Destry Rides Again
Encyclopedia
Destry Rides Again (1939) is a western
starring Marlene Dietrich
and James Stewart
. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer
, Charles Winninger
, Brian Donlevy
, Allen Jenkins
, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert
, Bill Cody, Jr.
, and Una Merkel
. The original Max Brand
novel was translated into an "oater" with the town of Bottleneck set on a Hollywood sound stage. The movie was directed by George Marshall
and is a remake
of a 1932 version
starring Tom Mix
.
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".
), the unscrupulous boss of the fictional Western town of Bottleneck, has the town's Sheriff, Keogh, killed when the Sheriff 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'll be easy to control and manipulate. But what the mayor doesn't know is that Dimsdale was a deputy under the famous lawman, Tom Destry and is able to call upon the equally formidable 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 wins over 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.
" and "You've Got That Look", written by Frank Loesser
, set to music by Frederick Hollander, which have become classics.
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.
According to writer/director Peter Bogdanovich
, Marlene Dietrich told him during a airplane ride that she and James Stewart had an affair during shooting and that she became pregnant and had the baby surreptitiously aborted without telling Stewart.
, 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."
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
starring Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
and James Stewart
James Stewart
James Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...
. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer
Mischa Auer
Mischa Auer was a Russian-born American actor.-Early life:Auer was born Mikhail Semyonovich Unskovsky in St. Petersburg, Russia...
, Charles Winninger
Charles Winninger
Charles Winninger was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals, but equally at home in drama.-Biography:He began as a vaudeville actor...
, Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
, Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins
Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...
, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert
Billy Gilbert
Billy Gilbert was an American comedian and actor known for his comic sneeze routines. He appeared in over 200 feature films, short subjects and television shows starting in 1929. He is not to be confused with silent film actor Billy Gilbert Billy Gilbert (September 12, 1894 – September 23,...
, Bill Cody, Jr.
Bill Cody, Jr.
Bill Cody, Jr. was an American motion picture child actor.Born William Joseph Cody, Jr. in Los Angeles, California, where his father Bill Cody was a cowboy star of B-movie westerns, the youngster was reportedly 7 years old when he accompanied his father on a personal appearance tour throughout the...
, and Una Merkel
Una Merkel
Una Merkel was an American Tony Award-winning stage and film actress.-Life and career:Una Merkel was born in Covington, Kentucky, and grew up in Philadelphia and New York City. She bore a resemblance to actress Lillian Gish and began her career as a stand-in for Gish, most notably in the 1928...
. The original Max Brand
Max Brand
Frederick Faust, aka Max Brand|thumb|rightFrederick Schiller Faust was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns. Faust wrote mostly under pen names, but today is primarily known by only one, Max Brand...
novel was translated into an "oater" with the town of Bottleneck set on a Hollywood sound stage. The movie was directed by George Marshall
George Marshall (director)
George E. Marshall was an American actor, screenwriter, producer, film and television director, active through the first six decades of movie history....
and is a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of a 1932 version
Destry Rides Again (1932 film)
Destry Rides Again is a 1932 Western movie starring Tom Mix about a man wrongly framed who returns to wreak havoc following his release from prison. The picture was directed by Benjamin Stoloff and based upon a novel by Max Brand...
starring Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
.
In 1996, Destry Rides Again was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
Saloon owner Kent (Brian DonlevyBrian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
), the unscrupulous boss of the fictional Western town of Bottleneck, has the town's Sheriff, Keogh, killed when the Sheriff asks one too many questions about a rigged poker game. Kent and "Frenchy" (Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
), 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
Samuel S. Hinds
Samuel Southey Hinds was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for playing Peter Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life and for his part in You Can't Take It With You , both films by Frank Capra...
), who is in collusion with Kent, appoints the town drunk, Washington Dimsdale (Charles Winninger
Charles Winninger
Charles Winninger was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals, but equally at home in drama.-Biography:He began as a vaudeville actor...
), as the new sheriff, assuming that he'll be easy to control and manipulate. But what the mayor doesn't know is that Dimsdale was a deputy under the famous lawman, Tom Destry and is able to call upon the equally formidable 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 wins over 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
Crossfire
A crossfire is a military term for the siting of weapons so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I....
, and the rule of law wins the day.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Marlene Dietrich Marlene Dietrich Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films... |
Frenchy, the saloon singer |
| James Stewart James Stewart James Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart... |
Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Destry, Jr., the new deputy |
| Mischa Auer Mischa Auer Mischa Auer was a Russian-born American actor.-Early life:Auer was born Mikhail Semyonovich Unskovsky in St. Petersburg, Russia... |
Boris Callahan, the henpecked Russian |
| "Charlie" Winninger Charles Winninger Charles Winninger was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals, but equally at home in drama.-Biography:He began as a vaudeville actor... |
"Wash" (Washington Dimsdale), the new sheriff |
| Brian Donlevy Brian Donlevy Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty... |
Kent, the saloon owner |
| Allen Jenkins Allen Jenkins Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:... |
"Gyp" Watson |
| Warren Hymer Warren Hymer Warren Hymer was an American film actor. He appeared in 129 films between 1929 and 1946.He was born in New York, New York, and died in Los Angeles, California... |
"Bugs" Watson |
| Irene Hervey | Janice Tyndall |
| Una Merkel Una Merkel Una Merkel was an American Tony Award-winning stage and film actress.-Life and career:Una Merkel was born in Covington, Kentucky, and grew up in Philadelphia and New York City. She bore a resemblance to actress Lillian Gish and began her career as a stand-in for Gish, most notably in the 1928... |
Lily Belle - "Mrs. Callahan" |
| Billy Gilbert Billy Gilbert Billy Gilbert was an American comedian and actor known for his comic sneeze routines. He appeared in over 200 feature films, short subjects and television shows starting in 1929. He is not to be confused with silent film actor Billy Gilbert Billy Gilbert (September 12, 1894 – September 23,... |
"Loupgerou" |
| Samuel S. Hinds Samuel S. Hinds Samuel Southey Hinds was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for playing Peter Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life and for his part in You Can't Take It With You , both films by Frank Capra... |
Judge Slade, the mayor |
| Jack Carson Jack Carson John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s... |
Jack Tyndall |
Songs
Marlene Dietrich as Frenchy performs the songs "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will HaveSee What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have
"See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have" is a song written by Frank Loesser, set to music by Frederick Hollander and performed by Marlene Dietrich in the film, Destry Rides Again ....
" and "You've Got That Look", written by Frank Loesser
Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
, set to music by Frederick Hollander, which have become classics.
Production
Famed Western writer Max BrandMax Brand
Frederick Faust, aka Max Brand|thumb|rightFrederick Schiller Faust was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns. Faust wrote mostly under pen names, but today is primarily known by only one, Max Brand...
contributed the novel, Destry Rides Again
Destry Rides Again (novel)
Destry Rides Again is the title of a 1930 novel by Max Brand. One of Brand's most famous works, it remained in print 70 years after its first publication...
, 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
Destry Rides Again (1932 film)
Destry Rides Again is a 1932 Western movie starring Tom Mix about a man wrongly framed who returns to wreak havoc following his release from prison. The picture was directed by Benjamin Stoloff and based upon a novel by Max Brand...
, with Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
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
Broken Arrow (1950 film)
Broken Arrow is a western Technicolor film released in 1950. It was directed by Delmer Daves and starred James Stewart and Jeff Chandler. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won a Golden Globe award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. It made history as the first...
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.
According to writer/director Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
, Marlene Dietrich told him during a airplane ride that she and James Stewart had an affair during shooting and that she became pregnant and had the baby surreptitiously aborted without telling Stewart.
Reception
Destry Rides Again was generally well accepted by the public, as well as critics. It was reviewed by Frank S. Nugent in the The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 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."
Other versions
- Universal PicturesUniversal Pictures-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
released an earlier version, also titled Destry Rides AgainDestry Rides Again (1932 film)Destry Rides Again is a 1932 Western movie starring Tom Mix about a man wrongly framed who returns to wreak havoc following his release from prison. The picture was directed by Benjamin Stoloff and based upon a novel by Max Brand...
(1932), directed by Benjamin StoloffBenjamin StoloffBenjamin "Ben" Stoloff was an American film director and producer. He began his career as a short film comedy director and gradually moved into feature film directing and production later in his career. Stoloff was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
and starring Tom MixTom MixThomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
and Zasu PittsZaSu PittsZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.-Early life:ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children...
. - An almost shot-for-shot remake of the 1939 production, DestryDestry (film)Destry is a 1954 western starring Mari Blanchard, Audie Murphy, and Thomas Mitchell. The third and final film version of Max Brand's Destry Rides Again, this 1954 version is closer to the 1939 Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart film version than it is to the Brand original. Indeed Halliwells film...
(1954), was also directed by George MarshallGeorge Marshall (director)George E. Marshall was an American actor, screenwriter, producer, film and television director, active through the first six decades of movie history....
and stars Audie MurphyAudie MurphyAudie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...
and Thomas MitchellThomas Mitchell (actor)Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
. - A BroadwayBroadway theatreBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical version of the story, Destry Rides AgainDestry Rides Again (musical)Destry Rides Again is a 1959 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Harold Rome and a book by Leonard Gershe. The play is based on the 1939 classic film of the same name.- Production history :...
, opened in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at the Imperial Theater on April 23, 1959, and played 472 performances. Produced by David MerrickDavid MerrickDavid Merrick was a prolific Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer.-Life and career:Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick graduated from Washington University, then studied law at the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University School of Law...
, the show had a book by Leonard GersheLeonard GersheLeonard Gershe was an American playwright, screenwriter, and lyricist.Born in New York City, Gershe made his Broadway debut as a lyricist for the 1950 revue Alive and Kicking. He wrote the book for Harold Rome's musical stage adaptation of Destry Rides Again in 1959, and in 1969 a play, ...
, music and lyrics by Harold Rome, and starred Andy GriffithAndy GriffithAndy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
as Destry and Dolores Gray as Frenchy. - ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
aired a short-lived television series in 1964, DestryDestry (TV series)Destry is a Western television series starring John Gavin that aired on the ABC television network from February 14, 1964 until May 8, 1964...
, based on the first two films, starring John GavinJohn GavinJohn Gavin is an American film actor and a former United States Ambassador to Mexico. Gavin is half Mexican and fluent in Spanish....
as the son of the movie's title character.