I don't feel like being critical of this film.
If you ever want to research the history of black actors in Hollywood, Ernest Whitman is as good a place to start as any. Check out imdb's list of characters he played over a twenty year career: Mr. Brown, Alexander "8-ball" Hamilton, Dogface, Whiteface, Moose Jones, Feets Johnson, Pleasant "Uncle Plez" Woodford, and of course Pinky Washington.
The name "Pinky" would be immortalized by Kazan later that decade, perhaps in reference to Whitman's character in "Jesse James" and "The Return of Frank James." Watching this role will make your stomach turn in every conceivable way.
But I don't feel like being critical. The Return of Frank James is the debut film of Gene Tierney, a woman whom I have lost the ability to be objective about. Her beauty mesmerizes me. I would pour a perfect circle of asphalt around the equator for one day with Gene Tierney, and I refuse to say anything bad about any film she appears in.
Needless to say, her performance is glorious. Along with Henry Hull (who reprises his role of Major Rufus Cobb) she steals every scene she is in.
This film must have been the Indiana Jones of its day--big-budget sequel, full of stunts (including a graphic depiction of a man bouncing down a rocky cliff, a la Temple of Doom). Fritz Lang adds plenty of camera movement into the equation, but the real star of the show is the stunningly colourful cinematography of George Barnes.
George Barnes filmed Hitchcock's "Rebecca" the very same year. I cannot think of any DOP besides Mr. Toland himself that can boast two such classics of photography back to back. And such varying styles! "Rebecca" is arguably the finest example of 'soft' lighting ever put to celluloid, and "Frank James" rivals "Gone With the Wind" in its use of technicolour.
I suppose I should mention that Henry Fonda is the star of this film. He looks kinda cool with a mustache, but he has the gall to let Gene walk away at the end. May he rot in hell.
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