THE LONG RIDERS, lean and loaded for bear, galloped into town in 1980, ace action director Walter Hill and a made-to-order cast injecting fresh blood into the quintessential Americana outlaw fable of the James-Younger gang. A decade past the Closing of the West Quartet (The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, True Grit, Once Upon A Time In The West) the venerable genre was gasping for breath, sidelined by caustic city cops and warp-sped cosmic cowboys. Leave it to ‘The Show-Me State’ of Missouri and a passel of its orneriest homeboys to kick our dozing memories in the caboose. *

“Don’t worry, ladies and gentlemen, just takin’ a permanent loan from the Rock Island payroll.”

The Civil War never ended for a lot of people (and clearly still hasn’t); among them were flint-hard sets of brothers and cousins who took their martial skills and shoulder-chip attitudes into civilian life. From 1866 to 1882 assorted combos of the James-Younger gang robbed banks, stagecoaches and trains across an 11-state swath of the Midwest and South, earning equal measures of admiration and enmity.

Everything clicks in this telling, starting with the brothers-in-arms cast. Stacy & James Keach play Frank & Jesse James; David, Keith & Robert Carradine embody Cole, Jim & Bob Younger; Dennis & Randy Quaid fit for Ed & Clell Miller; Bob & Charley Ford are covered by Nicholas & Christopher Guest. They’re all so good that the casting of siblings doesn’t come off as a distracting novelty, their kinships and skill-sets flavorfully etching the historical bad boys dangerous yet sympathetic blend of pride, honor and lethality.

Honest and unaffected acting marks the rest of the performers as well. The loyal ladies back home are put across with naturalness by Savannah Smith Boucher (Jesse’s wife Zee), Amy Stryker (Jim’s girl ‘Beth Mims’), Shelby Leverington (Frank’s wife Annie) and Fran Ryan (defiant matriarch Mrs. Samuel). James Whitmore Jr. engagingly pleads the case of the law as wry Pinkerton detective ‘Rixley’ and director Hill alumnus James Remar (48 Hours, The Warriors) kicks a vivid cameo as extra-volatile Sam Starr. Best among the backup-brigade is newcomer Pamela Reed in her feature debut, sexy and sardonic as wild woman Belle Starr: Reed scored another gal-with-gumption role that year, the tad gentler Bonnie Dummar in the delightful modern day Americana saga of Melvin And Howard.

COLE: “What does the winner get?”  BELLE: “Nothin’ both of you ain’t already had.”  COLE: “Don’t hardly seem worth it.”  BELLE: “It ain’t. You’re both crazy, but you do keep me amused. I am having a real good time.”

The tough, serious-minded yet humor-laced screenplay was co-created by Bill Bryden, Steven Smith and the Keaches, who also co-produced the $9,000,000 venture. Walter Hill was on a fearsome directorial roll, preceding this with Hard Times and The Warriors, following with Southern Comfort and 48 Hours. His assured handling is buttressed by Ric Waite’s place & period-redolent cinematography and a superb music score from Ry Cooder, his first composing job for a feature. The editing, sound crew and special effects team make the startlingly violent action scenes powerfully impactful.

Shot in Georgia,Texas and California, 100 minutes to savor, with Felice Orlandi, Harry Carey Jr., Edward Bunker, Chris Mulkey, Peter Jason and John Bottoms. Box office loot of $15,795,000 claimed spot #57 in ’80.

* 1980 offered a mere handful of grits for western fans to gnaw on. The Wyoming-sized buffalo-flop of Heaven’s Gate was almost enough to un-manifest destiny, but along with the gory glory of The Long Riders die-hards could seek stoic frontier solace in Windwalker, Tom Horn and The Mountain Men.  

The James Gang rocks the roll: from the posse that parley those Missouri ruffians The Long Riders has estimable company in oldie classics Jesse James and The Return Of Frank James  and in the latter day, criminally undervalued portrait The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.