Destry Rides Again (1939)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Felix Jackson (screenplay) &
Gertrude Purcell (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 December 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

THE GREATEST CAST EVER CORRALLED for a frontier drama like you've NEVER seen in all your born days!

Plot:

Kent, the unscrupulous boss of Bottleneck has Sheriff Keogh killed when he asks one too many questions...

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Poker | Singer | Arrest | Eviction

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Marlene Dietrich	...	Frenchy
James Stewart	...	Tom Destry Jr.
Mischa Auer	...	Boris
Charles Winninger	...	Washington Dimsdale
Brian Donlevy	...	Kent
Allen Jenkins	...	Gyp Watson
Warren Hymer	...	Bugs Watson
Irene Hervey	...	Janice Tyndall
Una Merkel	...	Lily Belle
Billy Gilbert	...	Loupgerou
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Judge Slade
Jack Carson	...	Jack Tyndall
Tom Fadden	...	Lem Claggett
Virginia Brissac	...	Sophie Claggett
Edmund MacDonald	...	Rockwell (as Edmund Macdonald)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #5972) | UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1996

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Destry first demonstrates his ability with a firearm by shooting at the knobs on the sign, he shoots a total of seven times. Although he is holding two Colt "Six-shooters", one in each hand, he fires only the pistol he holds in his right hand. Thus, he fired one round more than the gun could hold.

Quotes:

Tom Destry Jr.: I'll bet you've got kind of a lovely face under all that paint, huh? Why don't you wipe it off someday and have a good look - and figure out how you can live up to it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#32.5)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

You've Got That Look

Clean and scrappy...

It is true that there are parody elements in George Marshall's delightful "Destry Rides Again" but the real humor lies not so much in these sorts of antics, nor the heavily laid on inquiries of Marlene Dietrich as to the tastes of the backroom boys, but rather in James Stewart's no-gun Destry characterization…

This springs from the same source as Ford's 'characters', recognizable frontier independent-minded eccentrics, with a firm footing in American literature; characters often with a roundabout way of making a point, or pointing a moral, as with Destry's habit of prefacing each little cautionary parable with: 'I knew a fellow once who…' A habit that inevitably drew the aggrieved riposte: 'You know too many fellows, Destry…'

The other 'characters' in this film have more than a color or two of parody—Mischa Auer's improbable Slavonic cowboy, Charles Winninger's town drunk, Brian Donlevy, unprincipled boss, and Samuel S. Hinds' nicely played judge…

In retrospect, it's odd how much this movie gains from its rather touching little postscript… Stewart, the unconventional lawman, having pacified his cowtown, strolls the streets with a hero-worshiping lad at his heels, and yet also takes a little cloud of sadness along with him…

Marshall's film is considered a classic Western which manages to encompass suspense, comedy, romance, tenderness, vivid characterization, horseplay, songs and standard western excitements, without moving for more than a moment from a studio main street set… Hollywood expertise at its very best...