Silver Screenings

Once upon a time we worked with a soft-spoken fellow who was calm in demeanor and unflappable in a crisis.

He took things In Stride, especially when it came to the boss who had a tendency to make demanding, poorly-timed requests.

However, there was that one day, near lunchtime, when the boss made one of his trademark requests, and the soft-spoken fellow Lost It. He was so angry, he tore off his cardigan and threw it at the boss.

As you know, cardigans are not aerodynamic, and the thing fell onto the floor in a pitiful heap.

But the Point Had Been Made. The boss went into his office and closed the door, and the soft-spoken fellow left the building. A co-worker gathered up the cardigan from where it lay and set it on the back of a chair.

It would’ve been funny if it weren’t so unnerving.

That’s why there’s almost nothing more shocking than when calm people snap. You don’t see it coming, and when it suddenly arrives, you don’t know where it’s headed.

James Stewart plays this kind of person in the Comedy-Western, Destry Rides Again (1939).

Stewart’s character is a soft-spoken pacifist who swore off guns when his lawman father was shot in the back and killed. Yet Stewart is hired as sheriff in a town called Bottleneck, and he’s determined to prove a person can enforce Law and Order sans firearms.

Unsurprisingly, he’s not taken seriously in this rough-and tumble town. Early in the film, when Stewart first arrives, he announces to the local watering hole that he doesn’t carry a gun. “If I’d had a gun just now, one of us might have gotten hurt, and I wouldn’t like that, would I?” The room erupts in laughter.

The local politician/conman (Brian Donlevy) thinks Stewart is a simpleton. Donlevy, in a crooked poker game, has stolen a local fellow’s ranch and Stewart says nothing can be done about it.

Donlevey is practically giddy. A sheriff without a backbone who doesn’t pack heat? It’s a dream come true!

Yet, we the audience start to wonder why Donlevy doesn’t question Stewart’s seeming agreeableness. And when we realize Stewart is actually Very Crafty, we know Donlevy’s greed and ego will be his Undoing.

So when a decent man is shot and killed, Stewart Snaps. He straps on his father’s guns and vows to Take Care of Business.

We, the audience, are unnerved. We don’t blame Stewart for his actions, but there’s a look in his eye we don’t like. Who else might die before this is Over?

We’ve neglected to mention the luminous Marlene Dietrich, who receives top billing in this film. She plays Donlevy’s paramour and Partner-In-Crime.

Dietrich’s character goes through an amazing – albeit predictable – transformation, although thankfully she doesn’t lose her sparkly wardrobe. She seems to have a lot of fun in this film as woman who, at first, scoffs at Stewart, then finds herself falling in love with him.

The opening credits say Destry Rides Again is “suggested” by the Max Brand novel of the same name. Brand’s novel, which was in print for a remarkable 70 years after its initial publication in 1930, is a study in revenge, whereas the film is a study in corruption.

(The “Again” in the title refers to Destry being able to ride after his release from prison, and not a sequel, as we initially thought.)

This film was Stewart’s first Western. According to IMDb, filmmakers wanted to cast Gary Cooper as Destry, but the Asking Price was too high.

As for Marlene Dietrich, this film was her Comeback. Her career had slumped, and although she had many friends in Hollywood, she remained unemployed. But when Universal Pictures refused to increase the Destry budget, filmmakers offered Dietrich the role that Turned her career Around.

Destry Rides Again became a Broadway musical in 1959, and it was added to the Library of Congress Film Registry in 1996.

We think you should see this film if you come across it. There’s a lot to enjoy here, including James Stewart’s quiet hero Losing It.

Destry Rides Again: starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Brian Donlevy. Directed by George Marshall. Written by Felix Jackson, Gertrude Purcell & Henry Myers. Universal Pictures, 1939, B&W, 95 mins.