MICK LASALLE’S MOVIE PICK

James Stewart’s performance is the reason to see this 1939 Western, which co-stars Marlene Dietrich. He plays the new sheriff of a wild Western town who is assumed by the locals to be a weakling and a stooge because he doesn’t carry a gun. In fact, he’s supremely confident and following a plan and a strategy all the time. Though the movie contains a number of big, splashy scenes, the best things in “Destry” are the conversations between Destry and individual townspeople, in which Stewart consistently shows us, without showing them, that he’s smarter than they are, that he’s the smartest and most capable person in the town.

“Destry Rides Again.” 5:45 and 9:45 p.m. Sunday, June 16. $7. Stanford Theater, 220 University Ave., Palo Alto. www.stanfordtheatre.org

Universal Pictures 1939 Jimmy Stewart (right) appears with Charles Winnniger in “Destry Rides Again.”