Reception

A negative review in the French magazine Impact magazine wrote, "Made worse by appallingly banal images, mediocre acting and a "vast" soundtrack heard a thousand times before, Robert Boris's film sinks further, vacillating between an epic depiction of the James brothers' legend and a more down-to-earth vision. Between the two, between the celebration of high ideals and sordid violence, it sinks. It sometimes sinks into the ridiculous when the desрегаdоѕ, whose faces the whole Far West knows, authorities included, persist in wearing bags over their heads: were Rob Lowe and Bill Paxton no longer available when the director realized his film was missing a few sequences? Probably. He therefore substituted a few random strangers who call each other by the characters' first names."{{Cite book |last=impact magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/impact-067/page/n45/mode/2up?q=%22Frank+and+Jesse%22+%22Robert+Boris%22 |title=Impact 067 |date=2024-07-30}}