The Return of Frank James
Encore triumph from 20th Century-Fox.
1940 | 92m | English
Popularity: 2 (history)
| Director: | Fritz Lang |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Sam Hellman |
| Staring: |
| Farmer Frank and his ward hunt brother Jesse's killers, the back-shooting Fords. | |
| Release Date: | Aug 10, 1940 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Fritz Lang |
| Writer: | Sam Hellman |
| Genres: | Western |
| Keywords | colorado, sequel, jesse james, revenge, 19th century |
| Production Companies | 20th Century Fox |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 01, 2025 (Update) Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Henry Fonda | Frank James |
| Jackie Cooper | Clem |
| Gene Tierney | Eleanor Stone |
| Henry Hull | Major Rufus Cobb |
| John Carradine | Bob Ford |
| J. Edward Bromberg | George Runyan |
| Donald Meek | McCoy |
| Eddie Collins | Station Agent |
| George Barbier | Judge |
| Russell Hicks | Prosecutor |
| Ernest Whitman | Pinky |
| Charles Tannen | Charlie Ford |
| Lloyd Corrigan | Randolph Stone |
| Victor Kilian | Preacher |
| Edward McWade | Colonel Jackson |
| George Chandler | Roy |
| Irving Bacon | Bystander |
| Frank Shannon | Sheriff |
| Barbara Pepper | Nellie Blane |
| Louis Mason | Watchman |
| Matthew Beard | Mose |
| William Pawley | Actor |
| Frank Sully | Actor |
| Davison Clark | Officer |
| Bob Battier | Frank James in Play (uncredited) |
| A.S. Byron | Train Engineer (uncredited) |
| Kernan Cripps | Deputy (uncredited) |
| Rube Dalroy | Juror (uncredited) |
| Lester Dorr | Reporter (uncredited) |
| Tex Driscoll | Play Spectator (uncredited) |
| Edmund Elton | Jury Foreman (uncredited) |
| Budd Fine | Deputy (uncredited) |
| Almeda Fowler | Mrs. Edna Stone (uncredited) |
| Slim Gaut | Courtroom Spectator (uncredited) |
| Sherry Hall | Court Clerk (uncredited) |
| Shep Houghton | Courtroom Spectator (uncredited) |
| Milton Kibbee | Reporter (uncredited) |
| Kermit Maynard | Courtroom Spectator (uncredited) |
| Eric Mayne | Saloon Patron (uncredited) |
| Nelson McDowell | Confederate Veteran Juror (uncredited) |
| Robert McKenzie | Old Man on Rocker (uncredited) |
| Lew Meehan | Bailiff (uncredited) |
| Frank Melton | Reporter (uncredited) |
| Adrian Morris | Denver Detective (uncredited) |
| James C. Morton | Liberty Bartender (uncredited) |
| Hattie Noel | Denver House Chambermaid (uncredited) |
| Lee Phelps | Denver House Bartender (uncredited) |
| Tex Phelps | Front-Row Play Spectator (uncredited) |
| Russ Powell | Juror (uncredited) |
| Allen D. Sewall | Old Timer (uncredited) |
| Cap Somers | Courtroom Spectator (uncredited) |
| Dale Van Sickel | Reporter (uncredited) |
| Lillian Yarbo | Eleanor's Maid (uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Sam Hellman | Screenplay |
| George Barnes | Director of Photography |
| Walter Thompson | Editor |
| Richard Day | Art Direction |
| Wiard B. Ihnen | Art Direction |
| Thomas Little | Set Decoration |
| David Buttolph | Music |
| Ben Silvey | Production Manager |
| Hal Herman | Assistant Director |
| Aaron Rosenberg | Assistant Director |
| Joseph C. Behm | Props |
| Roger Heman Sr. | Sound |
| Larry Chapman | Special Effects |
| W.D. Flick | Sound |
| Fritz Lang | Director |
| Louis Hippe | Makeup Artist |
| Travis Banton | Costume Design |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Kenneth Macgowan | Associate Producer |
| Darryl F. Zanuck | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 14 | 21 | 8 |
| 2024 | 5 | 15 | 27 | 8 |
| 2024 | 6 | 14 | 28 | 8 |
| 2024 | 7 | 14 | 28 | 8 |
| 2024 | 8 | 12 | 22 | 6 |
| 2024 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 5 |
| 2024 | 10 | 18 | 44 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 | 11 | 25 | 6 |
| 2024 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 6 |
| 2025 | 1 | 11 | 24 | 6 |
| 2025 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 3 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Trending Position
Henry Hull's "Maj. Cobb" steals this rather unremarkable follow up to the previous year's much superior "Jesse James". This time, surviving brother Frank (Henry Fonda) hears that assassins Bob (John Carradine) and Charlie Ford (Charles Tannen) have been convicted of his brother's murder - but that t ... hey have been pardoned. He sets off to avenge this travesty but along the way finds himself and the young "Clem" (Jackie Cooper) involved in a bank robbery that sees his old retainer "Pinky" (Ernest Whitman) set to swing after the watchman is accidentally killed. Determined to avert that he engages "Cobb" as his lawyer and turns himself in. The twenty minutes or so in the courtroom are a bit of an amusing tour-de-force for the old newspaper man; he plays the jury like a fiddle and the judge (George Barbier) seems pretty complicit as railroad man "McCoy" (Donald Meek) finds he has few friends in them thar parts. The ending is a bit weak, indeed the whole thing is rather an unnecessary sequel, but it's still worth it for the entertaining antics of "Maj. Cobb".