Much of the film was shot at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California. Cooper had previously worked at the movie ranch 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; this Western set was subsequently used in many other productions over the next 20 years and became a fixture in B-Westerns in particular.
The film spoofs many Western film cliches as well as the Western persona that Cooper played in previous films, such as the lead character being unable to shoot straight and partial to singing "silly songs" while riding his horse.[1][2][3][4]
Plot
Easygoing Melody Jones and his friend George Fury wander into a town. Jones is mistaken for a wanted bandit named Monte Jarrad, which causes him no end of trouble. Meanwhile, the real Jarrad is hiding out in the home of his girl, Cherry de Longpre. 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 produced under the working title American Cowboy.[5] It was Cooper's first Western since The Westerner in 1940. It was also Cooper's first film as an independent producer under his International Pictures, Inc., with Cinema Artists Corp. co-producing,[5] and the only film in which he both acted and produced. Cooper also selected Young as his co-star.[3]
Much of the film was shot at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California, where Cooper built the town of Payneville for the script.[5] This Western set was used in many other productions over the next 20 years.[4] Other outdoor filming locations included Sasabe, Tucson, and Nogales, Arizona.[5] A number of exterior scenes were filmed in indoor sound stages backed by giant cycloramas. Scenes of the actors riding horses and exchanging dialogue were filmed with rear-projection screens.[4]
Critical reception
Martin and Porter's DVD guide describes Along Came Jones as a "[h]ighly watchable comic western," giving it a rating of 4 out of 5 ("Very Good").[6]Variety called the film "a better-than-average western" and commended Cooper's and Young's performances.[7]Bosley Crowther writes in his review for The New York Times: "Mr. Cooper is the guy who can play it. His Melody is a most congenial gent—butter-fingered and mentally clumsy, but disarmingly winning withal".[2] A Trailers from Hell review wrote that the film "is concocted to please the Cooper fans, a mix of comedy, sentiment, romance and a little fancy gunplay". This review calls the film's first act "almost as funny as a Preston Sturges movie", and the first two acts "nearly flawless".[4]
Radio adaptation
Along Came Jones was presented on This Is Hollywood December 28, 1946. Janet Blair and Joel McCrea starred in the adaptation.[8]
