Steve D
One of Stewart's weakest westerns.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/11/24
Full Review
Matthew D
Marlene Dietrich starring in a Western!
Director George Marshall's Western comedy Destry Rides Again (1939) is amazingly entertaining. James Stewart gunning down bad men and Marlene Dietrich singing saloon songs with her glamorous star power. Marshall's direction is mannered and skillful to command all the chaos and violence into slick action shootouts and comedy routines. Destry Rides Again has plenty of gun shooting alongside the wild comedy stylings of this cast. George Marshall was a fantastic director.
Writers Felix Jackson, Gertrude Purcell, and Henry Myers write an anti-gun lawful sheriff for James Stewart opposite a crooked gambling pair for Brian Donlevy and Marlene Dietrich's villains. I like how Stewart's sheriff has principles, but the gunplay is really exciting. Destry wants you to end up agreeing with following the law, but understands when some evil and corrupt men have to be stopped.
Editor Milton Carruth's slick cuts make each joke feel pithy and the gunplay look startling. Destry Rides Again is cut down to a tight 94 minutes and never loses that rapid fire pace. Cinematographer Hal Mohr zooms into close-ups for gripping character drama, then uses wide framing for the action packed shootouts. Art direction from Jack Otterson and Martin Obzina really uses lighting for dynamic shadows in this little Western town. Set decorator Russell A. Gausman makes a cute wooden Western settlement with a fancy saloon and small ranches.
German actress Marlene Dietrich is tough and lovely as crooked card shark and sultry saloon singer Frenchy. I like how Marlene whips bottles and plates at nearly every guy in Bottleneck. Marlene sings beautifully with a playful deep voice, she wrestles women, tosses bottles at men, and eludes capture with unethical card gambling techniques. It's so amusing to see Marlene in a Western, let alone get to be especially funny in a comedy. She has chemistry with everyone, endless charisma, and undeniable elegance. I like how much Marlene fights and scrapes through people in Destry Rides Again.
American actor James Stewart is stalwart and funny as moral sheriff Thomas Jefferson Destry Jr., who is the anti-gun and law abiding new deputy sheriff in Bottleneck. He acts tough, but lets a lot go by while he tells stories of ill-fated men. Stewart shows how being tough and persevering can lead to justice and change even in a lawless town.
Russian actor and comedian Mischa Auer the foolish Boris Callahan, hopelessly smitten with Marlene, understandably. I like that he demeans himself for pants. Southern actress Una Merkel is playful as the jealous wife Lily Belle Callahan. American actor Charles Winninger is funny as the town drunk and new sheriff Washington Dimsdale. Irish actor Brian Donlevy has interesting eyes as the sinister saloon owner Kent. American actress Irene Hervey is quite pretty and charming as the young lady Janice Tyndall.
Sneezy voice actor and comedian Billy Gilbert is boisterous as the bartender Loupgerou. Samuel S. Hinds is condescending as the grotesquely corrupt mayor Judge Slade. Jack Carson's frustrated Jack Tyndall is interesting for a side character. I felt bad for Tom Fadden's Lem Claggett, Virginia Brissac's Sophie Claggett, Dickie Jones' Claggett boy, and Ann E. Todd's Claggett girl. Lillian Yarbo is super funny as French's squeaky voiced maid.
Composer Frank Skinner's film score is very plucky and pleasant. His lively music is dynamic and works well with the Western genre. Marlene's songs are written with gusto and humor by songwriters Friedrich Hollaender and Frank Loesser. Sound designers Bernard B. Brown and Robert Pritchard create a chaotic soundscape for Destry Rides Again with yelps and glass shattering in the saloon. Costume designer Vera West creates several wondrous dresses for Marlene's bar girl Frenchy.
In conclusion, Destry Rides Again is a blast of gunsmoke and raucous laughter.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
06/02/23
Full Review
isla s
This is a black and white Western film, with the feel of a classic saloon depicted early on. I did think it had a charm to it. The sound quality is a bit unimpressive at times, with somewhat unclear dialogue but it is an old film, so this is perhaps to be expected?. There are some quirky characters and I liked the community feel to it - the characters seemed quite energised. The sheriff even has a banjo! It is certainly a bit cheesy but not really in a bad way. I thought the cast gave pretty good performances, primarily from James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.
I also enjoyed the musical performances. It's perhaps a little cheesy but it's also amusing at times and I enjoyed it, so I'd recommend it, yes.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Good ol Jimmy Stewart this time plays the pacifist deputy sheriff and brings peace to the town via some romance, drama and rubbish comedy in a wild romp of a Western. It's decent enough owing to the lighthearted brevity.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
georgan g
What I like about this film is how it all fit together. Stewart was, as usual, wonderful. Dietrich was amazing as a fighting dance hall girl who belted out her 2nd most known song (after "Falling in Love Again"): "The Boys in the Back Room."
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
William L
I don't get the critical love for Destry Rides Again, at least not entirely. The pacing and performances are pretty good, but the narrative, tone, and themes are a bit scattered. Many people cite the transition from lighthearted comedy to more conventional Western drama (a love interest, bad guy/good guy, mortal consequences, you've seen Westerns) as one of the chief strengths of the film, and it is admittedly very well designed in that manner, but it isn't necessarily justified. Jimmy Stewart rides into town, inoffensive, pacifist, and always with a story to tell, trying to solve problems through dialogue while keeping the letter of the law before he eventually straps on his gun belt to get it done the old-fashioned way. But there isn't much to determine the film's finale to be the tipping point - people had been cheated out of their land, there has been open corruption, and several innocent people killed well before Stewart's Destry arrives (hell, he only comes to town because the old sheriff was literally murdered), but he still adopts this pacifist attitude from the get-go. I'm sure the script was going for something along the lines of using words for as long as possible/"walk softly and carry a big stick", but without a clear breaking point, it doesn't land very well. None of Destry's pacifist techniques actually work without a shoot-em-up finale that completely goes against it all ideologically, so what's the point?
There are saving graces, though. The acting is pretty on-point and the comedy is well-timed (seeing this film as a pure comedy actually may have improved it for me), with memorable side characters and appropriately slimy antagonists; character establishment is excellent, if the development isn't necessarily consistent. Stewart himself has a distinctive awkward charm that lands somewhat differently as a younger actor than in his later roles. Decent enough, but far from the best that a year as prolific in film as 1939 has to offer.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/14/21
Full Review
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