fox the true story of jesse james ( 1957 ) be a remarkably poor widescreen remake of their prestigious 1939 tyrone power or henry fonda classic jesse james . i be not sure where the fault lie but the casting in this version of the two central character and the uneven direction of nicholas ray and the ham fisted screenplay must surely have something to do with it . in the late thirty and forty tyrone power be fox top lead man but in the fifty his star begin to wane and studio head darryl zanuck start to groom newcomer robert wagner to take his place . this be a major error on zanuck part a wagner prove to be a less than a suitable replacement . with the possible exception of broken lance ( 1954 ) and between heaven and hell ( 1956 ) it be hard to think of wagner distinguish himself in anything . also and jeffrey hunter be nothing more than a fox contract player before be assign to play frank james to wagner jesse in the true story of jesse james . borrow from the studio the previous year this actor one distinguishing mark be his excellent and revealing performance in john ford classic the searcher . but his playing here and along with wagner a the second half of the james brother and be nothing short of bore . neither player bring any personality or colour to their respective role . they totally miss the mark and lack the charisma and appeal so vividly display by power and fonda in the original . the movie be also mar by too many flashback and with the all over the place screenplay wagner and a the robin hood of the american west and come across a a charmless introvert twit that you can feel no empathy for whatsoever . the support cast be hardly worth mention but it be a shame to see such a great actress a agnes moorhead barely get a look in a ma james . the best aspect of this uninvolving so so western be the wonderful cinemascope or colour cinematography by the great joe mcdonald and the excellent music score by the underrated and little know composer leigh harline .