I noticed that right away when the clouds in the background didn't move. I think movie goers in that era didn't notice that as much as we do now.
Maybe it's a view through rose-colored glasses but most of today's crop of movie stars don't hold a candle to Gary Cooper and Loretta Young and a dozen others I could name.
Agree completely. Oh, and one problem the film’s production might have had was that during WW2, with gas rationing, sometimes driving far away for a location shoot was prohibitively expensive. Films often tended to be a little backlot-bound during those years. After the war ended, the western films seem to ‘open up’ to more real, scenic backdrops (like the many Universal color westerns). If “Along Came Jones” was filmed two or three years later, it probably would have been benefited a lot.
Anyway, it’s an old favorite, nonetheless. I’ll watch a Gary Cooper or a Jimmy Stewart (or heck, even a Hoot Gibson) film before anything coming out nowadays. It’s not so much a question of acting ability as it is with appreciating the adult, no-nonsense comportment of the protagonists. Too much annoying self-consciousness, too much sarcasm, too much over-emoting blather for my tastes nowadays.