Along Came Jones | |
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Theatrical poster
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Directed by | Stuart Heisler |
Produced by |
Gary Cooper Walter Thompson (assoc. producer) |
Written by |
Nunnally Johnson Alan Le May (novel) |
Starring |
Gary Cooper Loretta Young Dan Duryea William Demarest |
Music by | Arthur Lange |
Cinematography | Milton R. Krasner |
Edited by | Thomas Neff |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Along Came Jones is a 1945 Western comedy film starring Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, William Demarest, and Dan Duryea, in which Cooper mercilessly spoofs his own slow-talking cowboy persona. The movie was adapted by Nunnally Johnson from the novel Useless Cowboy by Alan Le May, and directed by Stuart Heisler.
Much of the movie was shot at the widely filmed Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif. This was the only feature film produced by Cooper during his long movie career, and he had roots at Iverson, having worked there 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, which was then used in many other productions during the next 10-plus years and became a fixture in B-Westerns in particular.
Easygoing Melody Jones (Gary Cooper) and his friend George Fury (William Demarest) wander into a town. Jones is mistaken for a wanted bandit named Monte Jarrad (Dan Duryea), which causes him no end of trouble. Meanwhile, the real Jarrad is hiding out in the home of his girl, Cherry de Longpre (Loretta Young). At first, she tries to use the newcomer to distract the townsfolk, but as she gets to know Jones, her feelings start to change.
Along Came Jones was presented on This Is Hollywood December 28, 1946. Janet Blair and Joel McCrea starred in the adaptation.
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, the composer of the film's score.