Latigo

This is a comedy western movie but it is a different one because there is not much fight or gunfight in it. This is very sympathetic movie also funny in some scenes.

Our hero is a new yorker guy that steals women money with charming them. He comes to west city but he doesn't like the west and the guns, horses and etc. People in this city thinks he is a hired famous gunman, he uses this identity. This is the general subject of the movie.

Acting is good for a comedy movie, there is also romance and this is a plus for this one. I liked this movie and enjoyed when watching but if you look for a classic movie don't look at this one. I watched this one at a Sunday morning.

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.

"Support Your Local Sheriff" was a very funny movie, so essentially the same cast and director to make another movie in the same style. "Support Your Local Gunfighter" is funnier without reference at all to "Sheriff", and if "Sheriff" hadn't been so good the flaws in "Gunfighter" wouldn't be so noticeable.

Except for some mild language and extensive (and very funny violence), it's unobjectionable.

Like "Sheriff", "Gunfighter" has James Garner as a western hero playing against the grain. In "Sheriff" he was a capable man "Just passing through on his way to Australia", and who, accepting the position of sheriff to clean up a town, seemed not to comprehend the western conventions the other characters were foisting onto him.

In "Gunfighter", Garner is a west-hating coward who makes a living off women by his good looks. Fleeing the latest of his conquests, who thinks they're about to be married, he stops off in the town of Purgatory just to see a doctor then head on his way. Unfortunately the mayor (Harry Morgan) and his wackaloon daughter (Suzanne Pleshette) think he's "Swifty" Morgan, a gunfighter sent for by a business rival (John Dehner). Garner persuades them the gunfighter really is his newfound sidekick (Jack Elam), takes the money, and prepares to blow town.

Chuck Connors, arriving at the end as the real "Swifty", proves, a decade before airplane, that having serious actors play deadpan in well-written comedies can be very funny indeed.

Don't watch it on the same week-end as "Sheriff". There are no points of continuity between them, and, funny as this movie is, some of "Gunfighter"'s shine will be lost by the unavoidable comparisons with its superior predecessor.

Riotous as well as delightful Western spoof compellingly directed by Burt Kennedy with entertaining and amusing scenes in which a racketeer decides to go with the mistaken identity and use it to his profitable advantage along with his bumbling sidekick . Deliberately cliché-filled , ironical Western with top-notch starring duo as James Garner as a likable swindler and Suzanne Pleshette as fem-lib daughter and his love interest , both of whom giving great lots of fun . In the old west , a stranger trickster becomes a gunslinger just for the pay , figuring he can decamp if things get tough . The picture starts and finishes with a train (it is the Durango & Silverton narrow-gage sight-seeing train in Colorado) , as it appears in the opening credits , as in closing scenes . The film talks about a con man just passing through who gets roped into being a false gunfighter (James Garner) who at the end meets his nemesis , the real infamous Pistolero named "Swiftie" Morgan (Chuck Connors) , the fastest finger in the west . As when a card player called ¨Latigo¨ comes to the small town of Purgatory , things go wrong ; as one trouble-shooting gambler always puts his finger on it or in it . He has a big problem that requires a doctor (Dub Taylor), but that is not immediately disclosed . In Purgatory two rival companies of miners, led by Taylor Barton (Henry Morgan) and Colonel Ames (John Dehner) , are in a frenetic round-the-clock race to seek "the motherlode" of gold buried somewhere under the town . Meanwhile, Latigo is helped by an inept and botcher outlaw , Jug May (Jack Elam makes a robustly likable characterization with his tongue firmly in cheek) . In the final , he uses ingenuity instead and gets to tame a lawless mining town against all odds .

This wacky spoof is packed with mayhem , lots of silly laughs and great entertainment and fun . Most of the laughters and sight gags galore work acceptably well ; humor is also bold and intelligent with a myriad of imaginative sketches . Demystified Western was one of a group of much-imitated which changed the concept of this particular genre each bent on disproving a popular myth , yet tinged with humor , spoof and combining with anti-heroes , and the inevitable protagonist decadence . Neatly subverts every Western cliché it encounters , yet keeps respect for formula Western . This is a follow-up , not a sequel to ¨Support your local sheriff¨ (1969) also starred by James Garner , Jack Elam and Harry Morgan . The formula deals to enhance the comics observations of the western originated on the decade 60s with the following filmmakers : Andrew McLagen and Burt Kennedy , fine director of this movie , and a bit later on , Mel Brooks directed the indispensable ¨Blazing saddles¨ , a surrealist , extreme and gross-out spoof with the ordinary bunch of loonies and loopies . Burt Kennedy directed similar Western blending comedy such as : ¨Support your local gunfighter (one of his better spoof Western)¨ , ¨Support your local sheriff¨ (his highpoint) , ¨Dirty Dingus Mcgee¨ , ¨War Wagon¨ and ¨ The Good guys and bad guys¨ . The picture is wonderfully amused and enjoyable , with James Garner as a tough gambler in his Maverick image who uses brains as well as brawny and guns . James Edward Grant's screenplay besides having more than its fair scraps of funny lines , throws up rich roles . Thus , James Garner is perfect as the deadpan womanizer who winds up becoming a fake gunman , as he convinces a colleague to carry out several lies among townsfolk . Special mention to Jack Elam as the sympathetic , snide brawler clearly relishing his comic relief . Remaining support cast is excellent , such as : Harry Morgan , Henry Jones , Joan Blondell , John Dehner , Willis Bouchey , Dub Taylor , Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez , Ellen Corby , Gene Evans , Ben Cooper , Kathleen Freeman and Marie Windsor replaced Marilyn Maxwell as "Goldie". Colorful cinematography rightly shot by magnificent cameraman Harry Stradling Jr , Burt Kennedy's usual . Jolly and lively musical score by Jack Elliott and Allyn Ferguson .

This very funny and amiable motion picture with more than its fair share of laughters was well produced and directed by Burt Kennedy . He initially was screenwriter , his initial effort, ¨Seven men from now¨ (1956), was a superb western, the first of the esteemed collaboration between director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott. Kennedy wrote most of that series, as well as a number of others for Batjac , although it would be nearly 20 years before Wayne actually appeared in the film of a Kennedy script . In 1960 Kennedy got his first work as a filmmaker on a western, ¨The Canadians¨ (1961), but it was a critical failure . He turned to television where he wrote and directed episodes of "Lawman" (1958), "The Virginian " (1962) and most notably ¨Combat!"(1962). He returned to films in 1965 with the successful ¨The Rounders¨ (1965) with Henry Fonda and Glenn Ford , later producing and directing the pilot for the TV series of the same name. ¨Support you local gunfighter¨ results to be one of his best Western . The film will appeal to absurd, unruly , wacky Western comedy fans . This raucous Western spoof is a James Garner vehicle , if you like his particular performance , you'll enjoy this one .

Really enjoyed 'Support Your Local Sheriff' when watching it during a much needed quiet afternoon, it was enormously entertaining, very affectionate and made with very clear love for the western genre. It was hard to resist a cast with the talent that it had, and despite not really warming to Joan Hackett they all did wonderfully. So there was no doubt about seeing 'Support Your Local Gunfighter', also directed by Burt Kennedy and with James Garner and Jack Elam returning.

Despite the title suggesting that it is a sequel, 'Support Your Local Gunfighter' isn't really. Other than having the same director and a few cast members returning, the only other thing in common is the tone with its comedic spoof approach. Comparing the two, 'Supprt Your Local Gunfighter' isn't as good and doesn't handle some of its elements as well or as consistently. It is still a good deal of fun though, with much to enjoy, and have no regrets at all watching it.

The comic timing is sharper in 'Support Your Local Sheriff' and the gags funnier. 'Gunfighter' still entertains a lot, but it isn't as smooth and tries a little too hard in spots. There is a running gag too that wears out its welcome too early, straining for laughs and only raises a small smile at best at first.

'Gunfighter's' characters were far more likeable in 'Sheriff's' while still interesting, was there any need for Suzanne Pleshette's heroine to be as psychotic-like? Am still not sure about the music, it fits tonally but with what goes on not quite so much always.

However, 'Gunfighter' looks good with handsome production design and scenery especially. The script is still witty and has enough very entertaining moments. Jack Elam's final speech is a gem and his final line is one of the funniest in US screen comedy perhaps. The pace is generally lively and the story clever, the affectionate tone again present. Could definitely tell that 'Gunfighter' was made and directed by somebody that loved and understood the western genre, treating it with respect without taking it too seriously.

James Garner is charismatic and easy going, if not having the same amount of charm as before. Pleshette does her best with what she was given and Chuck Connors is formidable in his role (Bruce Dern and Walter Brennan in 'Sheriff' made more of an impression though). Harry Morgan has great comic timing and looks as though he was enjoying himself, but it is Elam, a joy here, who steals the film.

Overall, not as good but well done. 7/10