Remembered today for its rollicking good humour and the fabulous Marlene Dietrich performing See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have, this is one of those comedy westerns that has universal appeal. Here's lanky and lovable James Stewart as Tom Destry, who manages to clean up the lawless town of Bottleneck by using a slow drawl rather than a quick draw. Chief villain is scowling, snide Brian Donlevy, and there's marvellous character support from Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger and Allen Jenkins. Dietrich, cast against type, and Stewart, in his first western lead, strike sparks off one another (and in real life, too!), and the cat-fight between Dietrich and Una Merkel has never been bettered. Director George Marshall keeps well back, and some may find his style rather flat, but he served his players perfectly and created a comedy classic. There are three other screen versions of the Max Brand novel, but none is as good.

Tom Destry, son of a legendary frontier peacekeeper, doesn’t believe in gunplay. Thus he becomes the object of widespread ridicule when he rides into the wide-open town of Bottleneck, the personal fiefdom of the crooked Kent.