The Great Bluff (1939)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The big bluff |
| Original title | Destry Rides Again |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1939 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | George Marshall |
| script |
Henry Myers Gertrude Purcell |
| production | Joe Pasternak |
| music | Frank Skinner |
| camera | Hal Mohr |
| cut | Milton Carruth |
| occupation | |
| |
The big bluff (original title: Destry Rides Again ) is an American western comedy directed by George Marshall from 1939. The main roles were played by Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart . The novel Destry Rides Again by Max Brand , published in 1930, served as a template .
action
Bottleneck (German: bottleneck ) is a small town in the Wild West . The deceiver Kent has the city firmly in his hands with his crooks. He cheats harmless settlers out of their land while playing poker. The saloon singer Frenchy helps him with this. When the honorable sheriff Keogh uses a fraud against the farmer Clagett as an opportunity to rebel against Kent, he is shot unceremoniously. The corrupt Mayor Slade then appoints the drunkard Washington ("Wash") Dimsdale as the new sheriff, because no trouble is expected from him. Wash only brags about stories from days gone by, when he was deputy to the legendary western hero Tom Destry and kept Bottleneck in order. With the appointment as sheriff, however, Wash gives up drinking and orders Destry's son to Bottleneck, so that he becomes his deputy sheriff.
Destry's arrival in Bottleneck is a disappointment for the old man. Tom helps the ladies, doesn't wear a revolver and orders milk instead of alcohol in the saloon . Confrontations like the one between the infamous Frenchy and Lily, the angry wife of the Russian wannabe cowboy Boris, are resolved with a bucket of water instead of armed violence. He lets Frenchy throw objects at him without taking any action against them. Tom makes a mockery of himself and the crooks of the city see no danger in him. In truth, Tom is an excellent shooter like his father, which he impressively proves as a warning to a number of wildly shooting cowboys .
When Kent tries to evict the betrayed Claggett family from their ranch , Destry even enforces Kent's fraudulent right to the ranch. He strictly adheres to the letters of the law. The city's citizens are upset because they still have no help from a law enforcement officer. However, Destry comes to the conclusion that old Sheriff Keogh did not just leave as Kent and Mayor Slade had claimed, but was murdered by Kent's people. Through a bluff, he finds the sheriff's body and locks the murder suspect, a Kent henchman, in jail . However, Mayor Slade wants to lead the process, who has already instructed the jury to say “not guilty”. But Destry has taken precautions and has already appointed an independent judge to the city. When Kent finds out, he lets the killer free. During this action, old Washington is shot from behind.
Now Tom Destry takes up arms and with him the upright men of the city. The barmaid Frenchy, who now feels more than just sympathy for Tom Destry, convinces her hostile wives to come to the aid of their husbands in the fight. Armed with wooden slats, they go to the saloon and beat up the gangsters. In the general confusion, Kent positions himself in a good position to shoot Tom Destry. Frenchy is the only one who notices, throws himself into the line of fire and into Tom's arms. Tom can shoot Kent and Frenchy dies in his arms. Now there is calm in Bottleneck and Sheriff Tom Destry has nothing more to do than to settle marital disputes, like the one between Deputy Sheriff Boris and his wife Lily Belle. Tom also has his eye on the beautiful Janice Tyndall.
background
The western The big bluff is considered to be one of the first western comedies to be structured according to all the rules of a traditional western. Before, there were only comedies starring comedians like Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in Way Out West . The film set standards in this new genre that were difficult to achieve even in later decades. This was mainly due to the funny dialogues, but also to the high-class music. Frank Loesser and Friedrich Hollaender wrote songs like Little Joe , You've Got That Look and Boys in the Backroom for this film . Boys in the Backroom later became part of Marlene Dietrich's regular concert repertoire. In 1939, after a few failures and the break with Joseph von Sternberg, the Dietrich was regarded as a so-called cash poison. She was in France that pre-war summer and received an offer from Universal Pictures for her first western. The big bluff surprised the audience and became Dietrich's big comeback in Hollywood .
The premiere took place on November 29, 1939 in the Rivoli Theater , New York, the German premiere in November 1947 in the Kronenkino, Berlin.
synchronization
There are now three different German dubbed versions. The German original version was produced in 1947 at the Berlin-Tempelhof film studio with OE Hasse as spokesman for James Stewart. The cinema version was last broadcast on ZDF at Christmas 1988. In 1987, on behalf of ARD, a new TV synchronization with Sigmar Solbach as the voice of James Stewart was produced, which is broadcast on ARD and the third programs, but also on Das Vierte. Another re-dubbing was produced for Universal's DVD release in 2004, in which Stephan Schwartz lends his voice to James Stewart.
All three dubbed versions are included on the Blu-ray released by Koch Media for the German-speaking market in 2014 .
Reviews
The lexicon of international films describes the film as an “above-average western comedy with brilliant Marlene Dietrich songs”. Joe Hembus notes that the film was made by Marshall with the understanding that for a western comedy "you don't have to go outside the genre, but cure the genre from its sources". The mythology of the western novel and the folk ballads of the late 19th century was essentially shaped by aspects of comedy. Phil Hardy describes Marshall's direction as "relaxed"; Dietrich conquered the film with Stewart's "charming support".
The Protestant film observer is also full of praise : “Marlene Dietrich in the Wild West, a reprise for friends of film history and the Western. The snappy script, the performance of the director and the actors still provide tension and amusement today. "
Awards
- 1996: Entry into the National Film Registry
Further films
George Marshall is the only Hollywood director who himself remake his comedy under the title Destry . In 1954 he filmed the material with Audie Murphy in the role of Tom Destry.
Web links
- Destry Rides in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The big bluff at marlenedietrich-filme.de
- The big bluff in the German dubbing file , first version from 1947 for the cinema
- The big bluff in the German dubbing file , second version for television
- The big bluff in the German dubbing file , third version from 2004 for the DVD
Individual evidence
- ↑ Marlene Dietrich - actress . In: CineGraph - Lexicon for German-Language Film , Lg. 21, F 5
- ^ The big bluff (1947) in the German synchronous file
- ^ The big bluff (1987) in the German synchronous file
- ^ The big bluff (2004) at the German synchronous index
- ↑ The big bluff. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Joe Hembus: Western Lexicon - 1272 films from 1894-1975. Carl Hanser Verlag Munich Vienna 2nd edition 1977. ISBN 3-446-12189-7 , p. 264
- ^ Phil Hardy: The Encyclopedia of Western Movies . Woodbury Press, Minneapolis 1984. ISBN 0-8300-0405-X , p. 91
- ↑ Evangelical Press Association Munich, Review No. 286/1955