Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)

A con artist arrives in a mining town controlled by two competing companies. Both companies think he's a famous gunfighter and try to hire him to drive the other out of town.

Director:

Burt Kennedy

Writer:

James Edward Grant

Stars:

James Garner, Suzanne Pleshette, Jack Elam

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Garner	...	Latigo
Suzanne Pleshette	...	Patience
Jack Elam	...	Jug May
Harry Morgan	...	Taylor
Joan Blondell	...	Jenny
Marie Windsor	...	Goldie
John Dehner	...	Col. Ames
Henry Jones	...	Ez
Dub Taylor	...	Doc Schultz
Kathleen Freeman	...	Mrs. Perkins
Dick Curtis	...	Bud Barton
Willis Bouchey	...	McLaglen
Walter Burke	...	Morris
Gene Evans	...	Butcher
Grady Sutton	...	Storekeeper

Storyline

James Garner plays a ladies' man who ends up on the run from a conquest. He has an embarrassing problem that requires a doctor, but that is not immediately disclosed. He and a town barsweep form a plot to impersonate a well-known gunfighter so that Garner can pay off his debts and skip town before the soon to come arrival of the real gunfighter. The cast is almost identical to Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) and the humor is similar. Typical: "You hit him from behind!" Garner: "Just as hard as I could!"

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Plot Keywords:

cowboy comedy | gunfighter | doctor | mining town | con | 

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Taglines:

The story of a man who took the law into his own finger!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 1971 (UK)

Also Known As:

Latigo

Filming Locations:

Newhall, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cherokee-Brigade Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As this was a Cherokee Production, which was James Garner's own production company, there are many familiar faces, faces of cast members who worked with Garner on his series, including The Rockford Files (1974).

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Goofs

The shaving cream on Latigo's face in the barbershop scene changes between shots.

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Quotes

Latigo: [Annoyed that Jug has just used up the 100 dollars he had given him earlier, including giving much of it to some woman] You gave her the money?
Jug: Seemed like the thing to do...
Latigo: But, you idiot! Don't you know that's the surest way to make an enemy out of a woman, givin' her money?
Jug: [Confused] It is?
Latigo: Oh, I learned that a long time ago.

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Connections

References Tall in the Saddle (1944)

User Reviews

Not as good as "Support Your Local Sheriff" but still funny

This was put out in 1971 because the 1969 Western spoof "Support Your Local Sheriff" had been a big hit. It shares an almost identical cast with the first one but isn't a sequel. In this one James Garner plays Latigo. He's a con man he gets to the town of Purgatory to escape from getting married. The townspeople thinks he's the legendary gunfighter Swifty Morgan who they sent for the settle a mine dispute. Also around are Taylor (Harry Morgan) who hired him, his high strung daughter Patience (Suzanne Pleshette) and Jug May (Jack Elam) who becomes his helper.

This isn't as fun as the earlier one because most of the jokes here were already used or are pretty bad (the explosions the town has every once in a while was a poor running gag). Also Garner's character in this one is pretty obnoxious while he was nice and kind in the earlier one. Still, this does have its moments and the cast gives it their all. I was glad to see Joan Hackett (who I found WAY too shrill) from the first one replaced by Pleshette. Pleshette (who just recently passed away) is young, full of life and lots of fun. Her attempts to kill Garner were actually pretty funny. Also Elam is on hand again and just as funny as he was in the previous one. Heck he even has the same sort of closing speech again! So, it's not as good as "Sheriff" but not bad. I give it a 7.