On July 15, 1945, the Western-comedy Along Came Jones first rode into theaters. Thanks to the appeal of stars Gary Cooper and Loretta Young, audiences were quick to hitch their wagon to this genre-crossing charmer. Based on the novel Useless Cowboy by Alan Le May (who also wrote the books that The Searchers and The Unforgiven were based on), the film stars Cooper as Melody Jones, a mild-mannered cowpoke who arrives in a Western town and is mistaken for Monte Jarrad (Dan Duryea), an ornery outlaw with a price on his head. Jones quickly wins the respect of the townsfolk, and the attention of Cherry de Longpre (Young), the real crook’s gal who just wants to use the unsuspecting Jones to help Jarrad evade capture. But who is the comely cowgirl meant to ride off into the sunset with?
On January 23, Classicflix brings Along Came Jones to Blu-ray and DVD — giving you another chance to fall in love with the film’s silly sagebrush story.