1024 Destry Rides Again

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swo17
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1024 Destry Rides Again

#1 Post by swo17 » Wed Jan 15, 2020 5:46 pm

Destry Rides Again

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Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart ride high in this superb comedic western, both a boisterous spoof and a shining example of the genre it is having fun with. As the brawling, rough-and-tumble saloon singer Frenchy, Dietrich shed her exotic love-goddess image and launched a triumphant career comeback, while Stewart cemented his amiable everyman persona, in his first of many westerns, with a charming turn as a gun-abhorring deputy sheriff who uses his wits to bring law and order to the frontier town of Bottleneck. A sparkling script, a supporting cast of virtuoso character actors, and rollicking musical numbers—delivered with unmatched bravado by the magnetic Dietrich—come together to create an irresistible, oft-imitated marvel of studio-era craftsmanship.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration by Universal Pictures in collaboration with The Film Foundation, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interview with critic Imogen Sara Smith
• New interview with Donald Dewey, author of James Stewart: A Biography
• New video essay featuring excerpts from a 1973 oral-history interview with director George Marshall, conducted by the American Film Institute
Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1945, featuring actors James Stewart and Joan Blondell
• PLUS: An essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme

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domino harvey
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#2 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jan 15, 2020 5:49 pm

This is an okay Comedy Western, which is a rare enough thing, but not one with much revisit appeal to me. Worth seeing, enjoyable enough, and thank u next

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#3 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Jan 15, 2020 7:35 pm

I remember having a pretty strong distaste for this. I can’t recall many specifics but I believe the tone was fine and rather the content of the plotting, characters, dynamics, dialogue, etc were all just dead on arrival, repetitive misfires. It’s worth revisiting since going by my track record of initial impressions to rewatches I’ll probably like it.

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Rayon Vert
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#4 Post by Rayon Vert » Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:36 pm

Generally similar impressions as you two for me here. Really surprised they put this out.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#5 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:51 pm

Wasn't this Universal's biggest hit of 1939? I haven't seen it, but have been curious as it sounds like a proto-spaghetti western by turning the western into a farce. When reading specifically about Universal, they talk about this being a major film for the studio and part of James Stewart's transition into a major star. Not that money is a way to metric of quality as that same year we have Union Pacific, a major box office hit that falls apart quickly in its third act.

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HinkyDinkyTruesmith
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#6 Post by HinkyDinkyTruesmith » Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:29 pm

I actually just watched this not long ago for the first time. It's not particularly remarkable for any generic reasons, except in that it plays with all the traditional tropes in a fast and loose sort of way, simultaneously using them in a fresh way while also very faithfully: Dietrich plays a hooker with a (belated) heart of gold, Stewart an expert gunsman who avoids violence whenever possible, instead using his wit, and the town is pretty much a place of pseudo-lawlessness in that the law is bent crooked by the heavy, played by Brian Donlevy. I enjoyed it mostly for how lighthearted it kept things, with Stewart seeming like a sort of dunce to the other characters for much of the film, and willingly at that. It's ultimately rather earnest, however, which is what separates it from spaghetti westerns in any way; and the closest it gets to revisionism is its acknowledgment that law and order often can be used to evil ends, although it doesn't pursue that idea very much. A townsmember who loses his pants in a poker game and keeps trying to get a new pair, often by stealing; a catfight between Marlene Dietrich and another woman (and then with Stewart); and a scene between Dietrich and Stewart where he moralizes are the highlights of this film, but for my money it's an all around wonderful little picture. I'd much prefer Angel for a Dietrich film to be added to the Collection, but I certainly think it's stronger than the others in this thread.

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swo17
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#7 Post by swo17 » Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:33 pm

Fortunately Angel will be coming soon from Kino

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HinkyDinkyTruesmith
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#8 Post by HinkyDinkyTruesmith » Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:46 pm

swo17 wrote:
Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:33 pm
from Kino
What's fortunate about that! (I jest (mostly))

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R0lf
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#9 Post by R0lf » Thu Jan 16, 2020 5:44 am

HinkyDinkyTruesmith wrote:
Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:29 pm
I actually just watched this not long ago for the first time. It's not particularly remarkable for any generic reasons, except in that it plays with all the traditional tropes in a fast and loose sort of way, simultaneously using them in a fresh way while also very faithfully: Dietrich plays a hooker with a (belated) heart of gold, Stewart an expert gunsman who avoids violence whenever possible, instead using his wit, and the town is pretty much a place of pseudo-lawlessness in that the law is bent crooked by the heavy, played by Brian Donlevy. I enjoyed it mostly for how lighthearted it kept things, with Stewart seeming like a sort of dunce to the other characters for much of the film, and willingly at that. It's ultimately rather earnest, however, which is what separates it from spaghetti westerns in any way; and the closest it gets to revisionism is its acknowledgment that law and order often can be used to evil ends, although it doesn't pursue that idea very much. A townsmember who loses his pants in a poker game and keeps trying to get a new pair, often by stealing; a catfight between Marlene Dietrich and another woman (and then with Stewart); and a scene between Dietrich and Stewart where he moralizes are the highlights of this film, but for my money it's an all around wonderful little picture. I'd much prefer Angel for a Dietrich film to be added to the Collection, but I certainly think it's stronger than the others in this thread.
I'm not really sure how DESTRY can play with tropes or be revisionist in any way when in 1939 it stands as one of the very early examples of a Hollywood western.

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knives
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#10 Post by knives » Thu Jan 16, 2020 6:46 am

It's not that early. It's mostly standing in satire of singing cowboy movies ( thankfully without singing). Action movies had been set in the west since the beginning of film. Just ask William Hart.

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DeprongMori
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#11 Post by DeprongMori » Thu Jan 16, 2020 3:00 pm

knives wrote:
Thu Jan 16, 2020 6:46 am
It's not that early. It's mostly standing in satire of singing cowboy movies ( thankfully without singing). Action movies had been set in the west since the beginning of film. Just ask William Hart.
Hell, ask Edwin S. Porter.

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senseabove
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#12 Post by senseabove » Thu Jan 16, 2020 3:16 pm

Over on Facebook, David Hare wrote up a bit about Marshall and a summary of this movie's influence, making the case for it and Stagecoach being the beginning of the mid-century Western revival, after the genre had fallen to B-picture/filler status.

I saw it recently in a run of other Stewart movies and, while I remember finding it generally enjoyable and liking Dietrich's numbers in it, not much about it springs immediately to mind. Safe to say it'll be a sale buy one of these days, but it's not one I'm chomping at the bit to get... If we're talking other Dietrich, though, Rancho Notorious is the western Dietrich I am eager for.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#13 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jan 16, 2020 11:32 pm

senseabove wrote:
Thu Jan 16, 2020 3:16 pm
Rancho Notorious is the western Dietrich I am eager for.
You and me both, though I think we may be in the minority. I’ll have to revisit it for the 50s project but I remember being very impressed when I saw this some fiveish years ago and have since compartmentalized it as a great western with more eccentricities than I expected, but that could just be because of its ridiculous and kind of amazing title.

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Sloper
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#14 Post by Sloper » Fri Jan 17, 2020 6:17 am

I love this film, and like others have said it's the expert shifts from comedy to seriousness that make it really special.
SpoilerShow
The best illustration of this is the use of the 'Little Joe'. We're introduced (comedically) to both Frenchie and Wash through this song in the opening scene of the film, and in both cases it signals how 'lost' these characters are. Frenchie is complicit in the deaths of Kent's victims and suppresses her guilt by singing nonchalantly about it ('wherever he went I don't know') to an audience of uncaring drunkards, and Wash is drinking himself to death in an attempt to drown his sense of shame and failure. It all seems very funny at the start, and the way Destry is introduced to the town sustains the comic tone, as do other bits of business like Frenchie's belligerence and outright violence, the tucking/un-tucking of Wash's shirt, etc.. But by the end, these two characters' moral/existential crises have become a matter of life and death, and when they're killed it feels both shockingly sad and dramatically 'right'; not for a moment does this seem like a tonal mis-step or evidence of a confused, compromised production (as if the comedic and/or tragic elements were imposed by the studio). Destry tucks in Wash's shirt one last time; and Frenchie dies in his arms during a hilarious barroom brawl. So at the very end, when Destry hears the kids cheerfully singing 'Little Joe' as they pass by on the cart, and a look of deep sadness passes over his face as he remembers Frenchie and Wash - and then he gets on with proposing to the (rather bland) love interest - the overall effect is sad and funny and tragic and redemptive in exactly the right proportions.
Stagecoach is a better film in several ways, and it's sort of a textbook case of how to mix different tones successfully, but Destry Rides Again is both much sillier and much sadder - it's kind of amazing how it reaches for those extremes at both ends of the spectrum without ending up a complete mess.

And Dietrich is phenomenal. Is there a better showcase of her full range of talents than this film?

(And if nothing else, you need to have seen this to understand why Madeline Kahn's performance in Blazing Saddles is so funny.)

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Feego
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#15 Post by Feego » Sun Jan 19, 2020 5:39 pm

This discussion prompted me to finally pull the DVD from my Jimmy Stewart Westerns set and give it a spin. My first impression is that it's no masterpiece, but it's better than its reputation as just a fun western comedy. First of all, it really didn't jump out at me as a full-on comedy at all, but rather a straightforward western with lots of comical moments. There are side characters who exist purely for comic relief, notably Mischa Auer's Russian cowboy who is repeatedly emasculated by his wife and left pantsless after a poker game. But most of the humor flows naturally from the characters' personalities rather than existing just for comedy's sake. Even the knockdown brawl between Dietrich and Una Merkel, which is probably the funniest scene in the movie, comes out of their feisty personalities, and it's violent enough that it almost goes beyond funny to shocking. In this sense, I don't see this movie as any more a comedy than John Ford's works with all of their raucous humor. This is never a parody in the vein of Blazing Saddles or The Paleface. The film's intentions are more serious than that while still striving to be entertaining. Stewart's hero is in line with his "aw shucks" characterizations of the 1930s, but there's a wonderful hint of the darkness he would explore years later under Anthony Mann's direction. His love of peace and willingness to be perceived as a "canary boy" is driven by personal experience with and long-term emotional effects of gun violence. I like Sloper's spoilerboxed interpretation above of the sad and funny use of "Little Joe." Dietrich's Frenchy is a stereotypical hooker with a heart of hold, but the moment when she discovers she can be admired for herself rather than for being painted is heartfelt. The dissolve from her looking at her reflection in the mirror to nice girl Irene Hervey identically framed is exquisite. I was also surprised by the role that women play at the climax when Dietrich chides them for just sitting back and letting their husbands die. While their participation in a rousing barroom brawl might lead to snickers, there's nothing ridiculous about their determination when they march down the street to join the action.

I'd also like to point out the lovely camerawork in the opening scene that takes in the full scope of the saloon from overhead and establishes the important role it will play as a location throughout. It calls to mind the use of Rick's Cafe in Casablanca as a source of entertainment, conflict and negotiations.

If at times the movie drags and perhaps relies a little too much on exposition, the positives above more than make it a solid watch. I actually think this will improve on a rewatch as I find myself liking it more the more I think about it.

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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#16 Post by whaleallright » Sat Jan 25, 2020 7:50 pm

when in 1939 it stands as one of the very early examples of a Hollywood western
!!

Not only had American (and French and German and...) filmmakers been making Westerns (by any stretch of the term) since the turn of the century, but many of the silent-era Westerns were themselves parodies, since the Western genre -- in nearly every other art form -- had been around for decades. A very funny example is 1917's Wild and Woolly, but there are Biograph two-reelers that are already lampooning clichés of the Western drama.

The 1939/1940 seasons saw a revival of the "A" Western after a few years of neglect, but there were innumerable "B" Westerns all the way through the 1930s.

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domino harvey
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#17 Post by domino harvey » Sat Jan 25, 2020 10:35 pm

I just learned this was remade by Marshall himself in 1954 as Destry with Audie Murphy in the lead-- not exactly an equal of Stewart even on either's best/worst day

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whaleallright
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#18 Post by whaleallright » Tue Feb 04, 2020 7:10 am

Audie Murphy didn't even play Audie Murphy all that well! (though the film version of To Hell and Back is fascinating for being a near-complete bowdlerization of his memoir)

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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#19 Post by Ashirg » Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:50 am


Ishmael
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#20 Post by Ishmael » Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:09 am

Ashirg wrote:
Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:50 am
Beaver Rides Again
Too obvious. Shoulda gone with "Destry Rides Beaver."

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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#21 Post by cdnchris » Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:28 pm

After some of these plays on the titles I feel the need to admit that it took me a LOOOOOOONG to get the "Father Loves Beaver" jokes at the beginning of Scrooged. ("Well Wally, if I know your father, he's out chasing beaver.") Like, I was in my 30s when it finally clicked.

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Drucker
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#22 Post by Drucker » Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:17 pm

Ashirg wrote:
Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:50 am
Beaver Rides Again
So is it just the tiny 15" laptop I have to work off of these days, or does this look way worse than the Koch?

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Tommaso
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#23 Post by Tommaso » Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:25 pm

Judging from the Beaver caps of the CC, the film's real title must be "Waxworks".

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senseabove
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#24 Post by senseabove » Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:36 pm

It's "softer" and the grain is less prominent, which is often assumed to mean worse because it usually means DNR, but... I think it actually looks better. I'm throughly armchair at this, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but it looks to me like there's a subtle but noticeable increase in depth detail. For example, you can actually make out depth in the shadows of, say, the sequined dress on Dietrich's shoulder in the close-up of her. It's more than just a moire pattern now.

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domino harvey
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Re: 1024 Destry Rides Again

#25 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:52 pm

Universal goes full throttle into DNR if not stopped, which it appears no one did here. Yikes

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