Showing posts with label George Marshall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George Marshall. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 May 2019

Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939)


Destry Rides Again will be screened from a new restoration at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2019. Date to be announced.


Long before the hippy slogan “Make Love, Not War”, this wildly funny western carried a pacifist message as German troops entered Poland. But you don’t need a message to fall for the story of Frenchy, a hardboiled dancehall girl in the funky and gun-crazy town of Bottleneck who falls for mild-mannered deputy sheriff Tom Destry, who never wears a gun.

When a film is so satisfyingly entertaining, one often forgets the artistry with which it was crafted. George Marshall blended what he had learned from directing Laurel & Hardy with his experience of directing Tom Mix – the latter’s first talkie from 1932 being the film upon which Destry was based, even if in the process everything was drastically altered except for the title.