A good Western, with a strong cast, featuring Marlene Dietrich at her best

Who needs guns when you have that much charm? Stewart sweeps the town off its feet. Fun characters along the way.

Calm, pleasant, even-handed Destry (James Stewart) rolls into a rowdy western town to help its new sheriff clamp down on disorder. The resident lawman once worked with Destry Senior, a famous gunslinger, and expects a similar no-nonsense, no-prisoners demeanor from the son. Instead, he gets a pacifist who’d rather smooth feathers than ruffle them. Stewart is magnetic in that role, the rare genuine guy in a roomful of lowdown dirty scoundrels, and his dedication to straight talk proves the breath of fresh air this town (and the film) really needed. Though he’s ridiculed for stepping off the stagecoach unarmed, a casual demonstration in his first week proves that’s a choice made of principal, not inexperience, and earns him a measure of growing respect from most observers. Not so for Kent, the saloon owner who always gets his way, or Frenchy, his singin’, drinkin’, brawlin’ live-in burlesque girl. In addition to a well-suited starring vehicle for Stewart, _Destry Rides Again_ serves as a comeback opportunity for Marlene Dietrich. Following a string of flops and a salty industry designation as “box office poison,” Dietrich accepted the role of Frenchy to prove she could play against type as a nasty, fresh, short-tempered sort. Plenty of opportunity for that, between the bawdy musical performances, flirty acts of manipulation and dirty extended cat fight with a justifiably furious housewife. I made it about thirty seconds into her opening tune before realizing who she reminded me of: Frenchy was parodied/paid homage, thirty years later, in Mel Brooks’s _Blazing Saddles_. I spent the rest of the film waiting her to belt out a version of “I’m Tired.” I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this. It’s offbeat but earnest, grinningly upending the well-trod stereotypes that had already settled in on the western genre (before John Wayne and company would bring ‘em all back again) while still managing a few good meanings and messages along the way. Stewart is always in command of a situation, even when he’s at a social disadvantage, and always ready with the right quip to turn the tide. Dietrich is suitably loud, a whole lot to handle until she’s caught flat-footed by Destry’s sincere character and kinda-sorta sees the light. And, in the end, everybody gets what they’ve got coming. Ninety-odd minutes well spent.

terrible. 0/10, completely unwatchable.

I'm really liking the early Jimmy Stewart roles I've seen lately, and I appreciated his taciturn approach to Destry in this one. Coming into a very wild town preaching non-violence and using wits above brawn was fun to see. Unfortunately, the rest of the film's cast (and the story itself) just never really came together for me. Odd for a town to have a sheriff when everybody seems aligned that a sheriff is not wanted.