Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Sadly Over-hyped

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The first 15-minutes is good gritty Depression era drama, as Joe (Garfield) and other footloose unemployed try to hitch a train ride to nowhere. Caught by county cops, they're sent to a harsh work camp where there's at least work, a bed, and something to eat, but nothing else. Garfield and company make this segment tough and realistic, a real taste of life at Depression's bottom.But then the romantic side takes over as Joe and Mabel (Lane) get into an off-and-on again relationship, complicated by Joe's accidental killing of Mabel's cruel stepfather. Thus the storyline swings over to the familiar young-lovers-on-the-run narrative. That might be okay, except Lane plays her part like she's swallowed a load of sweet-faced sugar, while making soft and nice is not Garfield's special appeal. There's also a ton of likable common folk that demonstrate America's fundamental decency; while, writer Rossen makes a timely populist appeal in the courtroom for the value of every person. Given the nastiness of the times, the idea, at least, was a good one. I just wish Warner's had assigned one of their top directors to the project. A Walsh or Curtiz might have blended the disparate elements more effectively than the workman-like Seiler. As things stand, it's a second-rate Garfield flick.

John Garfield took his Mickey Borden character from Four Daughters and used it again for Dust Be My Destiny. Teamed again with Priscilla Lane, Garfield is cast once again as a character seemingly cursed by the fates and by people who just won't give him a break.When we first meet Garfield he's in familiar prison garb and being brought into the warden's office where warden John Hamilton informs him he's now free. It seems as though the robbery he was charged with was committed by another who confessed it on his deathbed. Serving almost two years for something he didn't do is bound to give anyone a bad attitude. It's that which carries him throughout this film.Picked up for vagrancy even though he helped capture a pair of fleeing criminals he gets sentenced to a work farm where he meets Priscilla Lane who is the stepdaughter of a drunken sadistic foreman. The two run after Garfield accidentally kills the stepfather who had a heart condition and was drunk and aggressive.After that the film is a series of vignettes where Garfield and Lane marry and hit the road as fugitives. Along the way they meet all kinds of folks who actually do give him breaks though Garfield is blind to see it.Warner Brothers put a whole lot of familiar faces from their stock company in the cast. At times Garfield does get a bit over the top and melodramatic with his anguish, but no more so than this occasionally over the top and melodramatic film calls for. Dust Be My Destiny is a film set firmly in Depression Era America and it's truly dated. Still fans of Garfield will be satisfied.

****SPOILERS**** John Garfield's electrifying yet touching performance as fugitive from he law Joe Bell lifts this very convoluted and predictable movie about a man with a chip on his shoulder to where it gets to you no matter how corny and dated it is. Sent up the river for 16 months for a crime he didn't commit Joe Bell is released when the real criminal was arrested for another crime and confessed to the one that Joe was convicted off. Bitter at society for the raw deal it gave him Joe spends the rest of the movie getting into trouble, from being arrested as a vagrant to being on the run for a murder, with a number of total strangers coming to his aid. The strangers help the confused and quick-tempered young man out despite jeopardizing their own safety and freedom in doing it.First there's the old railroad break-man Pop, Charlie Grapewin, who let Joe and two of his hobo friends the Glenn brothers Hank & Jimmy, Bill Holap & Bobby Jordan, stay in a box-cart when he should have had them arrested. Later Joe hungry and desperate needing, together with his newlywed wife Mable (Priscilla Lane),a bite to eat meets kindly grocery store owner, Ferike Boros. Ferike offers Joe food for free seeing that the young man didn't have a dime on him. This act of kindness has the both guilt-ridden and embarrassed Joe walks out of the store, forgetting about his plans to rob it. and not take up Freike's offer for a free meal.On the run and always a step ahead of the police Joe and Mable, who's step-father Charlie Garreth(Stanley Ridge) was the boss of the work farm whom Joe accidentally killed, end up in a small town where Joe finally lands a job that can make him a productive citizen. Joe becomes a photojournalist when he accidentally snapped a number of photos of a bank robbery that later resulted in the capture of the robbers.Being a local hero Joe is very apprehensive to have his photo taken. His boss newspaper editor Mike Leonard, Alan Hale, hearing Joe out about his past misfortunes with the law takes the credit himself for the photos, to keep Joe from having his face plastered all over the papers. This has Mike end up almost being kidnapped by the hoods who robbed the bank. Joe seeing that Mike is about to be kidnapped and possibly murdered runs to his aid and not only saves his life but ends up getting all the unwanted publicity that he tried to avoid.Not all that predictable of an ending "Dust be my Destiny" has all the people who helped Joe throughout the movie come to his defense. This leads the jury to find Joe innocent of the murder of Charlie Garreth due to extenuating circumstances. The bitter young man in the end learned that the world, and the deck of cards it dealt him, wasn't against him and having a persecution complex would only makes things more difficult not easy for the combative Joe Bell.Made in 1939 "Dust be my Destiny" is not as corny and dated as you would have at first thought. John Garfield as well as Priscilla Lane's performances don't come across looking phony at all and. Their attempt to live honest and decent lives in spite of being on the lamb shows that, at least with John Garfield's Joe Bell, whatever miscarriage of justice that they were victim of it didn't drive the two to forsake the law and choose a life of crime.

You can see why John Garfield rocketed to stardom just from watching this film: he has a tough but charismatic demeanor and is a natural born actor. He plays an embittered, cynical and distrustful youth, who is released from prison at the start, being told he was wrongly convicted when the real culprit was caught and confessed. He vows that he will never again trust authorities. He lands in a state work farm because of vagrancy and meets Priscilla Lane, the stepdaughter of the yard boss (Stanley Ridges) and they fall in love. But they are caught in an embrace by Ridges, who slaps Lane, incensing Garfield enough to hit Ridges, who dies of a heart attack due to his poor health caused by alcoholism. They flee and feel safe over the border but are almost penniless, so they take advantage of a promotion at a movie theater and get married on stage free of charge with lots of bonuses, despite it being a humiliating experience for both. Then they hear Ridges' death is considered a murder and they are wanted fugitives. Lane wants to turn themselves in, but Garfield will have none of that, and she sticks by him. Eluding police, they are given a job by kindly diner owner, Henry Armetta, who even helps them escape when Lane is caught and Garfield breaks her out of jail. This was an exciting nail-biting sequence. Garfield then lucks out when he is at the right place at the right time: he photographs details of a bank robbery in progress and gets a job as photographer with a newspaper. Because of these sensational photos and the fame it was sure to bring, Garfield was again threatened with being exposed as the wanted fugititve. This film is worth seeing for Garfield's performance, but Henry Armetta and Alan Hale are both excellent, and there's an enjoyable Max Steiner score. For those who are interested in credit abberations, Victor Kilian and Frank Jaquet are both in the onscreen cast credits but were edited out of the film. I've seen this happen occasionally for one performer in movies of the 1930's, but this is the only time I can remember it occurred for two.