Destry Rides Again, The Last Stand, The Wicker Man: films on TV today

BARRY NORMAN: FILM OF THE DAY

Destry Rides Again ★★★★★
5.20-7.15pm Film Four

This delightful spoof western marked James Stewart’s debut in the genre and revived the then flagging career of Marlene Dietrich. Son of a famous lawman, Destry (Stewart) is called in as deputy sheriff to clean up the town of Bottleneck, which is run by crooked Brian Donlevy. Dance-hall queen Dietrich is Donlevy’s girlfriend. Everyone expects Destry to be as tough as his dad but instead he’s a pacifist who refuses to wear a gun and talks his way out of trouble with cracker-barrel philosophy. Not unexpectedly Dietrich, as the traditional tart with a heart, falls for him and what happens then, before and after Stewart reluctantly reaches for his six-shooter, is best for you to find out. In a very entertaining film that combines comedy with genuine emotion and tension, there are a couple of outstanding moments: a catfight between Dietrich and a wrongly suspicious wife, Una Merkel, and Dietrich singing “See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have”.

The Last Stand ★★★
9.00-11.10pm 5★

Arnold Schwarzenegger made a return to movie-making after a ten-year absence with this lively action thriller that sees him play a sheriff battling a ruthless drugs lord.

The Wicker Man ★★★★
9.00-10.50pm ITV4

Devoutly Christian policeman Edward Woodward has his faith put to the test by the bizarre goings-on on a remote Hebridean island in this disturbing British horror classic.

Shanghai Noon ★★★
8.00-9.45pm BBC3

East meets West in the shape of Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, an unlikely crime-fighting partnership kicking up dust in cowboy country.

GI Joe: the Rise of Cobra ★★★★
9.00-11.15pm Film Four

If you like the comic-book spectacle of Transformers, look no further than this action-packed elite-soldier adventure, packed with gadgets, nano-weapons that threaten the planet – and Channing Tatum!

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