Dust Be My Destiny

1939
Approved
1h 28m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

John Garfield and Priscilla Lane in Dust Be My Destiny (1939)

Joe Bell, wrongly imprisoned for burglary, gets released to a prison farm. His romance with the foreman's daughter leads to the foreman's accidental death. Fearing disbelief, Bell flees with... Read allJoe Bell, wrongly imprisoned for burglary, gets released to a prison farm. His romance with the foreman's daughter leads to the foreman's accidental death. Fearing disbelief, Bell flees with the daughter, Mabel.Joe Bell, wrongly imprisoned for burglary, gets released to a prison farm. His romance with the foreman's daughter leads to the foreman's accidental death. Fearing disbelief, Bell flees with the daughter, Mabel.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The original ending of the film called for Joe and Mabel to be shot to death, but the commercial failure of You Only Live Once (1937), which had a tragic ending, compelled the Warner Bros. studio heads to demand a happy ending. After writer Robert Rossen refused to write the new ending, Seton I. Miller was brought in to write it.

Goofs
In the trial, the defence attorney apparently calls all his witnesses, then makes a speech to the jury, before calling a final witness. An attorney has to wait until all the witnesses have testified before making a speech.

Quotes
[last lines]
Joe Bell: Mabel, I just thought of something funny. This is the first time we've been on a train together and paid our fare.
Mabel Bell: [giggling] This is the first time we've been on a train together, and you knew where we were going.
Joe Bell: That's right. We're going home. We finally...
Mabel Bell: [cutting Joe off] I know what you're going to say, Joe. We found a place to hang our hats.
[Mabel throws her hat onto a clothes hook above them]
Joe Bell: [as Joe throws his hat on top of Mabel's on the same hook] Yeah, a place to hang our hats.

Connections
Featured in Red Hollywood (1996)

Soundtracks
My Wild Irish Rose
(uncredited)
Written by Chauncey Olcott
[Played at the diner and sung by Nick, and played again when Mabel and Joe say goodbye to Nick]

User reviews24

Review

Featured review

7/10

Garfield and Lane on the run

John Garfield stars in "Dust Be My Destiny" from 1939, also starring Priscilla Lane, Alan Hale, Billy Halop, Frank McHugh, Henry Armetta, and John Litel.

Garfield is Joe Bell, who is released from prison when someone else finally confesses to the robbery he was accused of engineering. Riding the rails, he's arrested again and sentenced to a prison farm for 90 days. There he meets 19-year-old Mabel (Lane), and they fall in love.

Mabel's stepfather is a drunk with a bad heart. He catches Joe and Mabel in a clinch; they run. He chases them, has a heart attack, and collapses, dead. Joe is sure it's no use telling the truth - he's going to be accused anyway. He has to go on the run again, this time with a determined Mabel.

Along the way, Joe and Mabel marry. They meet some decent people, and they actually start to settle down. However, another incident makes Joe want to run again, and this time, Mabel has had it with the authorities looking for them.

Good movie, with Garfield and Lane an attractive couple. This was not an unusual role for Garfield, as he often played tough, bitter guys in need of a break. He is very effective. Good performances along the way by Alan Hale and Henry Armetta.