Destry Rides Again
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Movie Reviews of Destry Rides Again
Movie Review: Marlene?French?
Summary: 4 Stars
"Destry Rides Again" is a wonderfully offbeat western with comic overtones as opposed to a comic western a la "Blazing Saddles". Jimmy Stewart successfully transports his affable everyman from the Frank Capra films to the lawless town of Bottleneck. Instead of guns, Stewart's Tom Destry uses guile and aw-shucks charisma to tame the savages. Marlene Dietrich as Frenchy the showgirl is impeccable in her comic sultriness. The highlight of the film is probably her showstopper, "See What the Boys in the Backroom are Having". Brian Donlevy is slyly villainous as Kent, the town usurper. One of my favorite comic touches here is the Cossack with the moniker "Callahan". I thought the art direction here was particularly striking, most notably the interior of the saloon. At times the film does fall back into convention but on the whole it is a western that goes to the beat of it's own unique rhythms.Movie Review: Marlene at her best
Summary: 4 Stars
I always had a bit of a crush for the pre-war James Stewart and I was never partial to Marlene Dietrich. But in this movie I simply don't like the character James Stewart plays, or the way he plays it. I can not remember the girl he ends up with at all and I actually think Marlene Dietrich's character is too good for him - for once, she has a genuine sparkle in her eyes and some human warmth, some life in her, instead of that blasé, bedroom eyes look on her face.How I love to see her singing "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will have" and brawling and looking at people with her eyes open. To see her move at all is a good change from that impressive stillness she cultivated. I wish she had given us more of the persona she exhibits in this picture.
Movie Review: Wasted Classic
Summary: 3 Stars
First, let me say that I know very few actors who I like better than James Stewart. I loved him in It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Bend in the River. So, I looked forward with much anticipation to Destry Rides Again, a film, that I was sure would be one of his best because of its high user rating on Imdb and Amazon.com. That said, this is not one of his better films and was a major disappointment to me and my entire family.
The story is simple, something along the lines of Support Your Local Sheriff with James Garner. It's a proven formula that has worked many times in westerns. This time, however, the hero of the film doesn't believe in guns. He wants to clean up the town entirely without any kind of violence. People laugh at him, and he does nothing about it. Where is his sense of pride? Why doesn't he stand up for himself?
Despite showing promise early on, however, Destry does not really fulfill its obligations as a movie. There's some decent action scenes, some genuinely funny scenes, and Stewart gives his typically versatile performance as does Marlene Dietrich, but still the movie somehow falls flat.
The whole time the movie was progressing I felt like it was building up to something. I was waiting for James Stewart to do one of two things. Either realize that violence would be necessary to take on the bad guys, or beat the bad guys through his own ingenuity without guns or violence. He does neither. Actually, James Stewart's Destry in this film does very little. He never really outwits the bad guys, and in fact his refusal to wear guns, and his lack of intelligence cause much harm. Innocent characters die because of him, and the ending of the film where he is once more walking the streets of the city without a gun rings rather hollow.
The film's ending left me thinking, "What? That's it," and sadly that was it. The film is roughly ninety minutes, but by the time you factor in two songs from Marlene Dietrich (both rather unremarkable) and a twenty minute intro where nothing happens but a guy getting swindled at cards, you have an hour of film. That's my biggest problem with Destry. It felt like someone started making a really good movie, then ran out of money halfway through, and tacked on a silly ending. Maybe the ending was surprising and original back then, but now it feels so laughable and cliché that I have to smile. And that's all I could do with Destry Rides again: smile as I returned it to Netflix with the knowledge that at least I hadn't bought this mediocre film.
Movie Review: Destry Runs into Trouble on DVD
Summary: 3 Stars
"Destry Rides Again" is a five star, ten gallon hat of an adventure that casts gangly James Stewart as the unassuming Marshall of a lawless town. At first, Tom Destry's unassuming good nature pegs him as a push over amongst the criminal element in the neighborhood, as well as by the spurious ladies of the evening, fronted by the erotic intercontinental harlot, Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich). However, very soon Destry begins to reassert his power as the law of the land - a pivotal epiphany that leads to violence and death. There's also some great comedy to be had - particularly in a scene in which Destry decides to cool Frenchy off - literally, by soaking her with some ice water. Dietrich's rendition of "See What The Boys In The Backroom'll Have" proves why she was the toast of Berlin cabarets for many years before coming to Hollywood. The forgotten Mischa Auer co-stars as Boris - a simple-minded philanderer in a comedic subplot, who gets his comeuppance in the end. Jack Carson, Una Merkel and Charles Winninger also give credible performances. THE TRANSFER: The genuine disappointment is that Universal doesn't quite understand they have a winner in this film. The transfer is so terribly marred by fading, age related artifacts and a poorly balanced print that there is very little to recommend this film on DVD. Contrast levels appear under exposed during night scenes and slightly over exposed elsewhere. There's a glaring and distracting amount of film grain present throughout the transfer that really distracts from the visual style and performances. Fine detail is lost in most scenes. Rarely does the quality of this disc surpass mediocrity. The audio is mono and fairly presented, though the critical ear will note distortions present.
EXTRAS: As usual for Universal classics - NONE!
BOTTOM LINE: This film should be seen because it is a gem among westerns - just not in its current condition!
Movie Review: Picks Up Steam And Has A Wild Finish
Summary: 3 Stars
The first part was a little slow to me but once you get past it, this is an entertaining film which was popular with a lot of people, including this reviewer, who actually liked it better the second time around.
Marlene Dietrich plays a role typical for her, an edgy saloon singer named "Frenchy," and except for her singing, which I never thought was very good, she's great to watch. James Stewart ("Thomas Jefferson Destry Jr.") also plays his normal role as the peaceful hero as does the too loud-and-obnoxious Charles Winniger (Destry's uncle).
The ending is famous, a strange one in which the town's women storm the bad guys in a bar, culminating with Dietrich and Una Merkel fighting it out! It's very unrealistic but memorable and certainly fun to watch.
All-in-all, a pretty fast-moving film which offers a little bit of everything: action, romance, drama, comedy....and a lot of good, known supporting actors I didn't even mention. This is one of the classics of a very famous year in films. The shame of it is that the DVD transfer is very poor. I should have just kept my VHS copy of it.