Storyline
Destry Rides Again, Kent, the unscrupulous boss of Bottleneck has Sheriff Keogh killed when he asks one too many questions about a rigged poker game that gives Kent a stranglehold over the local cattle rangers. The mayor, who is in cahoots with Kent appoints the town drunk, Washington Dimsdale, as the new sheriff assuming that he’ll be easy to control. But what the mayor doesn’t know is that Dimsdale was a deputy under famous lawman, Tom Destry, and is able to call upon the equally formidable Tom Destry Jr to be his deputy. Featuring a career reviving performance from Marlene Dietrich as bar singer Frenchie, which could well have been the inspiration for Madeline Kahn’s “Blazing Saddles” character, Lili Von Schtupp.
When they say they don’t make them like that any more . .
I’m intrigued by the voting on this movie as I can’t imagine any scale on which it wouldn’t get top marks. Where exactly does it drop the ball? Cast – inspired; performances – stellar; script – faultless; direction – millimetre perfect; score – find me one better, (“See what the boys in the back room will have” has gone into the language).
Is it because it’s not an arthouse movie? Or because of the dangerous idea that restraint, cool and smarts are more effective weapons than playground bully tactics?
As far as I am concerned, if you want to know how to put a movie together, you can start here. 10/10 is the only possible mark for a masterpiece.
Pure gold from the golden age
