DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (DVD) DOL DIG 2.0 MONO DVD

Destry Rides Again
Tom Destry (James Stewart), son of a legendary frontier peacekeeper, doesn't believe in gunplay. Thus he becomes the object of widespread ridicule when he rides into the wide-open town of Bottleneck, the personal fiefdom of the crooked Kent (Brian Donlevy). His detractors laugh even louder when Destry signs on as deputy to drunken sheriff Wash Dimsdale (Charles Winninger). But the laughter subsides when Destry casually proves himself a crack shot, despite his abhorrence of firearms. Later, when saloon chanteuse Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich), Kent's gal, takes umbrage at Destry's indifferent reaction to her charms, she vows to make a fool of the new deputy. A huge moneymaker, Destry Rides Again served as a spectacular comeback for Marlene Dietrich, who two years earlier had been written off as "box office poison." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast James Stewart as Tom Destry Marlene Dietrich as Frenchy Charles Winninger as Wash Dimsdale Mischa Auer as Boris Callahan Brian Donlevy as Kent Irene Hervey as Janice Tyndall Allen Jenkins as Gyp Watson Una Merkel as Lily Belle Callahan Warren Hymer as Bugs Watson Tom Fadden as Lem Claggett Samuel S. Hinds as Judge Hiram Slade Billy Gilbert as Loupqerou, the Bartender Jack Carson as Jack Tyndall

Crew Jack Otterson - Art Director Martin Obzina - Art Director Vera West - Costume Designer Vernon Keays - First Assistant Director George Marshall - Director Miton Carruth - Editor Frank Skinner - Composer (Music Score) Charles Previn - Musical Direction/Supervision Hal Mohr - Cinematographer Joe Pasternak - Producer Russell A. Gausman - Set Designer Bernard B. Brown - Sound/Sound Designer Gertrude Purcell - Screenwriter Felix Jackson - Screenwriter Henry Myers - Screenwriter Max Brand - Book Author

Destry Rides Again
Destry Rides Again was a huge critical and box-office success in 1939, a year that had many critical and box-office successes and that is often considered to have produced more great films than any other year of the 20th century. Max Brand, the author of the source novel, is little remembered today, but in his era he was a prolific and popular writer who created such memorable screen successes as the Doctor Kildare series. Sadly, Brand was killed at the height of his career, while serving as a war correspondent in Italy during World War II. Brand's story was considerably changed for the screen, and as a result there are occasional inconsistencies of characterization for Destry, who sometimes seems a bit too inclined to fight for a pacifist. Yet, in Tom Destry, James Stewart creates one of the screen's most likable characters, and the film's success revived the career of Marlene Dietrich, who had been dumped from her studio contract by Paramount because of her temperamental behavior and perceived weak box-office appeal. The problem, though, proved to be not that audiences had tired of Dietrich but that they had tired of her in the melodramatic films that Paramount put her in. Free of Paramount, Dietrich found a broader range of work and once again became a bankable star. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
 

Library of Congress, U.S. National Film Registry (winner)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD2: Dolby Digital Stereo Additional Features: none specified DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 95 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Main Titles [5:14] 2. A Card Game [4:21] 3. Sheriff Keogh [3:25] 4. The Chanteuse [2:28] 5. The New Sheriff [4:55] 6. Tom Destry, Jr. [8:03] 7. An Understanding [2:32] 8. Frenchy vs. Lily Belle [5:13] 9. "NO Guns" Destry [7:28] 10. The Claggett Ranch [4:32] 11. Being Neighborly [4:56] 12. "No Pants" Callahan [8:25] 13. Destry Meets the Mayor [1:44] 14. See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have [1:38] 15. Looking for Keogh [7:05] 16. The Cattle Toll [3:09] 17. The Jury [4:44] 18. Saying Goodbye [6:04] 19. Destry Takes Charge [7:48] 20. End Titles [:36]