Paul Elliott’s review published on Letterboxd:
Destry Rides Again is an action-filled Western satire produced at the pinnacle of the Hollywood studio system, and it prevails as an excellent illustration of what that method of production and distribution could achieve.
One of the films more outstanding successes is the presence of both Marlene Dietrich, as assertive saloon singer Frenchy, and James Stewart, as Deputy sheriff Destry. The storyline involves Destry rubbing the rough edges off of the wild town of Bottle Neck, and the screenplay by Henry Myers and Gertrude Purcell, very loosely based on a novel by Max Brand, is an amusing story crowded with a wealth of playful teasing remarks, physical comedy and songs.
Although there are many classic tropes from the genre of a western, the refining of the noisy and disorderly town occurs on the strength of pacifism, and the film promotes the rambunctious Frenchy in overseeing a role reversal stampede including the classic barroom brawl being between women instead of men. It follows in the footsteps of an earlier movie of the same name which was directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starred Tom Mix and Claudia Dell; however, it differs significantly from that version, and they both deviate considerably from the novel. Ultimately, this George Marshall directed movie is another shining example of how favourable the year 1939 was for American film.