Dust Be My Destiny

19391939
PassedPassed
1h 28m

Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, leading to... Read allEmbittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, leading to the older man's death due to a weak heart. Joe and Mabel go on the run as he thinks no-on... Read allEmbittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, leading to the older man's death due to a weak heart. Joe and Mabel go on the run as he thinks no-one would believe a nobody like him.

6.9/10

713

Director
- Lewis Seiler
Writers
- Robert Rossen(screen play)
- Jerome Odlum(novel)
- Seton I. Miller(uncredited)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Henry Armetta and Priscilla Lane in Dust Be My Destiny (1939)

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

Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, leading to the older man's death due to a weak heart. Joe and Mabel go on the run as he thinks no-one would believe a nobody like him. —Ian Harries <ih@doc.ic.ac.uk>

orchestral music score newspaper editor bank robbery trial 6 more

Taglines
- A boy and a girl...their eyes on the stars...and no place to lay their heads. Fighting the world for the right to live! Here is the simple story of a truly great love! (Print Ad-Victoria Times, ((Victoria, BC)) 5 October 1939)
Genres
Certificate
- Passed
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

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. When writer Robert Rossen refused to write the new ending, Seton I. Miller was brought in to write it.

Goofs
When Joe and Mabel are caught by Charlie embracing in the barn, she removes her hand from Joe's shoulder. But, in the next shot, her hand is back on his shoulder.

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
Also played when Mabel and Joe say goodbye to Nick

Top review

9/10

John Garfield and Priscilla Lane

Down on his luck John Garfield finally sees his fortunes improve, and I do mean improve, when he teams up with Priscilla Lane. But the bad luck returns and the two end up on the lam for what turns out to be a pretty good movie.

A few scenes shot on location spice things up a bit and there are some very nice supporting performances as well.

The lead actors, John Garfield and the beautiful Priscilla Lane, work well together, as evidenced in their previous work on Four Daughters and Daughters Courageous.

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