Support Your Local Sheriff!

Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Burt Kennedy

Starring: James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan, Jack Elam

From: United Artists

A movie leaving Prime at the end of the month, that I had seen before a little less than 30 (!) years ago, and last year there was discussion of it & its sequel on a messageboard… as I haven’t tackled too many Westerns in months, this was a nice way to fix what I’ve been deficient in honestly in the past year. This was a comedic Western that cleverly spoofed its tropes without any mean-spirited streaks.

James Garner portrayed gunslinger Jason McCullough; he was passing through the rowdy town of Calendar when he decides to become temporary sheriff for the paycheck. He’s on a slow journey to Australia, as he mentioned a few dozen times. It’s full of ruffians who either run off or murder the previous sheriffs; it is de facto run by the corrupt Danby family. There is a romance but that was amusing and Joan Hackett’s clumsy character entertained me.

Heck, the entire movie entertained me. It was a nice sendup of genre tropes which is helped by Garner’s natural charm. Even the absurdity of the sheriff constantly tricking a bearded Bruce Dern to stay in a jail without bars worked in this scenario. Such character actors as Dern, Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan, Kathleen Freeman, Jack Elam and others were naturally an asset.

Sheriff is a laidback, breezy motion picture; those vibes won’t be for all tastes. However, for me it was both funny & charming; a happy revisit, it was. There’s also action in the finale. To answer an obvious question many will have: no I’ve never witnessed the 1971 sequel Support Your Local Sheriff, which reunited quite a few people from this production but the actors played different roles. One day that will be viewed then reviewed.