cult film freak: JAMES GARNER RETURNS IN 'SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER'

Written by James M. Tate / 5/26/2016 / No comments / bruce dern , comedy , double-feature , harry morgan , jack elam , james garner , seventies , sixties , western

JAMES GARNER RETURNS IN 'SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER'

5/26/2016 | No comment

Twilight Time Double BluRay

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER: Whew, that was close... A close call... For when a great thing is ruined by trying to continue it, especially when the original, through exposition by Jack Elam, has the character's futures all mapped out till the grave, it would be tough to make a sequel to SHERIFF keeping the same leading man in James Garner but with a different woman; this time Garner plays a rambling con-man the likes of his MAVERICK persona whose name is Latigo...

Year: 197 Local Gunfighter: **

He gets off a train in the town of Purgatory, on the verge of a gold boom, or something, and Jack Elam is a sloppy fella working around horses, again, while Harry Morgan's gun-blasting daughter is tough right outta the box, played by Suzanne Pleshette as Patience, wherein the last ingenue was named Prudy, and Burt Kennedy is the writer/producer still... guess this is a RUNAWAY BRIDE type of sequel... but why mention something so awful?

And yet, alas, GUNFIGHTER isn't too great a ride unlike the nearly perfect SHERIFF. Garner's character has a few more layers than the no-nonsense lucky one-tick pony, but seems to be lazily revisiting his far more likable con artist from television yesterday...

And there's an overall plot to be had, somewhere, about two different groups of miners, between the town, involved in a two-year war on who gets to the gold first. And instead of being on the way to Australia, reluctantly taking the job... this time, of a Gunfighter... Garner's excuse is he's waiting three days for the local doctor to remove a tattoo of a woman's... an old woman's... name on his chest: horrible writing at its best, or worst. Not that GUNFIGHTER is the bottom of the barrel fare, but with dialogue that goes in circles before catching onto something, anything, that can provide a worthwhile little story, or even a scene worth watching, it all plays out like a TV movie that wouldn't have made it past the green-light stage if it weren't for the predecessor – the only reason why to buy the Twilight Time double-feature in the first place.

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Tags : bruce dern , comedy , double-feature , harry morgan , jack elam , james garner , seventies , sixties , western

James M. Tate

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