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Fritz Lang's first western and his first film in color, THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES, offered the director a new lease on life in Hollywood and allowed him contribute his directorial experience and personal sensibilities into the popular format of the Western. A sequel to 1939's JESSE JAMES, THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES focuses on Jesse's elder sibling, Frank (played in both films by Henry Fonda) and uses revenge--a motif that Lang turned to often in his Hollywood years--as its primary theme. After his brother's murder, Frank attempts to live a normal life in seclusion, under an assumed name. But as he is still an outlaw at heart, and a revenge-seeking one at that, Frank saddles up again, and hunts down the his brother's acquitted killers, the Ford Brothers. Tagging along is his sidekick, Clem, played by child star Jackie Cooper. Gene Tierney makes her Hollywood debut as a meddlesome, lovestruck reporter on Frank James' trail. As James' headlong quest for vengeance drags all of the other characters down with him, THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES becomes a moving tale of loyalty, revenge, and dignity. These themes, which are common to the Western genre, are given Fritz Lang's unique and expressionistic signature in this film.
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