Support Your Local Gunfighter!
Encyclopedia
Support Your Local Gunfighter is a 1971 comic western film starring James Garner
, directed by Burt Kennedy
, and written by James Edward Grant
. The film shares many cast and crew members and plot elements with the earlier Support Your Local Sheriff!
but is not a sequel. It actually parodies Yojimbo
and its remake A Fistful of Dollars
, using the basic storyline of a stranger who wanders into a feuding town and pretends to work as an enforcer for both sides.
traveling across frontier-era Colorado
, with his would-be fiancée, a rich and powerful woman named Goldie. Looking for a way to escape this situation, he manages to slip off the train at a jerkwater stop, and finds himself in Purgatory, a small town wherein two rival companies of miners, led by Taylor Barton and Colonel Ames, are in a frantic round-the-clock race to find "the motherlode" of gold
buried somewhere under the town.
After consulting the town doctor about getting an embarrassing Goldie-related tattoo removed, Latigo succumbs to a gambling
compulsion and loses all his money at roulette
. After hearing a rumor that an infamous gunslinger
named "Swifty" Morgan is in town, Latigo concocts a scam, using the amiable ne'er-do-well Jug May to impersonate the man. In the process of this, the new arrival attracts the attention of Patience "The Sidewinder" Barton, the hot-tempered daughter of Taylor, who wants nothing more than to escape the town and become a woman of refinement in New York City
(Miss Hunter's College on the Hudson River, New York, for young ladies of good families). When Latigo and the fake Swifty side with the Bartons, Ames sends a telegram to the real gunslinger, informing him of the impostor.
Swifty soon arrives in town. Latigo has replaced Jug for the climactic gunfight and sits atop a jackass
-load of dynamite
, attempting to bluff the gunfighter. The show-down ends with one of the massive mining blasts that regularly rock the town. Swifty is startled and accidentally shoots himself in the foot, and the panicked jackass, with Latigo aboard, blows up in the saloon. This blast uncovers the mother lode for the Bartons, and also burns off Latigo's troublesome tattoo.
Latigo's gambling compulsion finally pays off when, financially backed by the Bartons, he wins big at roulette (he played the number "23 black" in all three bets that he made in the movie), betting $10,000 on the final outcome. Now almost as rich as Patience, he marries her. According to a monologue
delivered by Jug from the back of a train at the end of the movie, Morgan is still trying to get his boot off, Patience doesn't get to go to the school in New York that she had mentioned in the movie, but sends her seven daughters to that school, and Jug goes on to "become a big star in Italian western
s."
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
, directed by Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy was an American screenwriter and director known for mainly directing film Westerns.After World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division, Muskegon, Michigan-born Kennedy found work writing for radio, then used his training as a cavalry officer to secure a job as a fencing trainer and...
, and written by James Edward Grant
James Edward Grant
James Edward Grant was an American short story writer and screenwriter who contributed to more than fifty films between 1935 and 1971....
. The film shares many cast and crew members and plot elements with the earlier Support Your Local Sheriff!
Support Your Local Sheriff!
Support Your Local Sheriff! is a 1969 American comic western film which parodies the often-filmed scenario of an iconoclastic new arrival who tames a lawless frontier town...
but is not a sequel. It actually parodies Yojimbo
Yojimbo
is a Japanese word for bouncer, or bodyguard. The term may also refer to:* Yojimbo , a 1961 film by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune* Yojimbo , an information organizer for Mac OS X* Yo-Jin-Bo, a visual novel about three yojinbo...
and its remake A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in...
, using the basic storyline of a stranger who wanders into a feuding town and pretends to work as an enforcer for both sides.
Cast
- James GarnerJames GarnerJames Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
- Latigo Smith - Suzanne PleshetteSuzanne PleshetteSuzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
- Patience Barton - Harry MorganHarry MorganHarry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
- Taylor Barton - Jack ElamJack ElamWilliam Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies .-Early life:...
- Jug May - John DehnerJohn DehnerJohn Dehner was an American actor in radio, television, and films, playing countless roles, often as a droll villain. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and television programs. Prior to acting, Dehner had worked as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and later became a radio...
- Col. Ames - Marie WindsorMarie WindsorMarie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...
- Goldie - Dick CurtisDick CurtisDick Curtis was an American actor who made over 230 film and television appearances during his career.-Career:Curtis was born Richard Dye in Newport, Kentucky. A tall, hulking actor, standing at 6' 3", Curtis appeared in films stretching from Charles Starrett to The Three Stooges. In most of his...
- Bud Barton - Dub TaylorDub TaylorWalter Clarence Taylor, Jr. , better known as Dub Taylor, was an American actor who worked extensively in Westerns, but also in comedy from the 1940s into the 1990s.-Early life:...
- Doc Shultz - Joan BlondellJoan BlondellRose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
- Jenny - Ellen CorbyEllen CorbyEllen Corby was an American actress. She is most widely remembered for the role of "Grandma Esther Walton" on the CBS television series The Waltons, for which she won three Emmy Awards...
- Abigail Ames - Kathleen FreemanKathleen FreemanKathleen Freeman was an American film, television, and stage actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed tart maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors, almost invariably to comic effect.-Early life:Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois...
- Mrs. Perkins - Henry JonesHenry Jones-Arts:* Henry Jones , poet and dramatist, born Drogheda, Louth* Henry Arthur Jones , English playwright* Henry Festing Jones , author* Henry Jones Thaddeus , Irish painter...
- Ez - Ben CooperBen CooperBen Cooper is a retired American actor of film and television, who won a Golden Boot award in 2005 for his work in westerns.-Early films:...
- Colorado - Grady SuttonGrady SuttonGrady Harwell Sutton was an American film and television actor from the 1920s to the 1970s.-Biography:Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sutton was raised in Florida where he attended St. Petersburg High School. He began his career during the silent film era and made the transition to sound films...
- Storekeeper - Chuck ConnorsChuck ConnorsChuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
- "Swifty" Morgan (uncredited)
Synopsis
Con artist Latigo Smith is on board a trainTrain
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
traveling across frontier-era Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, with his would-be fiancée, a rich and powerful woman named Goldie. Looking for a way to escape this situation, he manages to slip off the train at a jerkwater stop, and finds himself in Purgatory, a small town wherein two rival companies of miners, led by Taylor Barton and Colonel Ames, are in a frantic round-the-clock race to find "the motherlode" of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
buried somewhere under the town.
After consulting the town doctor about getting an embarrassing Goldie-related tattoo removed, Latigo succumbs to a gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
compulsion and loses all his money at roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
. After hearing a rumor that an infamous gunslinger
Gunslinger
Gunfighter, also gunslinger , is a 20th century word, used in cinema or literature, referring to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun...
named "Swifty" Morgan is in town, Latigo concocts a scam, using the amiable ne'er-do-well Jug May to impersonate the man. In the process of this, the new arrival attracts the attention of Patience "The Sidewinder" Barton, the hot-tempered daughter of Taylor, who wants nothing more than to escape the town and become a woman of refinement in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(Miss Hunter's College on the Hudson River, New York, for young ladies of good families). When Latigo and the fake Swifty side with the Bartons, Ames sends a telegram to the real gunslinger, informing him of the impostor.
Swifty soon arrives in town. Latigo has replaced Jug for the climactic gunfight and sits atop a jackass
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
-load of dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
, attempting to bluff the gunfighter. The show-down ends with one of the massive mining blasts that regularly rock the town. Swifty is startled and accidentally shoots himself in the foot, and the panicked jackass, with Latigo aboard, blows up in the saloon. This blast uncovers the mother lode for the Bartons, and also burns off Latigo's troublesome tattoo.
Latigo's gambling compulsion finally pays off when, financially backed by the Bartons, he wins big at roulette (he played the number "23 black" in all three bets that he made in the movie), betting $10,000 on the final outcome. Now almost as rich as Patience, he marries her. According to a monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
delivered by Jug from the back of a train at the end of the movie, Morgan is still trying to get his boot off, Patience doesn't get to go to the school in New York that she had mentioned in the movie, but sends her seven daughters to that school, and Jug goes on to "become a big star in Italian western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s."
External links
- James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show
- James Garner interview at Archive of American TelevisionArchive of American TelevisionThe Archive of American Television is a division of the non-profit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation that films interviews with notable people from all aspects of the television industry....