MovieChat Forums > Alias Jesse James (1959) Discussion > DVD cover errors: people who AREN'T in t...

DVD cover errors: people who AREN'T in the movie

posted 14 years ago by hobnob53
13 replies | jump to latest

The DVD cover for Alias Jesse James, as well as some on-line descriptions of the film (probably taken from the DVD cover), state that among the guest stars making cameos in the film are James Garner and Gene Autry. As anyone who has in fact seen the film knows, neither Garner or Autry is in this movie -- though maybe they should have been. But didn't anyone involved in producing this DVD actually bother to watch the film before including such inaccuracies on the cover? (Um, obviously not!)

[–] MisterWhispy 13 years ago

Well, I can't speak for the DVD, but the VHS copy I have has BOTH the Gene Autry and James Garner (playing his famous Brett Maverick character) cameos. So either your copy is cut, or you just didn't look hard enough. In fact, there's a clip on Youtube with the James Garner scene, so you can see what you're missing. Check it out.

[–] hobnob53 13 years ago

Well, I can speak for (1) the DVD, (2) the version of the film that has always been shown on television, from the 60s up to and including its fairly frequent showings on cable today, and (3) the original theatrical release in 1959; and in every case, neither Gene Autry not James Garner is in the film.

Add to this the IMDb credits, which do list both Autry and Garner, but pointedly state for both, "scenes deleted".

So, in fact, while each man did indeed film a cameo for the movie, both their scenes were deleted prior to release. The official print of the film -- that is, its theatrical release, the print used for all subsequent TV broadcasts and the DVD -- does not have either actor.

So it's not a question of my not having looked "hard enough".

Now, if as you say your VHS copy does show both men, then either it's a "restored" version of the film (which is likely), or you've mistaken other actors for Autry and Garner (which I do not believe to be the case). I assume that both men's scenes appear in the climactic gunfight near the movie's end, along with all the other guest stars' cameos. (Correct?) I'd like to know what company produced your VHS, and whether it says anything about its being a "restored" print.

The questions are, why were the two men's scenes were deleted, and why does the DVD cover state that both men are in the movie, when in fact they are not (at least not in the actual theatrical release of the film -- the version on the DVD and the one always shown on TV). But it'll be interesting to see the Garner sequence on YouTube; thanks for the heads-up.

[–] guely55 13 years ago

It was not James Garner it was Hugh O'Brian. Autry was there and so Roy Rogers,Bing Crosby and half dozen more!!

[–] hobnob53 13 years ago

We know Hugh O'Brian was in the film. He's in the DVD version and all other prints commonly shown. Garner is listed as having filmed a sequence, but his scenes were deleted. The same is true for Gene Autry, who is not in the official release even though he also filmed a scene that was deleted. We know that Crosby, Rogers, Ward Bond, James Arness, Jay Silverheels, Gary Cooper, Gail Davis (TV's "Annie Oakley") and Fess Parker were in the movie as well.

[–] zebulonguy 10 years ago

I believe Garner's scene was cut due to an ongoing problem with Warner Bros at that time. There was a much publicised court case at that time and it was considered wise to delete Garner. I do not know why Gene Autry was deleted though. I hope this helps.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

zebulonguy,

Garner did have a legal battle with Warner, though I don't recall whether it was while this film was in production. Assuming it was, it might have been deemed prudent to cut his scenes in post-production since it would have been uncertain whether Garner would continue portraying Maverick (he did), even though Alias Jesse James was not a Warner Bros. film (Hope's company produced it for release through United Artists). Autry's deletion is a mystery. But you make a good point.

Whatever issues arose with these two men, what's clear is that they did film cameos for the picture, so any problems that arose came up afterward.

[–] zebulonguy 10 years ago

Hobnob, thanks for the interesting reply. One correction though, Garner won his case and did not return to Maverick. He departed and that is certain. The battle took place during season 3. WB aired the episodes they had already filmed but Kelly appeared in more solo episodes than usual. For season 4 Roger Moore replaced Garner. All this was going on in the lead up to the film. Garner even tried to stop Warner airing episodes he had already filmed, on that he failed. I certainly would love to see the Complete picture.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Yes, you're correct that Garner left Maverick after its third season, which aired in 1959-1960.

However, after our last exchange I did a little research. Alias Jesse James was released on March 20, 1959, when Maverick was in its second season, long before Garner's legal dispute with Warner Bros. I also read that Garner's cameo had been deleted later, for TV prints, due to copyright disputes. In other words, he was in the theatrical release of the film in 1959 and only cut out later on. This runs contrary to everything I had read before but might make sense. (It would also mean I owe an apology to a poster above who insisted he'd seen both Garner and Autry in the film's theatrical run.)

As to Autry, all I could find was another vague reference to copyright issues that caused his cameo to be cut out, though it was not clear whether this was before the film came out or afterward for TV. But at this point it begins to look as though those who saw the film in 1959 did indeed see both Garner and (probably) Autry, and that only later were their scenes cut for subsequent versions, apparently due to legal issues.

I have the DVD of this film that came from a Bob Hope collection of several of his films, which does not have either Garner or Autry. However, I've also just read that there was a 2007 DVD release that had these cameos restored. It's also claimed that a Spanish DVD has the two men as well. I'll have to see what I can turn up, but it may well be that these mysteriously missing cameos were not only filmed, but survive and may be available for view. Stay tuned.

[–] zebulonguy 10 years ago

Thanks for that. Again, really interesting . I shall now know at least that Garner and Autry were seen in the original release. Like you I long to see those deleted scenes. Perhaps Garner's scenes were cut later due to the WB dispute? Perhaps we shall never know? Still, great detective work on your part.

[–] zebulonguy 10 years ago

Hobnob- did you discover if the Spanish DVD has the deleted scenes? I can probably get it, but only if I know they are there as it is expensive.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

I'm not sure about the Spanish DVD. The description I found on Amazon doesn't explicitly say and reviews and other information were ambiguous. I have it in my Amazon cart but haven't yet ordered it. Kind of pondering my options. But I'll decide soon and let you know.

Per your other reply, yes, from what I read the Garner scene was cut for TV release some years after the film came out. I gather there was no subsequent theatrical release after 1959. That's probably when the Autry stuff was excised too. Considering the tight control the Gene Autry estate kept on his image, I wouldn't be surprised if for separate copyright reasons they demanded either a share of the fees paid for showing the film on television and were refused, or simply wanted to make sure no one controlled even a tiny aspect of Autry's image, and so either way his cameo was cut. But apparently any such cut was made for initial TV prints in the 1960s, just like Garner's scene, when Autry was still very much alive. Surprising, then, that he agreed to do the cameo in the first place.

[–] frontrowkid2002 11 years ago

I saw the movie in its original release back iun 1959. At that time, TV westerns were very popular and were responsible for closing down small town theaters that ran Westerns on Saturdays. This is the reason so many TV cowboys appeared in cameo roles. The reason Roy Rogers appeared was that not only was he on television, but he had co-starred with Hope in Son of Paleface. Bing Crosby appeared as a cowboy because of his long time association with Hope and to quote Bing's closing line, "This boy needs all the help he can get." Jay Silverheels as Tonto appeared without the Lone Ranger. It would have made sense to have James Garner or Will "Sugarfoot" Hutchins appear because of their current popularity. While Gene Autry may have been scheduled to make an appearance, his scene may have been deleted because he did not resemble the Gene Autry of long ago. Autry put on weight due to drinking and he probably had enough money anyway so that he didn't make to do a guest spot. Roy Rogers on the other hand always looked good in his Western outfit whenever he did guest sp;ots.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Maybe Autry decided he didn't want to be seen side-by-side (more or less) with his old rival Roy Rogers, possibly for the reasons you cite. Rogers was still active while Autry had largely given up performing. Since Autry did film his scene, he might have had second thoughts and asked that it be cut out.