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Destry
Rides Again (1939)
In George Marshall's western comedy set in the small
wild frontier town of Bottleneck, and mostly centered around the
Last Chance Saloon:
- the opening scene of dishonest saloon singer "Frenchy"
(Marlene Dietrich) helping to rig a crooked poker game (on the saloon's
second floor) by causing a distraction (to allow a card substitution)
and preventing rancher/farmer Lem Claggett (Tom Fadden) from
winning a game against Bottleneck's corrupt boss and saloon owner
Kent (Brian Donlevy); (later Claggett complained: "Why that
low-down skunk sucked me into betting my ranch and cattle and
then switched cards on me")
- the sight of Frenchy being congratulated by Kent for
helping him win - she placedf gold coins down her cleavage (prompting
a censored line of dialogue voiced by Gyp Watson (Warren Hymer)): "There's
gold in them thar hills" - the line that was heard was Frenchy
telling Kent: "I'd rather have cash in the bank"
- the scenes of the bawdy saloon singer belting out
songs, such as You've Got That Look (That Leaves Me Weak) while
wearing a feather boa, and the rousing See What the Boys in the
Back Room Will Have while wearing a cowboy/bolero outfit (during
the finale, she strutted down the length of the bar)
Bawdy Last Chance Saloon Singer "Frenchy"
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You've Got That Look (That Leaves Me Weak)
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See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have
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- the stagecoach arrival of soft-spoken, mild-mannered,
and gawky Tom Destry Jr. (James Stewart), the son of the ex-Sheriff
who was gunned down in the back, now invited to town as the deputy
Sheriff, but carrying a birdcage and parasol (to help another female
passenger), and explaining that he didn't carry a gun
- the two-minute, hair-pulling female wrestling brawl
(the roughest in film history) between Frenchy and Lily Belle Callahan
(Una Merkel) - the wife of Russian emigre Boris Callahan (Mischa
Auer) that Frenchy had cheated during a poker game (to win his pair
of trousers); and the fight's breakup when Destry poured water over
them
- in the final scene, Destry militantly strapped on
his guns to avenge the death of the newly-appointed Sheriff - the
town's drunk Washington or "Wash" Dimsdale (Charles Winninger),
killed during a jail breakout; in a shootout in the saloon, heroine
Frenchy sacrificed herself for Destry by blocking a bullet (to warn
him of an ambush by Kent on the second floor), and she died in his
arms
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Frenchy with Cheating Kent (Brian Donlevy) After Rigged
Poker Game
Tom Destry Jr.'s Arrival - With Birdcage and Parasol
Catfight Between Frenchy and Lily Belle Callahan
The Death of Sheriff Dimsdale
Kent Killed After Shooting at Destry and Hitting Frenchy
Frenchy Expiring in Destry's Arms
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