Destry (film)
Encyclopedia
Destry is a 1954 western
starring Mari Blanchard
, Audie Murphy
, and Thomas Mitchell
. The third and (as of 1998) final film version of Max Brand
's Destry Rides Again
, this 1954 version is closer to the 1939 Marlene Dietrich
and James Stewart
film version
than it is to the Brand original. Indeed Halliwells film guide states "Almost scene-for-scene remake ...". George Marshall
directed both versions.
), and leading crook, Phil Decker (Lyle Bettger
), appoint a drunk, Reginald T. "Rags" Barnaby (Thomas Mitchell
), to take the position hoping that he will be easily controlled by them. Rags announces he is to give up the drink and turns down Decker as deputy telling them he has someone else in mind, Tom Destry.
Destry (Audie Murphy
) arrives on the stagecoach with great fanfare but Rags is disappointed to find out that he is a very young man and refuses to carry a gun. Destry finds out that the previous sheriff may not have died of a heart attack, as the town rumour states, while trying to resolve a land dispute over a ranch and sets about finding out how he died. This starts his quest to discover who murdered the previous town sheriff and this quest rolls together the various characters including Rags, the mayor, Decker, saloon girl Brandy (Mari Blanchard
), and a young woman, Martha Phillips (Lori Nelson
), who lives near town whom Destry met while riding the stagecoach into town.
The plot basically follows the same premise as the James Stewart version made years earlier.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
starring Mari Blanchard
Mari Blanchard
Mari Blanchard was an American actress, known for her roles as a B movie femme fatale in American films of the 1950s and early 1960s.-Career:In the late 1940s, Blanchard was a successful print model and film extra...
, Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy
Audie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...
, and Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell (actor)
Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
. The third and (as of 1998) final film version of Max Brand
Max Brand
Frederick Faust, aka Max Brand|thumb|rightFrederick Schiller Faust was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns. Faust wrote mostly under pen names, but today is primarily known by only one, Max Brand...
's Destry Rides Again
Destry Rides Again (novel)
Destry Rides Again is the title of a 1930 novel by Max Brand. One of Brand's most famous works, it remained in print 70 years after its first publication...
, this 1954 version is closer to the 1939 Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
and James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
film version
Destry Rides Again
Destry Rides Again is a western starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert, Bill Cody, Jr., and Una Merkel. The original Max Brand novel was translated into an "oater" with the...
than it is to the Brand original. Indeed Halliwells film guide states "Almost scene-for-scene remake ...". George Marshall
George Marshall (director)
George E. Marshall was an American actor, screenwriter, producer, film and television director, active through the first six decades of movie history....
directed both versions.
Plot
The sheriff of a small town is shot and the crooked mayor, The Honorable Hiram J. Sellers (Edgar BuchananEdgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
), and leading crook, Phil Decker (Lyle Bettger
Lyle Bettger
Lyle S. Bettger was a character actor known most for his Hollywood roles from the 1950s, typically portraying villains...
), appoint a drunk, Reginald T. "Rags" Barnaby (Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell (actor)
Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
), to take the position hoping that he will be easily controlled by them. Rags announces he is to give up the drink and turns down Decker as deputy telling them he has someone else in mind, Tom Destry.
Destry (Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy
Audie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...
) arrives on the stagecoach with great fanfare but Rags is disappointed to find out that he is a very young man and refuses to carry a gun. Destry finds out that the previous sheriff may not have died of a heart attack, as the town rumour states, while trying to resolve a land dispute over a ranch and sets about finding out how he died. This starts his quest to discover who murdered the previous town sheriff and this quest rolls together the various characters including Rags, the mayor, Decker, saloon girl Brandy (Mari Blanchard
Mari Blanchard
Mari Blanchard was an American actress, known for her roles as a B movie femme fatale in American films of the 1950s and early 1960s.-Career:In the late 1940s, Blanchard was a successful print model and film extra...
), and a young woman, Martha Phillips (Lori Nelson
Lori Nelson
Lori Nelson is an American actress born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on August 15, 1933. She began as a performer, dancing at the young age of 4, as well as winning a Little Miss America title. Many of her early auditions were unsuccessful. However, in 1952, she made it into her first role as Marjie...
), who lives near town whom Destry met while riding the stagecoach into town.
The plot basically follows the same premise as the James Stewart version made years earlier.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified)| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Mari Blanchard Mari Blanchard Mari Blanchard was an American actress, known for her roles as a B movie femme fatale in American films of the 1950s and early 1960s.-Career:In the late 1940s, Blanchard was a successful print model and film extra... |
Brandy, the saloon singer |
| Audie Murphy Audie Murphy Audie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war... |
Tom Destry, Jr., the new deputy |
| Lyle Bettger Lyle Bettger Lyle S. Bettger was a character actor known most for his Hollywood roles from the 1950s, typically portraying villains... |
Phil Decker, mob boss |
| Thomas Mitchell Thomas Mitchell (actor) Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life... |
Reginald T. 'Rags' Barnaby’, new sheriff |
| Lori Nelson Lori Nelson Lori Nelson is an American actress born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on August 15, 1933. She began as a performer, dancing at the young age of 4, as well as winning a Little Miss America title. Many of her early auditions were unsuccessful. However, in 1952, she made it into her first role as Marjie... |
Martha Phillips |
| Alan Hale, Jr. Alan Hale, Jr. Alan Hale, Jr. was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Skipper on the popular sitcom Gilligan's Island. Hale was the lookalike son of popular supporting film actor Alan Hale, Sr.... |
Jack Larson |
| Wallace Ford Wallace Ford Wallace Ford was an English film and television actor who, with his friendly appearance and stocky build later in life, appeared in a number of film westerns and B-movies.... |
Doc Curtis |
| Mary Wickes Mary Wickes Mary Wickes was an American film and television actress.-Career:Wickes was born as Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, of German Irish Protestant extraction. She graduated at the age of eighteen with a degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, where she... |
Bessie Mae Curtis |
| George Wallace George D. Wallace George Dewey Wallace was an American stage and screen actor.Wallace co-starred with Mary Martin in the Broadway musical Jennie and was nominated for a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for playing the male lead in New Girl in Town opposite Gwen Verdon... |
Curly Adams |
| Edgar Buchanan Edgar Buchanan Edgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s... |
The Honorable Hiram J. Sellers, Mayor |
| Mitchell Lawrence | The Professor |