Rating: 
Summary: DESTRY RUNS INTO TROUBLE ON DVD!
Review: "Destry Rides Again" is a five star, ten gallon hat of an adventure that casts gangly James Stewart as the unassuming Marshall of a lawless town. At first, Tom Destry's unassuming good nature pegs him as a push over amongst the criminal element in the neighborhood, as well as by the spurious ladies of the evening, fronted by the erotic intercontinental harlot, Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich). However, very soon Destry begins to reassert his power as the law of the land - a pivotal epiphany that leads to violence and death. There's also some great comedy to be had - particularly in a scene in which Destry decides to cool Frenchy off - literally, by soaking her with some ice water. Dietrich's rendition of "See What The Boys In The Backroom'll Have" proves why she was the toast of Berlin cabarets for many years before coming to Hollywood. The forgotten Mischa Auer co-stars as Boris - a simple-minded philanderer in a comedic subplot, who gets his comeuppance in the end. Jack Carson, Una Merkel and Charles Winninger also give credible performances.
THE TRANSFER: The genuine disappointment is that Universal doesn't quite understand they have a winner in this film. The transfer is so terribly marred by fading, age related artifacts and a poorly balanced print that there is very little to recommend this film on DVD. Contrast levels appear under exposed during night scenes and slightly over exposed elsewhere. There's a glaring and distracting amount of film grain present throughout the transfer that really distracts from the visual style and performances. Fine detail is lost in most scenes. Rarely does the quality of this disc surpass mediocrity. The audio is mono and fairly presented, though the critical ear will note distortions present.
EXTRAS: As usual for Universal classics - NONE!
BOTTOM LINE: This film should be seen because it is a gem among westerns - just not in its current condition!
Rating: 
Summary: Marlene?French?
Review: "Destry Rides Again" is a wonderfully offbeat western with comic overtones as opposed to a comic western a la "Blazing Saddles". Jimmy Stewart successfully transports his affable everyman from the Frank Capra films to the lawless town of Bottleneck. Instead of guns, Stewart's Tom Destry uses guile and aw-shucks charisma to tame the savages. Marlene Dietrich as Frenchy the showgirl is impeccable in her comic sultriness. The highlight of the film is probably her showstopper, "See What the Boys in the Backroom are Having". Brian Donlevy is slyly villainous as Kent, the town usurper. One of my favorite comic touches here is the Cossack with the moniker "Callahan". I thought the art direction here was particularly striking, most notably the interior of the saloon. At times the film does fall back into convention but on the whole it is a western that goes to the beat of it's own unique rhythms.
Rating: 
Summary: Destry Runs into Trouble on DVD
Review: "Destry Rides Again" is a five star, ten gallon hat of an adventure that casts gangly James Stewart as the unassuming Marshall of a lawless town. At first, Tom Destry's unassuming good nature pegs him as a push over amongst the criminal element in the neighborhood, as well as by the spurious ladies of the evening, fronted by the erotic intercontinental harlot, Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich). However, very soon Destry begins to reassert his power as the law of the land - a pivotal epiphany that leads to violence and death. There's also some great comedy to be had - particularly in a scene in which Destry decides to cool Frenchy off - literally, by soaking her with some ice water. Dietrich's rendition of "See What The Boys In The Backroom'll Have" proves why she was the toast of Berlin cabarets for many years before coming to Hollywood. The forgotten Mischa Auer co-stars as Boris - a simple-minded philanderer in a comedic subplot, who gets his comeuppance in the end. Jack Carson, Una Merkel and Charles Winninger also give credible performances. THE TRANSFER: The genuine disappointment is that Universal doesn't quite understand they have a winner in this film. The transfer is so terribly marred by fading, age related artifacts and a poorly balanced print that there is very little to recommend this film on DVD. Contrast levels appear under exposed during night scenes and slightly over exposed elsewhere. There's a glaring and distracting amount of film grain present throughout the transfer that really distracts from the visual style and performances. Fine detail is lost in most scenes. Rarely does the quality of this disc surpass mediocrity. The audio is mono and fairly presented, though the critical ear will note distortions present. EXTRAS: As usual for Universal classics - NONE! BOTTOM LINE: This film should be seen because it is a gem among westerns - just not in its current condition!
Rating: 
Summary: Odd combination that sparks!
Review: Before I watched this highly-amusing comedy, with "dramatic" touches, it had always seemed so strange (to me), the coupling of reliable & naive Jimmy Stewart with the exotic, alluring and sophisticated Marlene Dietrich...and above all, in a western!!
It's true that she (Dietrich) had starred previously with equally naive and all-american Gary Cooper in both in "Morocco" and "Desire", but the former was a Pre-Code set in Von Sternberg's "exotic" vision of the world (the desert in this case) and the latter wasn't "outside" Diretrich "bounds" either (as a myth), because it was a sophisticated continental romance, produced by Lubistch.
But boy!, in this film Marlene is so different from her previous roles an highly convincing as a notorious saloon singer, "Frenchy" (she's from New Orleans, Louisiana), who's the mistress of the town's villain (Brian Donlevy, great).
After Bottleneck's sheriff (the name of the town) is killed, in rather "obscure" circumstances, Donlevy arranges that the town's drunk (engagingly played by Charles Winninger) is given the job, `cos it's for sure that he wouldn't cause any trouble at all...
But, he's wrong, as everybody else, because Winninger calls for Tom Destry to become his deputy-sheriff, whose heroic father he knew when he was young, ....but, wait a minute!!... this mild-mannered guy (Stewart) cannot be "notorious" Destry's son...but not all is said, `cos this peculiar guy is a no-nonsense man!
Great support too from Mischa Auer, as Winininger's hilarious Russian brother-in-law, so desperately trying to be addressed by his own last name (Androvsky? or sth. like that), and not as "Callahan", his wife's (Una Merkel) very respectable, late first husband.
Mention apart deserves one of the best women-fight I ever saw onscreen, between Merkel and Dietrich.
The only thing that displeased me was one "aspect" of the ending, which I'm sure must have been imposed by the strict Production Code regulations (you'll know what I'm talking about after watching the movie yourselves), but in all, it's a great film!
The DVD copy is OK, considering the film's from 1939.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing movie...good picture, lousy horrible sound
Review: Everything that others have said about the quality is this fine Western satire is true. Amazing movie. Problem here is on a standard TV, the sound is unlike any other Universal DVD title I own: horrible tinny, hallow and echoey unacceptable sound. Someonje really screwed up during the mastering process. (I have checked two copies and they are both hallow sounding...)
Rating:
Summary: Amazing movie...good picture, lousy horrible sound
Review: Everything that others have said about the quality is this fine Western satire is true. Amazing movie. Problem here is on a standard TV, the sound is unlike any other Universal DVD title I own: horrible tinny, hallow and echoey unacceptable sound. Someonje really screwed up during the mastering process. (I have checked two copies and they are both hallow sounding...)
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate
Review: Fun at the movies was never quite like this. A superb cast goes through the motions and what motions they are. Stewart and Deitrich are amazing..Marlene takes her act to the sagebrush and what fun that is. Mischa Auer was never funnier..Billy Gilbert and Brian Donlevy are just on target and throw in a young Jack Carson and this film has a unique and timeless stature . Was this what Max Brand had in mind? Who cares !
Rating:
Summary: Marlene at her best
Review: I always had a bit of a crush for the pre-war James Stewart and I was never partial to Marlene Dietrich. But in this movie I simply don't like the character James Stewart plays, or the way he plays it. I can not remember the girl he ends up with at all and I actually think Marlene Dietrich's character is too good for him - for once, she has a genuine sparkle in her eyes and some human warmth, some life in her, instead of that blasé, bedroom eyes look on her face. How I love to see her singing "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will have" and brawling and looking at people with her eyes open. To see her move at all is a good change from that impressive stillness she cultivated. I wish she had given us more of the persona she exhibits in this picture.
Rating:
Summary: I Keep Comin' Back to This...
Review: I cannot get over how much I love this movie. Jimmy Stewart, my favorite actor of all time, could not have given a better performance. The script, the acting, the scenes, all magnificent. This movie is hilarious and i HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who likes westerns, jimmy stewart, or just a laugh.
Rating:
Summary: Destry loads of fun
Review: I think the best word to describe this movie is fun. Destry Rides Again is a real treat. Made in 1939, this is both a traditional Hollywood western in some respects, and in others a great spoof of those movies. At heart, it's a comedy but despite this it also throws in the requisite western scenes. Often, however, there's a certain tongue in cheek quality to them. The story is pure western: the town of Bottleneck (great name!) is all but lawless. There's a nasty land baron trying to seize the necessary lands to complete his control of the area. Once his, he can charge others inflated prices to cross those lands. The town sheriff, trying to impose some law, is shot and killed, his body disposed of in such a way that it won't be found. The corrupt town mayor then appoints the town drunk as sheriff. Now there is no law in Bottleneck. But ... The town drunk sobers up. He takes his bogus position seriously and therefore sends for Destry (Jimmy Stewart), the son of another famous lawman. Destry arrives and the fun really gets going. He's not what anyone expects. He's calm, relatively mild-mannered, doesn't wear guns ... doesn't even like guns. And of course, this sets up the final scenes when (as we can expect) he finally is pushed to a point where he does put on guns (a similar situation to Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider). In the meantime, the filmmakers and the audience have loads of fun, including a cat fight between an angry wife and the town floozy, Marlene Dietrich. In Destry Rides Again, Jimmy Stewart is perfect - he is so Jimmy Stewart. His famous halting pattern of speech is used comedically to suggest a kind of slyness. It shows the awareness and intelligence behind his character's meek exterior so we know this quality is part of the character's act. As an audience, we realize there is more to him than the meek exterior we see. Dietrich is also good, though the name Frenchy doesn't quite fit her German accent ... but I suppose that's quibbling. Unlike some parodies that simply mock a style, films that choose to take a kind of "looking down the nose" approach, Destry Rides Again seems to love westerns and love using the style to have fun. And it works brilliantly. It's a movie that succeeds as a western and as a comedy. Ultimately, it is simply a lot of fun to watch.
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