A Masterpiece!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

"Destry Rides Again" is the oft filmed story of a non gun toting lawman who cleans up a frontier town. It was previously filmed in 1932 with Tom Mix and later in 1950 as "Frenchie" with Joel McCrea and in 1954 as "Destry" with Audie Murphy.This version which came out in the movies' best year 1939, stars Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. This film recharged her career and Stewart was just emerging as a major star.The town of Bottleneck is a lawless place under the control of gambler Kent (Brian Donlevy) who with his cronies and Frenchie the "saloon singer" (Dietrich) are cheating honest ranchers out of their properties by luring them into poker games.Rancher Lem Claggett (Tom Fadden) is the latest victim. When he loses his ranch, Sheriff Keogh (Joe King) is murdered trying to get the man's ranch back. Kent has Judge Slade (Samuel S. Hinds) appoint town drunk Washington Dimsdale (Charles Winniger) as the new sheriff. Dimsdale however, takes his job seriously and sends for Tom Destry Jr. (Stewart), the son of his former friend Tom Sr.Destry is at first a laughing stock until he demonstrates his prowess with six shooter. Frenchie it seems has a heart of gold and starts to take a liking to Tom. Young Janice Tyndall (Irene Hervey) also has her eye on Tom. Barfly Boris (Mischa Auer) loses his pants to Frenchie in a poker game which results in his wife Lilly Belle (Una Merkel) charging into the saloon and having a slam bang fight with Frenchie.Following a tragic event Tom becomes angered, straps on his father's guns and.....................................................To me, there was just too much light comedy in light of the seriousness of the story. The likes of Auer, Billy Gilbert As the bartender and Allen Jenkins and Warren Hymer as Donlevy's boys is just too much comedy relief. Even Winniger's character has comedic traits. Jack Carson, who would soon become known for his comedic roles, plays a rough and tough rancher who is at first mistaken for Destry.Dietrich's character was hilariously parodied by Madeliene Kahn in "Blazing Saddles" (1974)to the point that Dietrich's performance is overshadowed to modern viewers. It did however, get her back into the spotlight as she would follow this film up with two with John Wayne. James Stewart was just starting to be seen as a major star. He would appear in the classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" the same year and win an Academy Award the following year for "The Philadelphia Srory".Despite it's faults, this film is still looked upon as a true classic.

Kent, the unscrupulous boss of Bottleneck has Sheriff Keogh killed when he asks one too many questions about a rigged poker game that gives Kent a stranglehold over the local cattle rangers. The mayor, who is in cahoots with Kent appoints the town drunk, Washington Dimsdale, as the new sheriff assuming that he'll be easy to control.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. Stewart is strong here, and while good in any genre, he really seems at home in westerns.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. (This has nothing to do with the film itself, but what a juicy tidbit.) This is a great film in general, even if it has not aged as well as it maybe could have. I could not help but wonder while watching it if it was the inspirational for the "Andy Griffith Show" episode about the sheriff without a gun...

Destry Rides again is a cool western comedy about a town called Bottleneck having no place for law and order. Tom Destry, son of town's heroic ex-sheriff comes into Bottleneck to become new deputy. Destry's naivety and non-violence makes him joke of the town not aware of his intelligence. It is about how young Destry turns the whole town upside down. It has a wonderful cast featuring young James Stewart in a role which always plays consummately. Marlene Dietrich is also one of the chief attraction of the film, playing a bold and recklessly stunning bar singer. Movie delivers some great laughs and also maintains the seriousness of the story. Overall, it's a solid entertainer. Highly recommended for all Jimmy Stewart fans.

The age of the movie made me at first think that it would be boring. However, it went over all my expectations. The acting is solid, especially thanks to Stewart on that. The cast for the characters couldn't have been any better. Maybe part of the charm of the movie is in that the characters are a bit stereotypical. We have the charming, strong willed and pretty woman, the typical western hero and the evil guy and his dim henchmen. One would think you've seen all this kind of setting has to offer once you have seen one movie with the said setting, but here somehow everything clicks together perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle and you end up rooting for the hero and the heroine who makes the life of the hero difficult. The whole process is somehow magical, but at the same time oddly natural and familiar. Time has not eroded this film at all.The story is fun, while at times predictable, but the smoothness of the ride makes you really enjoy it. The sets are nice and well done and serve this kind of movie and its events well. The music was good. Some old movies and the low quality of music in them (I don't like the "grain" of old records) makes me annoyed, but here the musical score flowed smoothly and supported the visual events.