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Destry Rides Again

Director: George Marshall
Year: 1939
Run-time: 1 hr 35 min

- One of the list's greatest features is its international outlook.  But it can be a bit confounding. In a year often identified as one of the greatest in Hollywood's history, our list-maker picks just five films, with the single American entry not being The Wizard of Oz or Gone with the Wind, but the quirky little Western Destry Rides Again. It's an oddball choice, but not one without merit.  Jimmy Stewart makes his list debut opposite our old friend Marlene Dietrich in this Western that parodies most of the tropes before they were entrenched in the 50's (and then later subverted in the 60's and 70's).

- In this era of police violence, a story of a sheriff who refuses to wear a gun is so refreshing that I wish I could somehow inspire a resurgence of this film.

- Marlene Dietrich very consciously plays against type here - the story goes that she was encouraged to do so by Josef von Sternberg himself.  It's not her greatest role, but for much of the film she gets to be the de facto leader of this male-ego-filled town, and it's another thing that makes this film ahead of its time.
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