Destry Rides Again
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Destry Rides Again | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| 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 |
| Music by | Frank Skinner |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 29, 1939 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 94 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Destry Rides Again is a 1939 western directed by George Marshall, starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert, Bill Cody, Jr. and Una Merkel.
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".
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Saloon owner Kent (Donlevy), the unscrupulous boss of the western town of Bottleneck has Sheriff Keogh killed when he asks one too many questions about a rigged poker game. Kent, his henchmen and "Frenchy" (Dietrich), the dance hall queen now have a stranglehold over the local cattle rangers. The mayor, who is in with Kent, appoints the town drunk, Washington Dimsdale (Winninger), as the new sheriff assuming that he'll be easy to control. But what the mayor doesn't know is that Dimsdale was a deputy under famous lawman, Tom Destry, and is able to call upon the equally formidable Tom Destry Jr (Stewart) to be his deputy and make Bottleneck a lawful, respectable area.
Destry confounds the townsfolk by refusing to strap on a gun, but he still carries out the "letter of the law" and wins over the doubters. A final confrontation between Destry and Kent's gang is inevitable and with "Frenchy" won over, a final gunfight ensues. The rule of law eventually wins out.
[edit] Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):[1]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Marlene Dietrich | Frenchy, the saloon singer |
| James Stewart | Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Destry, Jr., the new deputy |
| Mischa Auer | Boris Callahan, the henpecked Russian |
| "Charlie" Winninger | "Wash" (Washington Dimsdale), the new sheriff |
| Brian Donlevy | Kent, the saloon owner |
| Allen Jenkins | "Gyp" Watson |
| Warren Hymer | "Bugs" Watson |
| Irene Hervey | Janice Tyndall |
| Una Merkel | Lily Belle |
| Billy Gilbert | "Loupgerou" |
| Samuel S. Hinds | Judge Slade, the mayor |
| Jack Carson | Jack Tyndall |
A full cast and production crew list is too lengthy to include, see: IMDb profile. [1]
[edit] Production
Famed Western writer, Max Brand contributed the original novel, Destry Rides Again but the story soon became a typical "oater" with the town of Bottleneck set on a Hollywood sound stage.
[edit] Other versions
- Universal Pictures released an earlier version, also titled Destry Rides Again (1932), directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starring Tom Mix.[2]
- A western with a very similar plot and similar comic effects is Michael Curtiz's Dodge City.
- A remake, Destry (1954), was directed by George Marshall and starred 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 and music and lyrics by Harold Rome and starred Andy Griffith as Destry and Dolores Gray as Frenchy.
[edit] Trivia
Writer/director Peter Bogdanovich noted in his book Who the Hell's In It, that Dietrich told him in the 1960s that she'd become pregnant with Stewart's child around the period of Destry Rides Again and opted for an abortion without ever telling Stewart.[citation needed][dubious ]
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] 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. The Jimmy Stewart Museum Home Page, Access date: 18 February 2007.
- Jones, Ken D., McClure, Arthur F. and Twomey, Alfred E. 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.
- 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.
[edit] External links
- Destry Rides Again at the Internet Movie Database
- Destry Rides Again at Allmovie
- Destry Rides Again at Rotten Tomatoes
