popparedlegs This is a must watch for those who love westerns. Jimmy Stewart at his best. Standing tall for truth and justice and doesn't back down from a fight. Parts drama, parts comedy, parts action, a few good musical performances, well acted and surprising wit. Western lovers will not be disappointed.

mike48128 The chemistry between "Frenchy" (Marlene Dietrich) and "Destry" (Jimmy Stewart) is what binds this film together. While considered by most "critics" as a comic western, I disagree slightly due to the fact that several actors die of gunshot wounds. If you haven't seen it before, this might shock you, but being a cliché by today's standards, you can almost guess who will get shot next. This film was remade again, as "Destry" and a comic western "The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap" with Abbott and Costello, borrows the "women take over the town and stop the gun-fighting" idea from this 1939 classic. Marlene Dietrich, surprisingly, seems to have a thicker accent in the movie's first half. She sings two songs, one about Cowboy Joe, and her signature "See what the boys in the backroom will have". She doesn't carry a tune that well, but she knows how to belt it out, while dressed in provocative western "spangles". She and a rancher's wife (Una Merkle) have a "knock out and drag 'em out" catfight in the saloon with hair-pulling, kicking and screaming. She runs the saloon for the crooked "town boss", cheats a man out of his ranch, and loses her heart to Destry. He only straps on his guns at the very end when everything else fails and the sheriff is shot in the back. He otherwise tries to settle the town down with "rhyme and reason" whenever possible. Other funny scenes including a "Russian" who loses his pants at the poker table. A Director George Marshall classic.

jc-osms Yet another classic from Hollywood's most golden year, 1939, a highly entertaining light- hearted Western which sees James Stewart's Tom Destry Jr, son of a renowned but slain lawman, recruited by his pa's old deputy, the now alcoholic Wash (played in the style of Oliver Hardy) by Charles Winninger to clean up the god-forsaken town of Bottleneck way out west, coming up against the shifty mayor-come-judge, played by and the town's Mr Big, Joseph Kent played with his usual vigour by Brian Dunlevy. Kent's sometime girlfriend and willing accomplice in his nefarious plans, is bar-room entertainer tart-with-a-heart Frenchy (well they could hardly have called her German-y) by the irrepressible Marlene Dietrich, her eyes (and thighs!) flashing everywhere.It actually takes Stewart over twenty minutes to arrive on screen, as we're introduced to top-billed Deitrich's feisty nature and see her drinking what the boys in the back are having, sing raucous songs and help Dunlevy to cheat ordinary townsfolk out of their home and land so that he can create a new, highly profitable cattle run to exploit. Young Destry seems on the slow and simple side at first, allowing himself to be the butt of Dunlevy and his henchmen but as usual with Stewart, softly softly catchy monkey and wrongs are righted by the final curtain.Both stars are great, Deitrich's journey from hard-nosed to vulnerable essayed very skilfully while Stewart just drawls and moseys along in his time-honoured. They contrast and combine beautifully while Brian Dunlevy is also very good as the counterbalancing ruthless criminal kingpin who's due his just desserts.Director George Marshall directs with verve and although one or two of the supporting characters seem a little too eccentric, particularly Russian émigré "Don't call me Callahan", it's all great fun with many memorable scenes, including Deitrich's musical numbers, Stewart's first display of his gun-toting skill and of course the celebrated, no-holds barred cat-fight between Deitrich and Una Merkel.This is a great rollicking, roistering Western like they don't make 'em any more, more's the pity.

William Samuel I've always loved a good Hollywood western. True, the genre does lend itself to clichés, with many films reusing scenarios and plot points from other films. But there's a good reason for this; if something still works, you might as well keep using it. And Destry Rides again works. With its blend of humor and action, and a talented cast featuring Jimmy Stewart, Destry is one of the better westerns from Hollywood's golden age.When the sheriff of Bottleneck 'becomes unavailable' after sticking his nose into the local badman's business, the crooked mayor appoints Wash, the town drunk to fill his shoes. But Wash does them one better by sending for John Destry, son of the legendary Tombstone Sheriff. Only it turns out the younger Destry (Stewart) is hardly the spitting image of his pa. He's soft-spoken, shy, and doesn't like guns. In short, not the most promising material. But together it's up to them to stop a diabolical land scheme and bring law and order to Bottleneck.What makes Destry work, especially in its comic elements, is Jimmy Stewart's one-of-a-kind acting. In his hands, Tom Destry is almost two characters. In public he's the kind of nice guy who chokes up around the ladies, wonders why everybody can't just get along, and blithely responds to most situations with an amusing anecdote. But in close company, he's one of the sharpest detective's in the west. Come to think of it, he rather reminds me of the Scarlett Pimpernel, or perhaps Douglas Fairbanks in Mark of Zorro.Plus Destry Rides Again has everything a good western should: Gunfights, bumbling deputies, saloon scenes aplenty, and a couple of semi-obligatory musical numbers. In fact, just about any western cliché from the period can be found here. Destry is after all, a parody of its contemporaries. As such it works best when it's being completely screwball, as with the guy who lost his pants and can't find new ones, or the hilarious bar-room cat fight. And I was quite impressed by the ending, when the villain is defeated using a plot device never seen before or since in a western.The action scenes and investigative bits also work well, the attempts at establishing a love interest not so much. It can also get a bit sappy at times; although this is forgivable considering that it was made in '39. Overall, Destry Rides Again is a solid comedy western, suitable for the whole family.