As movies evolved into the sound era, a problem began to slowly emerge. While the length of most mainstream films settled in to be around 100 minutes, it became apparent that more dense or complex stories did not work effectively when constrained to that time limit. Filmmakers were faced with having to decide either to make some films longer----Gone With The Wind is a good example. Or another possibility was to make the movie into multiple parts, and release it as a series in free standing sections. An example of that idea is Marcel Pagnol's famous Marseilles/Fanny Trilogy of the 1930s from France, ultimately released as three separate full length films.
This situation has persisted for many years up to the present. We now have very long films (e.g. 1900, with a length of 311 minutes per Leonard Maltin) and very long trilogies that tell one story in multiple fragments (e.g. Lord of the Rings, that clocks in at three segments of 178 minutes, 200 minutes and 179 minutes respectively).
What is a sequel? Webster's New World Dictionary's first definition of the term is "something that follows; anything subsequent or succeeding; continuation." Are parts of the same story that appear in movies released in chronological order sequels? Is Godfather II a sequel to Godfather I, when at one time both were edited into a single film called The Godfather Saga?
This takes us to The Return Of Frank James (TROFJ). It would seem that this film is similar to Godfather II in that many of the characters are common to the earlier movie and the narrative of the later film seems to be an extension of the previous one.
As for TROFJ on its own merits, the film is entertaining, enjoyable and an absorbing work of fiction masquerading as fact---much like the prior Jesse James. It was an important early success for Henry Fonda and introduced the lovely overbite of young Gene Tierney to a welcoming audience. While it did little to enhance Fritz Lang's artistic career, TROFJ showed his versatility by embracing the American Western film genre in a wholly satisfactory manner. For its many virtues, TROFJ deserves a level of respect and admiration consistent with the abundant talent of those who made it.
This situation has persisted for many years up to the present. We now have very long films (e.g. 1900, with a length of 311 minutes per Leonard Maltin) and very long trilogies that tell one story in multiple fragments (e.g. Lord of the Rings, that clocks in at three segments of 178 minutes, 200 minutes and 179 minutes respectively).
What is a sequel? Webster's New World Dictionary's first definition of the term is "something that follows; anything subsequent or succeeding; continuation." Are parts of the same story that appear in movies released in chronological order sequels? Is Godfather II a sequel to Godfather I, when at one time both were edited into a single film called The Godfather Saga?
This takes us to The Return Of Frank James (TROFJ). It would seem that this film is similar to Godfather II in that many of the characters are common to the earlier movie and the narrative of the later film seems to be an extension of the previous one.
As for TROFJ on its own merits, the film is entertaining, enjoyable and an absorbing work of fiction masquerading as fact---much like the prior Jesse James. It was an important early success for Henry Fonda and introduced the lovely overbite of young Gene Tierney to a welcoming audience. While it did little to enhance Fritz Lang's artistic career, TROFJ showed his versatility by embracing the American Western film genre in a wholly satisfactory manner. For its many virtues, TROFJ deserves a level of respect and admiration consistent with the abundant talent of those who made it.