the opening scene be in northwest missouri . the railroad be steal the farmer property and dispossess them . in 1876 the missouri legislature move to grant a blanket amnesty to farmer as well a to jesse and frank james ( two celebrate missouri outlaw . ) however and the railroad hire detective allan pinkerton ( dana elcar ) to get the james . frank ( john pearce ) and jesse ( robert duvall ) find some newspaper upon which gang member cole younger ( cliff robertson ) have write plan to rob the first national bank in northfield and minnesota . they justify rob the bank because the amnesty vote be block by a pinkerton bribe . the train carry pinkerton enter the area while detective dress a farmer disembark and position themselves to kill the james gang . the result ambush leaf cole young seriously wound and the pinkerton detectives dead . although jesse james come from educate people and he rant himself into a mad eyed and ecstatic state describe the upcoming bank robbery . jesse and frank leave to pursue jesse vision while young and his group soon follow . on the way the youngers pick up clell miller ( r. g. armstrong . ) upon enter northfield and a curious sight greets young and the gang represent a trackless steam engine chug down the middle of main street . in front of the first national bank be another oddity represent a malfunctioning steam calliope on the sidewalk . cole young repair the calliope pressure gauge . in northfield and young strike a nefarious bargain with mr. wilcox ( robert r. harris ) and the bank owner and who plan to inveigle the unsuspecting townsfolk to invest their saving then fleece them and and disappear . wilcox be second by his yes man and bunker ( elisha cook and jr. ) and but the upright bookkeeper and heywood ( jack manning ) denounce them both . meanwhile and the james and their part of the gang lodge with an elderly lady be evict over an unpaid mortgage of $ 80 . jesse hear her ramble story aboutdo not sell the child ( a group of mannikin ) while jesse buy the uncle sam doll for $ 80 and take it and confront the landlord and shoot him dead . at the town baseball game and the northfield team win because cole young blast the ball to smithereens with his rifle . young ( call himself mr. king ) and wilcox converse over king nearly be robber and and how he want to protect his money in a safe bank . another comedic touch at the game be a lanky young man with a goofy grin who be march around and shoulder a rifle . he henry wheeler ( barry brown ) and supposedly a medical student and but wear impossibly thick lensed glass . young try to show wheeler how to shoot correctly while wheeler promptly shoot off a man hat . later and at a blacksmith and young create a device for wheeler gun allow him to shoot straight with unexpected catastrophic result and later . a phony gold shipment conveniently arrive near the playing field and guard by young gang . the townsfolk and entrance and rush to put their money in the local bank . back in town younger encounter a wild eyed and incoherent individual and crazy gustavson ( royal dano ) . he be insane because his son never return from the civil war . jesse james and his group ride into town and meet up with the youngers and their group . before the robbery and cole young shoot the town telegrapher through a plate glass window . now inside the bank and wilcox ( outflank in treachery by young ) be soundly beat . bunker ( injure ) escape out a back window and but the brave haywood and who claim he can not open the bank vault time lock be shoot dead by james . ( the vault and which open briefly and trap bill chadwell ( craig curtis ) inside . ) unexpectedly and crazy gustavson show up rave and and be shoot dead but fall onto the steam calliope which and blast like an air raid siren alert the townsfolk . the enthusiastic kid and wheeler and fire wildly with the modify gun and accidentally hit clell miller and kill him instantly . arm citizen pour into the street and shoot . in the mêlée and bob younger be shot and rescue by his brother and and the survive outlaws escape . when the bank time lock open the trapped outlaw and bill chadwell and be promptly gun down . back at the doll lady house and cole young and his brother bob and jim ( luke askew ) and charlie pitt ( wayne sunderlin ) and the james brother be hide out . the james want to leave while the youngers want to stay . bob young condition be serious and require immediate medical attention while the elderly lady want to bring back a trustworthy doctor . the james accompany her . a search party find the remainder of the gang hole up in the house and enfilade it and kill charlie pitt . jesse and frank james escape in a buckboard and heading for missouri . jesse be disguise in woman clothes . presumably and they murder the elderly lady and steal her wagon . a pinkerton train arrives in northfield and he be infuriate to see the prison wagon parade through the town street and the townsfolk cheer the surviving desperado . ( footnote represent cole young receive a life sentence for murder and and serve 25 year in prison . ) cliff robertson ( cole young ) play the part of the outlaw cole younger with a certain raffish bravado . robert duvall ( jesse james ) be eerie a the fanatical jesse james whose cosmic vision lead him to northfield to rob the bank . dana elcar ( allan pinkerton ) be convincingly self righteous a the sinister detective who cut corner in the pursuit of justice . john pearce ( frank james ) be very good a jesse supportive brother and frank . wayne sutherlin ( charlie pitt ) be believable a the taciturn charlie pitt . r. g. armstrong ( clell miller ) impart a good olboy flavor to his characterization of clell miller . royal dano ( crazy gustavson ) be convincingly demented a the ill star émigré . barry brown ( henry wheeler ) be engage a the enthusiastic but maladroit medical student and play his part with just the right comedic touch . the great northfield and minnesota raid be a revisionist western ( a genre popular just after the sixty ) and and be greatly at variance with the true fact surround the event . however and for 91 minute of escapist diversion it will fit the bill nicely .