Destry Rides Again
| Destry Rides Again | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | George Marshall |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Written by |
Max Brand (novel Destry Rides Again) Felix Jackson (screenplay and story) Henry Myers Gertrude Purcell |
| Starring |
Marlene Dietrich James Stewart Mischa Auer Brian Donlevy |
| Music by | Frank Skinner |
| Cinematography | Hal Mohr |
| Edited by | Milton Carruth |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
Release dates |
December 29, 1939 (U.S. release) 1945 (France) |
Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.6 million[1] |
Destry Rides Again is a 1939 western starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart, and directed by George Marshall. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert, Bill Cody, Jr., Lillian Yarbo, and Una Merkel. It bears no relation to Max Brand's popular novel; the characters and story are completely different and unrelated.
In 1996, Destry Rides Again was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
Saloon owner Kent (Brian Donlevy), the unscrupulous boss of the fictional Western town of Bottleneck, has the town's sheriff, Keogh, killed when Keogh asks one too many questions about a rigged poker game. Kent and "Frenchy" (Marlene Dietrich), his girlfriend and the dance hall queen, now have a stranglehold over the local cattle ranchers. The crooked town's mayor, Hiram J. Slade (Samuel S. Hinds), who is in collusion with Kent, appoints the town drunk, Washington Dimsdale (Charles Winninger), as the new sheriff, assuming that he will be easy to control and manipulate. But what the mayor does not know is that Dimsdale was a deputy under the famous lawman, Tom Destry, and is able to call upon the latter's equally formidable son, Tom Destry, Jr. (James Stewart), to help him make Bottleneck a lawful, respectable town.
Destry confounds the townsfolk by refusing to strap on a gun in spite of demonstrating that he is an expert marksman. He still carries out the "letter of the law", as deputy sheriff, and earns their respect. A final confrontation between Destry and Kent's gang is inevitable, but "Frenchy" is won over by Destry and changes sides. A final gunfight ensues where Frenchy is killed in the crossfire, and the rule of law wins the day.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits:[2]
- Marlene Dietrich as Frenchy, the saloon singer
- James Stewart as Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Destry, Jr., the new deputy
- Charles Winninger as Washington "Wash" Dimsdale, the new sheriff
- Brian Donlevy as Kent, the saloon owner
- Mischa Auer as Boris Callahan, the henpecked Russian
- Una Merkel as Lily Belle, "Mrs. Callahan"
- Allen Jenkins as "Gyp" Watson
- Warren Hymer as "Bugs" Watson
- Irene Hervey as Janice Tyndall
- Jack Carson as Jack Tyndall
- Samuel S. Hinds as Judge Slade, the mayor
- Billy Gilbert as Bartender "Loupgerou"
- Lillian Yarbo as Clara, Frenchy's maid
- Tom Fadden as Lem Claggett
- Virginia Brissac as Sophie Claggett
- Dickie Jones as Claggett's boy
- Ann E. Todd as Claggett's girl
- Joe King as Sheriff Keogh
Songs
Dietrich sings "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have" and "You've Got That Look", written by Frank Loesser, set to music by Frederick Hollander, which have become classics.
Production
Famed Western writer Max Brand contributed the novel, Destry Rides Again, but the film also owes its origins to Brand's serial "Twelve Peers", published in a pulp-magazine. In the original work, Harrison (or "Harry") Destry was not a pacifist. As filmed in 1932, with Tom Mix in the starring role, the central character differed in that Destry did wear six-guns in that version.
The film was James Stewart's first western (he would not return to the genre until 1950, with Broken Arrow and Winchester 73), and was also notable for a ferocious cat-fight between Marlene Dietrich and Una Merkel, which apparently caused a mild censorship problem at the time of release.[3]
According to writer/director Peter Bogdanovich, Marlene Dietrich told him during an aircraft flight that she and James Stewart had an affair during shooting and that she became pregnant and had the baby surreptitiously aborted without telling Stewart.[4]
Internationally, the film was released under the alternate titles Femme ou Démon in French and Arizona in Spanish.
Reception
Destry Rides Again was generally well accepted by the public, as well as critics. It was reviewed by Frank S. Nugent in The New York Times, who noted that the film did not follow the usual Hollywood type-casting. On Dietrich's role, he characterized, "It's difficult to reconcile Miss Dietrich's Frenchy, the cabaret girl of the Bloody Gulch Saloon, with the posed and posturing Dietrich we last saw in Mr. Lubitsch's 'Angel'." Stewart's contribution was similarly treated, "turning in an easy, likable, pleasantly humored performance."[5]
Other versions
- Universal Pictures released an earlier version, also titled Destry Rides Again (1932), directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starring Tom Mix and Zasu Pitts.[6]
- An almost shot-for-shot remake of the 1939 production, Destry (1954), was also directed by George Marshall and stars Audie Murphy and Thomas Mitchell.
- A Broadway musical version of the story, Destry Rides Again, opened in New York at the Imperial Theater on April 23, 1959, and played 472 performances. Produced by David Merrick, the show had a book by Leonard Gershe, music and lyrics by Harold Rome, and starred Andy Griffith as Destry and Dolores Gray as Frenchy.
- ABC aired a short-lived television series in 1964, Destry, based on the first two films, starring John Gavin as the son of the movie's title character.
References
Notes
- ↑ "Box office information for France in 1945." Box Office Story. Retrieved: April 11, 2015.
- ↑ "Destry Rides Again credits." IMDb. Retrieved: November 18, 2011.
- ↑ Quirk 2000, pp. 117–118.
- ↑ Riva 1994, pp. 456, 500.
- ↑ Nugent, Frank S. " 'Destry Rides Again' (1939)." The New York Times, originally published November 30, 1939. Retrieved: December 13, 2009.
- ↑ Overview:'Destry Rides Again' (1932)." IMDb. Retrieved: April 11, 2015.
Bibliography
- Beaver, Jim. "James Stewart." Films in Review, October 1980.
- Coe, Jonathan. James Stewart: Leading Man. London: Bloomsbury, 1994. ISBN 0-7475-1574-3.
- Eliot, Mark. Jimmy Stewart: A Biography. New York: Random House, 2006. ISBN 1-4000-5221-1.
- "The Jimmy Stewart Museum Home Page." jimmy.org. Retrieved: February 18, 2007.
- Jones, Ken D., Arthur F. McClure and Alfred E. Twomey. The Films of James Stewart. New York: Castle Books, 1970.
- Pickard, Roy. Jimmy Stewart: A Life in Film. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. ISBN 0-312-08828-0.
- Prendergast, Tom and Sara, eds. "Stewart, James". International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, 4th edition. London: St. James Press, 2000. ISBN 1-55862-450-3.
- Prendergast, Tom and Sara, eds. "Stewart, James". St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, 5th edition. London: St. James Press, 2000. ISBN 1-55862-529-1.
- Quirk, Lawrence J. James Stewart: Behind the Scenes of a Wonderful Life. Montclair, New Jersey: Applause Books, 2000. ISBN 978-1-55783-416-4.
- Riva, Maria. Marlene Dietrich. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. ISBN 978-0-345-38645-8.
- Robbins, Jhan. Everybody's Man: A Biography of Jimmy Stewart. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1985. ISBN 0-399-12973-1.
- Thomas, Tony. A Wonderful Life: The Films and Career of James Stewart. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1988. ISBN 0-8065-1081-1.
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Destry Rides Again |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Destry Rides Again (1939 film). |
- Destry Rides Again at the Internet Movie Database
- Destry Rides Again at the TCM Movie Database
- Destry Rides Again at AllMovie
- Destry Rides Again at Rotten Tomatoes
- Destry Rides Again on Lux Radio Theater: November 5, 1945