Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)

Support Your Local Gunfighter

Though the titles are similar, as is some of the cast, this isn't a sequel to Support Your Local Sheriff. In some ways it's the complete opposite of Support Your Local Sheriff. In Sheriff Garner was good with a gun, in this one he isn't. In this movie he's Latigo Smith, much more akin to Maverick than his character in Sheriff, i.e., he's slower with a gun & somewhat of a coward.

Latigo arrives in Purgatory (a town name that would've been perfect in an episode of Maverick) on the run from a woman he's jilted & conned. He, literally, wants to get something off his chest...a tattoo with the name Goldie, the woman he's running from. Latigo happens to overhear Taylor Barton (Harry Morgan), a local mining baron, talking about putting a competitor out of business, Col. Ames (John Dehner who had appeared in the old Maverick TV series), by hiring a notorious gunman, Swifty Morgan (Chuck Connors). Ever the conman, Latigo senses an opportunity to make some fast cash. He convinces Jug May (Jack Elam), a drunken & derelict cowboy if there ever was one, to impersonate the gunfighter. Jug May is about as slow as a cowboy can be when doing the fast draw; Latigo constantly outdraws him proclaiming, "I'm slow, Jug!" But Jug is really into the impersonation so he's constantly practicing his fast draw. Latigo is claiming he's going to give Jug 40% of the money he'll collect but he quotes him a figure way below that percentage.

Unfortunately for Latigo, he takes a shine to Barton's daughter, Patience (Suzanne Pleshette). Pleshette is the only real improvement in casting from Sheriff, much better than Joan Hackett. Some very funny scenes occur in the movie, such as the scene in the saloon when a man wants to have a gunfight with Jug, Latigo comes up from behind & knocks him out with a pool cue across the head. Jug says "That wasn't fair, you hit him from behind!" & Latigo replies with a straight face, "Just as hard as I could!" In a later scene a young gunfighter has come to town looking to build his reputation by killing Swifty Morgan (Jug still impersonating him). Latigo cowardly knocks him out too. While unconscious Latigo breaks a finger on the gunman's right hand. Jug observes that the gunman seemed to be a cross draw artist because of the way his holster is on, Latigo then breaks a finger on the other hand.

Finally, the real Swifty Morgan comes to town, he wants to kill the man impersonating him. By this time Latigo has really taking a liking to Jug & doesn't want to see any harm coming to him since it was Latigo that put him up to the impersonation. Thus, it's Latigo who goes out to meet Morgan but, knowing he can't outdraw him, Latigo shows up on a mule loaded down with dynamite. This is where Morgan shouts out the infamous line, " You can't have a gunfight while sitting on your a**!" Well, the dynamite goes off, blowing up Madame Orr's house & revealing a brand new rich vein of gold. Swifty's dying & wants to get his boots off,but can't; Patience can now marry Latigo & the doctor never did succeed in getting the tattoo removed.

This film is directed by Burt Kennedy who was great at doing the western spoof. The only bonus feature is the theatrical trailer & the film is in the widescreen format. July 6, 2008

A fun take on the traditional Western and full of Garner's charm

This is 1971 follow on piece to the better "Support Your Local Sheriff" from 1969. But James Garner is so likable on the screen, the movie is so light hearted, and its conventions are so rooted in the old Western (rather than being an anti-Western that was so in vogue then and now) that how can one help but love it?

Garner is teamed up again with Jack Elam and they were dynamite together. Elam's worn down drunk provides the opportunity for many jokes with his look being the first one. He makes Garner look even more polished and handsome. And their friendship takes the edge off their being scoundrels because we see their good heart. You know, the Western convention of the bad person having a heart of gold.

In this movie, Garner comes to town to take care of a problem and he meets Jug May (Elam) who goes along with a Garner's plan for Elam to impersonate (wonderfully unbelievably) a famous and deadly gunfighter named Swifty Morgan (whose identity is not revealed until the end - but it is Chuck Conners doing a turn and is not in the credits). Of course, Garner attracts all the women who come on screen. Of course, many of them are working in the local bordello - but with hearts of gold. However, the one who really wants him is Patience (Suzanne Pleshette), a rough what used to be called a tomboy, but she is really so beautiful it shines through the rough clothes they put her in.


It is all light stuff with a predictable happy ending even if there are some little twists along the way. It is fine family entertainment as the old Westerns were. The threats are never too threatening, the love interests never get too raw, and the final reconciliation of the plot is suitably fun. It is FULL of traditional Western stars and friends of Jim Garner (this is pre-Rockford Files, by the way). Enjoy.
August 13, 2007

Not Quite a Sequel

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF was a comic masterpiece and cried out, at least in terms on dollars and cents, for a sequel. So they made one, only it wasn't

Almost all of the cast from the SHERIFF appear in GUNFIGHTER but they all play completely different characters. Nothing is the same except that it takes place in the west and is funny, but not as funny as the original.

James Garner plays the role of Latigo Smith. He is a man on the run, not from the law but from a woman who expects to marry him. He goes to ground in Purgatory, a mining town. His arrival is noted by the owner of one of the town's two competing mining companies. They think he is a gunfighter hired by the other company. He's not but sees financial opportunity in the confusion. He passes himself off as the agent for the gunfighter (less danger and stress) and cons a down on his luck cowboy into playing the part of the gunfighter.

This is not a movie filled with excitement or drama. It is a comedy. It is not as funny as SHERIFF but it is funny in its own right.
November 18, 2005

Very Disappointing Follow-Up to "Support Your Local Sheriff"

"Support Your Local Sheriff" is a great James Garner comedy. "Support Your Local Gunfighter" is a disappointment, like so many sequels in the movie world. The "Gunfighter" script is as bad as the "Sheriff" script is good. For example, "Gunfighter" has nothing to match the great "prison without bars" gag in "Sheriff" August 27, 2005

James Garner is back...

James Garner is Latigo Smith, gigolo and con-man, who has a ton of problems. He hates to work, has a ex-fiance after him, a tattoo he has to get off his chest, needs money and has a gambling problem. And on top of all that he is now in Putgatory, a town trapped between two gold mines. Stars Harry Morgan, Suzanne Pleshette and Jack Elam. Funny. Not as funny as Support Your Local Sheriff, but funny all the same. April 22, 2005

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