Featured Audience Ratings

• xGary X

  
  When the sheriff of a corrupt frontier town is murdered and replaced with the town drunk, the man calls on the services of the son of a legendary law man only to find that he is a pacifist. James Stewart is at his very best for this, one of his defining roles. His easy going charm and… More
  When the sheriff of a corrupt frontier town is murdered and replaced with the town drunk, the man calls on the services of the son of a legendary law man only to find that he is a pacifist. James Stewart is at his very best for this, one of his defining roles. His easy going charm and integrity are a perfect foil for Marlene Dietrich's feisty music hall girl (so brilliantly parodied by Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles) and they have fantastic chemistry together; the cat-fight scene is pure comedy gold. Essentially a story about standing by your principles no matter what the provocation, all the characters are impossible to dislike with some great comic relief provided by a quality supporting cast. Consistently funny with a timeless story of a hero who refuses to resort to violence in the face of adversity, this is one of my all time favourites and a true classic from the golden age.

• Byron B

  
  This is a fun movie! Frenchy (a strange character name) played by Marlene Dietrich is the inspiration for Madeline Kahn's Lili Von Shtupp. Destry is another great creation by Jimmy Stewart. There are plenty of slapstick bits from the barroom brawls and the supporting characters… More
  This is a fun movie! Frenchy (a strange character name) played by Marlene Dietrich is the inspiration for Madeline Kahn's Lili Von Shtupp. Destry is another great creation by Jimmy Stewart. There are plenty of slapstick bits from the barroom brawls and the supporting characters and heaps of wisecracks from Destry, who would rather reason his way out of a fight than shoot his way out.

• Eric B

  
  Until recently, I assumed this was just the usual old-fashioned Western. Didn't realize it was funnier than the norm nor, more importantly, just how much "Blazing Saddles" owes to this story (the new sheriff who thwarts the enemy in non-violent ways, the vampy German… More
  Until recently, I assumed this was just the usual old-fashioned Western. Didn't realize it was funnier than the norm nor, more importantly, just how much "Blazing Saddles" owes to this story (the new sheriff who thwarts the enemy in non-violent ways, the vampy German saloon singer, the drunken sidekick with past glories...). That said, "Destry" wasn't quite as much of a comedy as I hoped, though the recurrent "I knew a guy" gag is wonderfully droll. And Marlene Dietrich is lots of fun to watch -- she's obviously having a ball with her role.

• Matthew Y

  
  James Stewart is still fairly in his Frank Capra mode for this odd western. He hit his true cowboy stride latter with his Anthony Mann saga. Because of this the film is an odd comedy/drama hybrid on the western saga (which to be fair had just gathered its footing on the cinematic… More
  James Stewart is still fairly in his Frank Capra mode for this odd western. He hit his true cowboy stride latter with his Anthony Mann saga. Because of this the film is an odd comedy/drama hybrid on the western saga (which to be fair had just gathered its footing on the cinematic world). The romantic story with Frenchy is just unbelievable to me and I had an overall difficult time taking the film seriously. To the films credit it rarely detours from its oddball tone even in its climatic finale. It might not be my preferred take on the classic western tale but Destry Rides Again has certainly survived the test of time and deserves its place as one of the better films in one of the most competitive years in cinema history.