THE STORY OF MORGAN CREEK PRODUCTIONS PROJECT OF AMERICAN OUTLAWS.

A Western with a light comic touch is how this film is described. The life of the famous outlaw, Jesse James who, along with his brother Frank, formed the James Gang and robbed banks, trains and stagecoaches around Missouri in the 1800s is depicted with a smirk and a grin. This film will be more Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and less High Noon.

Les Mayfield is set to direct American Outlaws from a script written by John Rodgers. Picture is produced by James Robinson and Bill Gerber, Jonathan Zimbert serves as executive producer. Warner Bros. will distribute the film domestically, and Morgan Creek Intl. will distribute overseas. Production is scheduled to begin on July 17th 2000, in Texas.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF LES MAYFIELD.

Les Mayfield (Director) was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and graduated from USC Film School. He made his feature-film directing debut with Hollywood Pictures' comedy Encino Man. He next directed Miracle on 34th Street, written and produced by John Hughes.

His career started with producer Frank Marshall and director Steven Spielberg, for whom he directed documentaries on the making of such films as Back to The Future, Empire of the Sun, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 1991, he co-produced Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse with George Zaloom, which won great critical and popular acclaim.

ABOUT MORGAN CREEK PRODUCTIONS.

Morgan Creek Productions is one of Hollywood's most successful independent film production companies. James G. Robinson, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, founded the company in early 1988 and, in its first twelve years of operation, has seen twelve of its 35 films debut in the number one box-office spot. Additionally, many Morgan Creek Productions features have been honored by the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Such critically acclaimed and successful releases as Young Guns and Young Guns II, Major League, Dead Ringers, Enemies, A Love Story, Pacific Heights and the 1991 blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves have contributed to the company's winning streak under James G. Robinson's stewardship.

In 1991, Morgan Creek Productions entered into a three-year, 25-picture distribution pact with Warner Bros., in which Warner handles the distribution of all films domestically and is frequently partnered with Morgan Creek International in overseas distribution.

The Official Synopsis of Morgan Creek Productions American Outlaws aka Jesse James.

Start Date
July 17th 2000

Genre
Comedy-Western

Story Synopsis
JESSE JAMES is the spirited retelling of American's own Robin Hood. Returning home after fighting in the Civil War, Jesse finds his homestead being threatened by greedy railroad baron Thaddeus Rains, and his muscle Alan Pinkerton. Unwilling to sell his land, Jesse forms a gang and hits Rains where it really hurts - in the wallet. Jesse and his gang begin robbing banks and trains that are home to Rain's payroll. Soon Jesse and the gang are outlaws with a price on their heads but revered as heroes by the public.

Talent

• Colin Farrell (Tigerland)
• Scott Cann (Gone in 60 Seconds, Ready to Rumble, Enermy of the State)
• Timothy Dalton (License to Kill, The Living Daylights)
• Kathy Bates (Misery, Fried Green Tomatoes)
• Ali Larter (Final Destination, Varsity Blues)
• Gabriel Macht (TV's The Audrey Hepburn Story)
• Will McCormack (Boiler Room)
• Gregory Smith (The Patriot, Small Soldiers)

Producer
James G Robinson (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Young Guns)
Bill Gerber.

Les Mayfield (Flubber, Blue Streak)

Target
Adults 16 - 34

Synopsis of Jesse James © Copyright Morgan Creek Productions 2000 All Rights Reserved.

I would very much like to sincerely thank Morgan Creek Productions who very kindly sent me this Synopsis of this project to put up here.

THE TRUE STORY OF JESSE JAMES.

On September 7th, 1876, Jesse James, his brother Frank, and the Younger brothers walked in to the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota. By the end of the day, All of the James gang, with exception to Frank and Jesse were dead or captured, and Jesse and Frank James, both wounded, were on the run from the largest posse every assembled in US history. Pinned against the canyon at Split Rock Creek in Garretson, South Dakota, Jesse James faced certain capture or certain death. Deciding to go for broke, Jesse jumped the 20 foot gap on his horse over Split Rock Creek and forever into local history at the spot now know as Devil's Gulch.

The Cave on Split Rock River.

Jesse James holed up in a cave on Split Rock River near Devil's Gulch where he waited for things to settle down. Inside the cave his name is carved in the quartzite stone and local folklore confirms that an area farmer assisted Jesse and Frank with food and medical supplies before their escape. The mouth of the cave is only accessible by boat and is privately owned, so access is forbidden without permission.

Jesse James is one of the most interesting characters of the old west. He has been portrayed as either a Robin Hood or a high tempered killer. He was neither and both. Like all people Jesse was a product of his childhood and environment. As a Missouri Guerilla, he learned the fine art of deception and relying on the locals of Missouri to provide him shelter while things cooled off between robberies.

In a fateful mistake, they decided to wander outside their normal circle and rob the bank in Northfield, Minnesota. Everything went wrong and when the James-Younger Gang ran for their horses to leave town, the "squareheads" of Minnesota began shooting. Clell Miller and Bill Chadwell never made it out of town. The rest settled in the woods near Madelia, Minnesota. The James Gang left the badly wounded Youngers and Charlie Pitts.

This is an old Stereograph card of Jesse James in his coffin.

Jesse settled in St. Joseph, Missouri as Mr. Howard and began to form a new gang with Bob and Charlie Ford. On April 3, 1882, Jesse noticed a needle point hanging on the wall was lopsided. He removed his gunbelt so that when he was in full view of the open front door no one would see it. As he stood on a chair repositioning the framed object, Bob Ford fired. Jesse was dead.

JESSE JAMES IS BURIED IN THE Mt. OLIVET CEMETERY IN KEARNEY MISSOURI.

Jesse James's Grave.

Jesse Woodson James born September 5, 1847. Died April 3, 1882. Outlaw. If you would like to go and see it the gravesite is two miles away from farm and museum at Jesse James Museum; 21216 James Farm Road; Kearney, MO

CHRONOLOGY OF JESSE JAMES

by Floyd D.P. Oydegaard

Jesse James mom Zerelda.

December 28, 1841 - Robert James & Zerelda Elizabeth Cole married in Stamping Ground, Kentucky

January 10, 1843 - Alexander Franklin James born in Kentucky

July 19, 1845 - Robert James Jr. was born near Centerville (Kearney), MO, on the farm in Kearney. Died 33 days later.

September 5, 1847 - Jesse Woodson James born on the 257-acre farm as well

November 25, 1849 - Susan Lavenia James born.

August 18, 1850 - Rev. Robert James dies of food poisoning in a Placerville, California gold camp after deserting his family to seek riches during the Gold Rush.

September 25, 1855 - Zerelda marries her third husband Dr. Reuben Samuel after second husband, Benjamin Simms, is killed in a horse accident.

December 26, 1858 - Sarah (Sallie) Louisa born to Zerelda and Rueben. May 4, 1861 - Frank James joins the Confederate Army at 18. Later is paroled and joins Quantrill.

December 25, 1861 - John Thomas born to Zerelda and Rueben. 1862 - Jesse has image done by tintypist in Kansas City.

October 18, 1863 - Fannie Quantrill born to Zerelda and Rueben. 1864 - Jesse has second photo made shortly after joining "Bloody" Bill Anderson's guerilla forces at age sixteen.

September 20, 1864 - Jesse is credited for killing Union Major A.V. Johnson at the massacre of Centralia, where unarmed Union soldiers were taken from a train and murdered by Anderson and gang of ruffians.

After April, 1865 - Jesse has image made in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also shot by occupying Union soldiers in the chest.

February 13, 1866 - Frank James, Cole and Jim Younger rob the Clay County Savings Bank in Liberty, MO. of $72,000. A boy is killed by the gang. Jesse's legend is embellished when he is placed at the scene as well, contrary to family members reporting him sick in bed, with his chest wound still bothering him.

February 1866 - Jesse has another image made in Nashville, Tennessee

July 26, 1866 - Archie Peyton born to Zerelda and Rueben.

1866 - Perry Samuel, mulatto boy, born out of wedlock by one of the slaves is raised as part of the Samuel family.

October 30, 1866 - Mitchell and Company banking firm of Lexington, MO. is robbed and Jesse a Frank are blamed, even though they were not in the state.

1867 - Jesse has image made in San Francisco, CA. After taking a ship from New York, across the isthmus in Panama and another ship to San Francisco. He had a relative who lived in Paso Robles that he was suppose to have visited and also he looked for his father's grave in Placerville with no success.

1866-7 - John Newman Edward contributes to their fame with glorifying articles and a few "Dime Novel's"

March 20, 1868 - The gang robs the Southern Deposit Bank in Russellville, Kentucky for $14,000.

1868-9 - The "boys" spend most of the rest of these years in Nashville area.

1869 - The James & Youngers hold up Davies County Savings Bank of Gallatin, MO. They get $700 and kill cashier John W. Sheets, placing murder on their hold-up charges.

June 3, 1871 - Jesse and the rest rob the Ocobock Brothers Bank in Coryton, Iowa of $6,000.

April 29, 1872 - Bank in Columbia, Kentucky is robbed and cashier R.A.C. Martin is murdered for the $6,000 supposedly taken by the James & Youngers.

September 26, 1872 - James Brothers rob the cashier at the Kansas City Fair of $8,000

May 27, 1873 - James/Youngers rob $4,000 from the Savings Association in Genevieve, MO

July 21, 1873 - Marks their first train robbery. Killing Engineer John Rafferty they took $26,000 from passengers and the express car of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR near Adair, Iowa.

January 15, 1874 - Jesse James and "party" rob their first known stagecoach holdup of between $1000-$8,000 of cash and jewels near Hot Springs, Arkansas. (After his death a gold watch from one of the passengers was found among his effects.)

January 31, 1874 - Jesse James held up the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern RR train at Gads Hill, MO of $10,000.

April 24, 1874 - Jesse James marries Zee Mimms Centerville (Kearney) MO.

June of 1874 - Frank James marries Annie Ralston in Omaha, Nebraska.

January 26, 1875 - Pinkertons toss a smoke "bomb" into the Samuelson farm house in Kearney and the conclusion is that Archie Peyton Samuel thought it was a loose stick from the fire and tossed it "back" into the fire and it exploded, killing him and severely wounding Jesse & Frank's mama.

1875 - Most famous image of Jesse James is made in Nebraska City, Neb,

August 31, 1875 - Jesse Edwards James is born to Zee and Jesse.

September 6, 1875 - the James/Younger gang rob a bank of $20,000 in Huntington, VA.

July 7, 1876 - Missouri-Pacific train is robbed of $17,000 by the James/Younger gang.

September 7, 1876 - Northfield, Minnesota folk open up on the James & Younger gang in their attempt to rob the First National Bank. Charley Pitts and Bill Chadwell are killed. Cole, Jim and Bob Younger are shot to pieces and are captured two weeks later.

February 6, 1878 - Robert James is born to Frank and Annie.

October 8, 1879 - The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis train at Glendale, MO is robbed of $40,000.

March 11, 1881 - $5200 taken from a paymaster as he left a bank in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The James are recognized.

July 15, 1881 - The James rob the Chicago, Rock island & Pacific train near Winston, MO of $2000. They murder Frank McMillen and conductor Westfall.

September 7, 1881 - Their last train robbery at Blue Cut, near Glendale, MO. nets $3000 in cash and jewelry taken from the passengers.

December 24, 1881 - A Tom Howard and family rents a house on Lafayette Street in St. Joseph, MO.

April 3, 1882 - Bob Ford with his brother Charley enter the home of the Howard's and at about 8:27am Bob sees his chance and shoots Mr. Howard below the right ear and the bullet lodges in the frontal bone near the left ear. He is killed instantly! The force at such a close range slammed his body into the wall and he fell to the floor with another bounce that laid him out on his back. Within minutes the town discovers that the infamous Jesse James had just been assassinated.

ALL ABOUT ALLAN PINKERTON, WHICH IS TIMOTHY DALTON'S ROLE

Allan Pinkerton

Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884) was the world's first private detective. Emigrating to Chicago from Glasgow, Scotland, he discovered a gang of counterfeiters and assisted in their capture. He became deputy sheriff of Kane County, then Cook County, resigning from the police to form the Pinkerton Detective Agency in 1852. The Pinkerton logo, the All-Seeing Eye, inspired the phrase Private Eye. In 1861 Pinkerton uncovered a plot to assassinate President Lincoln. At Lincoln's request, Pinkerton began the U.S. Secret Service and served as its head. Through the use of a double agent, Pinkerton's secret service defeated a Confederate plot to free the 8000 prisoners of war at the South Side's Camp Douglas.

Pinkerton guards were employed by large manufacturing companies to put down strikes. In 1886, a riot broke out at the McCormick Reaper Works. The police, aided by Pinkerton's men, fired into the crowd, killing several. A rally was held days later in Haymarket square in which a bomb was thrown at police. The Haymarket affair resulted in several unjust convictions and executions.

Pinkerton is surrounded by his family and several Pinkerton employees. Timothy Webster, a bodyguard for Lincoln, was hanged as a Union spy during the Civil War. Also buried here are the first woman detective, Kate Warn, and Joseph Whicher, killed in pursuit of Jesse James.

THE PINKERTON DETECTIVE AGENCY.

Graphic courtesy of Pinkertons Inc.

Allan Pinkerton was born on August 25, 1819 in the Gorbals a Glasgow slum, even though Allan must have seen endless amounts criminal and domestic violence, he showed great self-confidence and refused to let the Gorbals get the best of him.

He was able to make it to the U.S.A. with his wife Joan. There he was trying to make a living as cooper. He noticed one day that he was running low on wood in the area, so he had to go to a nearby island for some more wood. While chopping up wood on the island, he found a deserted fire and proof that somebody had been using the island. As he later wrote: There was no picnicking in those days, people had more serious matters to attend to and it required no great keenness to conclude that no honest men were in the habit of occupying the place.

He became very curious and returned to the island many more times to find out more. Finally one night he saw men gathering around a fire. He had the idea that they were planning a job. The next day he told the sheriff about it and together they went to the island and one night they were able to catch the men - who were actually a band of counterfeiters. After the incident, some local shopkeepers asked Pinkerton to do some detective work, "What do I know about that sort of thing?" was his reply. However, he gave in and found he was thrilled by it. He decided to move to Chicago for the city life.

He became a policeman in 1847 and then in 1850 he was appointed Chicago's first detective. Throughout his times he gained a reputation as a courageous and incorrputable man who hunted down criminals, even when putting his own life at risk. He had made a lot of enemies in the crime world and was not surprised that someone might try to kill him. With his experience and great ambition to do good, he wanted to open his own private detective agency. By 1853, The Pinkerton Detective Agency was going strong. It was the first national detective bureau; this meant that its agents could arrest criminals anywhere in the country.

In 1861, he and his agents learned of a plot to assassinate Lincoln as he went through Baltimore on his way to his inauguration. The plan was to kill Lincoln while he was switching trains on the afternoon of February 22nd , he advised Lincoln to leave a day early for Washington. Lincoln didn't quite believe it at first until he got separate reports from General Winfield Scott that confirmed the scheme. He did all he could in order not to attract attention. From Philadelphia, Lincoln (wearing an overcoat and disguised in a brown hat) slipped into the last sleeping car of a train heading for Baltimore. With Lincoln posing as brother of one of Pinkerton's female detectives. Pinkerton and Wark Hill Lamon travelled with him. The next morning at six o'clock the train arrived safely in Washington. After they arrived, he sent a coded message to Philadelphia telling that the President arrived safely. Pinkerton, however, used awkward code names for him and the President. Pinkerton was Plums and Lincoln was Nuts. Therefore the message read "Plums arrives safely with Nuts." If it hadn't been for Pinkerton and his men, there would have been a good chance that Lincoln would have been assassinated before his inauguration. Although some critics may disagree and say that Pinkerton made up the story to make him look like a hero and gain credibility with Lincoln, there was evidence that the assassination plot was real. Soon after Lincoln arrived in Washington, there was a riot in Baltimore.

A big part of many of the Southern victories during the Civil War was due one of the South's most effective spies. Rose O'Neal Greenhow (known as "the Southern Rose") was one of the South 's most dedicated spies. She became one of his most challenging opponents. She had given a lot of military information to the South, one of her reports contributed to the Battle of Bull Run. After the Battle of Bull Run, Lincoln appointed George McClellan in charge of the Army of the Potomac.and Pinkerton was appointed to accompany McClellan. He was excited because now he had his chance to organize a secret service. Pinkerton realized he first had to arrest Rose Greenhow. Pinkerton and his men were able to find many military plans that Rose intended to send to the South. They were especially amazed by her network of spies. They also found a book with a list of names of all Greenhow's messengers and how they dispatched the information. Rose and her daughter were finally taken to prison.

Allan Pinkerton was greatly involved in America's history: from being America's first private detective to organizing America's first secret service during the Civil War. He was a hard-working man who risked his life chasing and catching criminals. During his career he and his detective agency had investigated over one thousand cases. His agency's motto being, "The Eye That Never Sleeps" (which was also the root of the expression "private eye"). Allan Pinkerton perfected the thrilling and dangerous world of espionage.

MORE ABOUT ALLAN PINKERTON.

Allan Pinkerton again.

Allan Pinkerton, a deputy-sheriff in Chicago, formed the Pinkerton Detective Agency in 1852. The first detective agency in the United States, it solved a series of train robberies. In 1861 the agency was given the task of guarding Abraham Lincoln. While in Baltimore, while on the way to the inauguration, Pinkerton foiled a plot to assassinate the president.

Pinkerton became head of the American secret service during the Civil War and in 1875 used an agent, James McParlan, to infiltrate the secret organization, the Molly Maguires. McParlan's evidence in court resulted in the execution of twenty of its members.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency was a great success. On the facade of his three-story Chicago headquarters was the company slogan, "We Never Sleep". Above this was a huge, black and white eye. The Pinkerton logo was the origin of the term private eye.

Pinkerton became head of the American secret service during the Civil War and between 1867 and 1875 led the pursuit for Frank and Jessie James. In 1875 used an agent, James McParland, to infiltrate the secret organization, the Molly Maguires. McParland's evidence in court resulted in the execution of twenty of its members.

After Allan Pinkerton died in 1884, the Pinkerton Detective Agency was run by his two sons, Robert Pinkerton and William Pinkerton.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency often supplied men to break strikes. In 1892 the Amalgamated Iron and Steel Workers Union called out its members at the Homestead plant owned by Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick. The men were brought in on armed barges down the Monongahela River. The strikers were waiting for them and a day long battle took place. Seven Pinkerton agents and nine workers were killed and created a great deal of bad publicity for the agency.

Allan Pinkerton's Grave.

ABOUT ARCHIE SAMUEL.

The half brother of Jesse James, Archie Samuel died in the Pinkerton raid on the James home in 1875. Pictured below is his grave.

I would like to say some very special thank you's to the following people who gave me so much help in creating this Jesse James page, so thank you to:-

Margaret and James in London, Carol in the States and last but not least Timothy Dalton's Management in London and LA also. This page is dedicated to you all.