''Along Came Jones'' is a 1945 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

William Demarest Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and for playing Uncle Charley in the sitcom '' My Three Sons'' Demarest, ...

, and

Dan Duryea Dan Duryea ( , January 23, 1907 – June 7, 1968) was an American actor in film, stage, and television. Known for portraying a vast range of character roles as a villain, he nonetheless had a long career in a wide variety of leading and second ...

. The film was adapted by

Nunnally Johnson Nunnally Hunter Johnson (December 5, 1897 – March 25, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and playwright. As a filmmaker, he wrote the screenplays to more than fifty films in a career that spanned from 1927 to 1967. He ...

from the 1944 novel ''Useless Cowboy'' by Alan Le May. It was the only feature film produced by Cooper during his long film career. Much of the film was shot at the

Iverson Movie Ranch Iverson may refer to: Computing * Iverson Award, an ACM honour for APL contributions * Iverson bracket, a mathematical notation * Iverson Notation, the syntactic basis of APL (programming language) Other uses * Iverson Movie Ranch, Chatsworth, Ca ...

Chatsworth, California Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish b ...

. Cooper had previously worked at the movie ranch in '' The Lives of a Bengal Lancer'' (1935) and other productions. Cooper had a Western town built at the movie ranch for ''Along Came Jones''; this Western set was subsequently used in many other productions over the next 20 years and became a fixture in B-Westerns in particular.

Premise

Easygoing Melody Jones (

) and his friend George Fury (

) wander into a town. Jones is mistaken for a wanted bandit named Monte Jarrad (

), which causes him no end of trouble. Meanwhile, the real Jarrad is hiding out in the home of his girl, Cherry de Longpre (

). At first, she tries to use the newcomer to distract the townsfolk, but as she gets to know Jones, her feelings start to change. The film spoofs many

film cliches as well as the Western persona that Cooper played in previous films, such as the lead character being unable to shoot straight and partial to singing "silly songs" while riding his horse.

Cast

as Melody Jones *

as Cherry de Longpre *

as George Fury *

as Monte Jarrad * Frank Sully as Avery de Longpre *

Don Costello Eldon Lawrence "Don" Costello (September 5, 1901 – October 24, 1945) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. Background Costello was born in New Orleans on September 5, 1901. He was the son of James J. Costello and Mary E. Cos ...

as Leo Gledhill *

Walter Sande Walter Sande (July 9, 1906 – November 22, 1971) was an American character actor, known for numerous supporting film and television roles. Films Born in Denver, Colorado, he was one of those stern, heavyset character actors in Hollywood no pe ...

as Ira Waggoner * Russell Simpson as Pop de Longpre * Arthur Loft as Sheriff *

Willard Robertson Willard Robertson (January 1, 1886 – April 5, 1948) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas, and died in Hollywood, California. Biography Robertson first ...

as Luke Packard *

Ray Teal Ray Elgin Teal (January 12, 1902 – April 2, 1976) was an American actor.The book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Teal's birth date as January 12, 1908. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the televis ...

as Kriendler *

Lane Chandler Lane Chandler (born Robert Clinton Oakes, June 4, 1899 – September 14, 1972) was an American actor specializing mainly in Westerns. Biography Early life Chandler was raised on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the son of a horse ra ...

as Boone *

Erville Alderson Erville Alderson (September 11, 1882 – August 4, 1957) was an American character actor, usually portraying strong-willed or wise men. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1957. Life Alderson was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He ...

as Bartender (uncredited) *

Hank Bell Hank Bell (January 21, 1892 – February 4, 1950) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 370 films between 1920 and 1950. He was born in Los Angeles, California, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart attack A myo ...

as Posse Rider (uncredited)

Production

''Along Came Jones'' was produced under the working title ''American Cowboy''. It was Cooper's first Western since '' The Westerner'' in 1940. It was also Cooper's first film as an independent producer under his International Pictures, Inc., with Cinema Artists Corp. co-producing, and the only film in which he both acted and produced. Cooper also selected Young as his co-star. Much of the film was shot at the

, where Cooper built the town of Payneville for the script. This Western set was used in many other productions over the next 20 years. Other outdoor filming locations included Sasabe,

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, and Nogales, Arizona. A number of exterior scenes were filmed in indoor sound stages backed by giant

cyclorama A cyclorama is a panoramic image on the inside of a cylindrical platform, designed to give viewers standing in the middle of the cylinder a 360° view, and also a building designed to show a panoramic image. The intended effect is to make view ...

s. Scenes of the actors riding horses and exchanging dialogue were filmed with rear-projection screens.

Critical reception

Martin and Porter's DVD guide describes ''Along Came Jones'' as a " ghly watchable comic western," giving it a rating of 4 out of 5 ("Very Good"). ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film "a better-than-average western" and commended Cooper's and Young's performances.

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

writes in his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'': "Mr. Cooper is the guy who can play it. His Melody is a most congenial gent—butter-fingered and mentally clumsy, but disarmingly winning withal". A ''

Trailers from Hell ''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and expl ...

'' review wrote that the film "is concocted to please the Cooper fans, a mix of comedy, sentiment, romance and a little fancy gunplay". This review calls the film's first act "almost as funny as a

Preston Sturges Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' The Great McGinty'' (1940), h ...

movie", and the first two acts "nearly flawless".

Radio adaptation

''Along Came Jones'' was presented on ''This Is Hollywood'' December 28, 1946.

Janet Blair Janet Blair (born Martha Janet Lafferty; April 23, 1921 – February 19, 2007) was an American big-band singer who later became a popular film and television actress. Early years Janet Blair was born Martha Janet Lafferty on April 23, 1921, in ...

and

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

starred in the adaptation.

In popular culture

The film's ironic title probably inspired the popular 1959 Coasters song " Along Came Jones" written by Leiber and Stoller; songwriter Mike Stoller had studied orchestration under

Arthur Lange Arthur Lange (April 16, 1889 – December 7, 1956) was a United States bandleader and Tin Pan Alley composer of popular music. He composed music for over 120 films, including ''Grand Canary'' and '' Woman on the Run''. Lange shared an Oscar nomi ...

, the composer of the film's score. In the film Cooper sings the song "I'm a Poor Lonesome Cowboy", which would later become the signature song of

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western '' bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their ...

in the eponymous comics series by

René Goscinny René Goscinny (, ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Raised largely in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French schoo ...

and

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

References

External links

Along Came Jones at Dan Duryea Central
* * * * *
Iverson Movie Ranch: History, vintage photos.
{{Stuart Heisler 1945 films Films based on American novels Films based on Western (genre) novels American Western (genre) comedy films Films directed by Stuart Heisler American black-and-white films 1940s Western (genre) comedy films Films with screenplays by Nunnally Johnson Films adapted into radio programs Films scored by Arthur Lange 1945 comedy films RKO Pictures films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films