This western is worth especially for its supporting characters such as Lyle Bettger, Edgard Buchanan, Mary Blanchard, etc...And it is very enjoyable, entertaining, though not the best of Universal Pictures, not the most original. Audie Murphy as a tenderfoot, as Jack lemmon in COWBOY, may be believable because of baby face Murphy, but whan you remember his other roles, it may look bland. Jimmy Stewart was more powerful in the genuine version of Marshall, back in 1939. In this western, characters are actually the opposite as they seem to be at first sight: Murphy and Buchanan, that was the most interesting for me. Murphy looks like a pussy and it happens later in the film to be something very different. Buchanan also seems to be a good and funny fellow, but the following moments in the movie are very surprising. This western hesitates between drama and comedy moments, George Marshall's trademark, and Audie Murphy's character in the line of a kind of Zorro, false tenderfoot, adds something interesting. The peculiarity of this feature, this western is that it takes place entirely indoors. Not common for a western isn't it? George Marshall remade his own film, as did Michael Haneke with FUNNY GAMES, Cecil B De Mille with THE TEN COMMANDMENTS or Michael Mann with HEAT and the first draw made in the eighties.
Review of Destry
