''Support Your Local Gunfighter'' is a 1971 American comic

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Burt Kennedy Burton Raphael Kennedy (September 3, 1922 – February 15, 2001) was an American screenwriter and film director, director known mainly for directing Westerns. Budd Boetticher called him "the best Western writer ever." Biography Kennedy was b ...

and starring

James Garner James Scott Garner (né Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Ch ...

and

Suzanne Pleshette Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American actress. Pleshette was known for her roles in theatre, film, and television. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. For her role as Emily Hart ...

. The screenplay was originally written by

James Edward Grant James Edward Grant (July 2, 1905 – February 19, 1966) was an American short-story writer, screenwriter, and film director, who contributed to more than 50 films between 1935 and 1971. He collaborated with John Wayne on 12 projects, starting w ...

, who died in 1966; Kennedy rewrote it but let Grant keep sole credit. The picture shares many cast and crew members and plot elements with the earlier '' Support Your Local Sheriff!'' but is not a sequel. The supporting cast features

Jack Elam William Scott "Jack" Elam (November 13, 1920 – October 20, 2003) was an American film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies (sometimes spoofing his villaino ...

Harry Morgan Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both '' December Bride'' (1954–1959) and '' Pet ...

John Dehner John Dehner (DAY-ner; born John Dehner Forkum; November 23, 1915February 4, 1992), also credited Dehner Forkum, was an American stage, radio, film, and television character actor. From the late 1930s to the late 1980s, he amassed a long list o ...

, Marie Windsor, Dub Taylor,

Joan Blondell Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on a film career, estab ...

and

Ellen Corby Ellen Hansen Corby (June 3, 1911 – April 14, 1999) was an American actress and screenwriter. She played the role of List of The Waltons characters#Esther Walton, Esther "Grandma" Walton on the Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS television ...

. Garner later wrote that the film was, "not as good as ''Support Your Local Sheriff''".

Plot

Latigo Smith, a gambler and confidence man, is traveling by train in frontier-era

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

with the rich and powerful Goldie. Goldie wants desperately to marry him, a fate he wants to avoid. He hands the train's headwaiter a generous tip to assist him off the train without letting Goldie realize that he is fleeing. He sneaks off the train at Purgatory, a small mining town. He discovers that two mining companies, run by bitter rivals Taylor Barton and Colonel Ames, are vying to find a " mother lode" of gold buried somewhere nearby. Dynamite blasts periodically rock the town to its foundations. Latigo consults the town doctor about an embarrassing problem that is not immediately revealed, but turns out to be a large tattoo of Goldie on his chest. Latigo's great weakness is a periodic uncontrollable urge to bet on

roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...

; he soon loses all of his money playing his "lucky" number, 23. Penniless, he starts romancing local saloon keeper Miss Jenny. Being mistaken for infamous

gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers () or in the late 19th and early 20th century gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in shootouts. Today, the term "gunslin ...

"Swifty" Morgan gives Latigo an idea. He talks amiable ne'er-do-well Jug May into impersonating Swifty. Latigo attracts the attention of Patience Barton, the hot-tempered daughter of Taylor (the townsfolk call her "The Sidewinder"), who, desperate to escape her frontier existence, wants to attend "Miss Hunter's College on the Hudson River, New York, for Young Ladies of Good Families", and live a life of refinement in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. When Latigo and Jug side with the Bartons in a dispute, Ames sends a telegram to the real Swifty Morgan, informing him of their deception. Swifty arrives in town and immediately challenges the hapless Jug to a gunfight, but at the appointed time and place, Latigo is there in his place, sitting atop a donkey loaded with crates of dynamite. Swifty calls Latigo's bluff, but he is startled by the next mine explosion and accidentally shoots himself. The blast also panics the donkey, which charges into the Bartons' saloon. The dynamite explodes, blowing up the building, uncovering the mother lode, and removing Latigo's troublesome tattoo but leaving him otherwise uninjured. Latigo finally wins big at roulette after betting $10,000 of the Bartons' money on number 23. From the back of a train taking Latigo and Patience to Denver to get married, Jug narrates the outcomes: Patience never goes to Miss Hunter's College, but her seven daughters do; Taylor gets his flat fixed and marries Miss Abigail; the Colonel goes broke; "Swifty Morgan's still trying to get his boots off", and Jug goes on to become a big star in Italian Westerns.

Cast

as Latigo Smith *

as Patience Barton *

as Taylor Barton *

as Jug May *

as Col. Ames * Marie Windsor as Goldie *

Roy Glenn Roy Edwin Glenn, Sr. (June 3, 1914 – March 12, 1971) was an American character actor. Early life Glenn was born in Pittsburg, Kansas on June 3, 1914. Career Glenn's career spanned five decades, beginning in radio in the 1940s with multiple ...

as Headwaiter * Dick Curtis as Bud Barton * Dub Taylor as Doc Shultz *

as Jenny *

as Abigail Ames * Kathleen Freeman as Mrs. Martha Perkins * Virginia Capers as Effie * Henry Jones as Ez *

Ben Cooper Ben Cooper (September 30, 1933 – February 24, 2020) was an American film and television actor who won a Golden Boot Award in 2005 for his work in Westerns. Stage Cooper appeared on Broadway in '' Life with Father'' (1939). He debuted in th ...

as Colorado *

Grady Sutton Grady Harwell Sutton (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television character actor from the 1920s to the 1970s. He appeared in more than 180 films. Early years Sutton was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the son ...

as Storekeeper *

Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez (born Ramiro Gonzalez Gonzalez; May 24, 1925 – February 6, 2006) was an American character actor and comedian, best known for his appearances in a number of John Wayne films. Life and career His father was a trumpet ...

as Ortiz * Gene Evans as Butcher *

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both Majo ...

as "Swifty" Morgan (uncredited) A. Also appeared in ''Support Your Local Sheriff!''

Reception

''Support Your Local Gunfighter'' received mixed critical reviews. It holds a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on thirteen reviews. In the commentary on the

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art film, art ho ...

DVD, Michael Schlesinger observes that the story parodies ''

Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa, who also co-wrote the screenplay and was one of the producers. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamat ...

'', with the protagonist riding into a quarreling town and hiring himself out to both sides to con everyone. He also notes the plethora of beloved character actors in the cast and believes the picture is much better than its reputation would have it. A year later, United Artists used B-roll of the train chugging through the mountains for the title sequence of '' Man of the East''.

References

External links

* * *
James Garner Interview on the ''Charlie Rose Show''
{{Yojimbo 1971 films 1970s Western (genre) comedy films American parody films American Western (genre) comedy films Films directed by Burt Kennedy Films scored by Jack Elliott (composer) 1970s parody films Films about roulette United Artists films 1971 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language Western (genre) comedy films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links