Alias Jesse James 1959

Milford Farnsworth, Bob Hope, is a bumbling insurance agent who unknowingly sells a life insurance policy to the outlaw Jesse James Wendell Corey. He’s dispatched out West to “protect” James and safeguard the insurer’s investment, a mission that quickly spirals into something far more tangled than a simple policy dispute.

James has his own plan: to have Farnsworth killed while the insurance man is dressed as the outlaw so that James and his soon-to-be “widow” Cora Lee Collins Rhonda Fleming can collect on the $100,000 policy. The scheme sets off a chain of near-misses and comic danger as Farnsworth stumbles through one risky encounter after another, always narrowly escaping harm while he clumsily clings to life and, unexpectedly, to his own sense of right.

As danger mounts, Farnsworth and Collins grow closer, their uneasy partnership blooming into genuine affection. The insurance man’s accidental bravery gradually shifts the balance of power, and the pair begin to see a future beyond fear and fraud, even as they remain wary of the ever-present threat posed by James and his gang.

After the final assassination attempt, Farnsworth improvises by impersonating the Justice of the Peace, the very man who is supposed to marry James and Collins. This ruse thrusts them into a chaotic escape, culminating in a tense gun battle with the James Gang. In a series of skillful, largely improvised moments, cameos from Western heroes appear to lend discreet, if undercover, assistance to Farnsworth as he fights to outwit the criminals and save the situation.

In the end, Farnsworth is hailed as a hero, marries Collins, and rises to become president of the insurance company. He boasts to a prospective client that his policy provides protection for every contingency. His secretary announces Mrs. Farnsworth, and the scene settles on Collins’s six red-headed children, the youngest twins, completing the domestic closure. Then comes the playful punchline: > Well, you can’t get insurance against everything. His wife whispers in his ear, and as “The end” appears on screen, Farnsworth shrugs and rolls his eyes at the audience, a wink to the movie’s own cheeky, self-aware humor.