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James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan, Jack Elam
Writer:
William Bowers
Undoubtedly the greatest philosophical and theological question that has
haunted mankind throughout the ages has to be: Does God have a sense of
humor? Well, maybe not the greatest. And maybe not even that
philosophical... Hmm... Well... Be that as it may, I firmly believe I
have found the final answer, the nail in the coffin, the bullet in the back
as it were, regarding this colossal conundrum. I present Exhibit A: Support
Your Local Sheriff.
If you're not familiar with this particular Western... er, Classic... you're
most definitely in for a treat. En route to Australia, Jason McCullough
(James Garner) passes through a small gold-rush town hoping to pick up a
little extra cash (gold) for the trip. Upon arrival, he's landed himself
the job of Sheriff, deputized the town derelict, arrested the meanest,
horneriest gunslinger in these here parts, and won the heart of
the mayor's beautiful daughter (Joan Hackett). And that's all in the
first five minutes!
If you think the term "Classic" may be pushing it a bit, there's
certainly a lot of other, more appropriate terms to choose from in
describing this predecessor to Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles: silly,
comic, fun, kookie... All in all, a very entertaining romp through
the old west. And James Garner's signature tongue-in-cheek
mystique - honed in such vintage Television series as "Maverick" and
"Rockford Files" - makes the movie a... well... I just can't seem get
away from this... Classic!
As a DVD, it probably won't rank quite as highly as the movie itself. The
picture shows a fair amount of grain, and vaguely desaturated colors
indicative of both the film's age and lack of restoration. That's not
to say it looks bad - it still beats the pants of even the best VHS - but
it definitely could've used a bit of cleaning before going to disc.
Unfortunately, the sound quality fares much worse. Now a mono
presentation is fine and dandy, especially since this isn't the type of
movie that a 5.1 remix, with sub 25hz. LFE and horses galloping past your
head would add a stitch to. But still, I felt like I was playing an
extended session of "find the remote" to keep up with the changes in the
soundtrack volume. It was like there was no uniformity to the mix. Very
annoying indeed!
Still, the movie quality outweighs these misgivings (and, heck, it
is 16:9 enhanced), so it'd be a worthwhile endeavor. And speaking
of endeavors, this seems like a good time to return to solving grand
questions of the ages....
In college, I belonged to a church which had only one requirement for
membership, and it had nothing to do with money! (College students are
poor anyway, which is why you don't see too many tele-evangelists on
campus.) Before making a real, heartfelt and enduring commitment to
this church, everyone had to sit through at least one session of
Support Your Local Sheriff. And they had to like it!
Now, without a doubt, this whole situation must've made God laugh. I
mean, if he didn't think a bunch of bozos using a James Garner movie to
weed out the weaklings wasn't funny, then things like a gunslinger who
shoots bullets through holes in washers, a prison without bars - that works
better than most with - and a woman who rolls around in the mud,
soaks her head in a bucket and climbs a tree to impress the new sheriff
must certainly have left the Big Guy rolling in the aisles (er, clouds?).
And if this doesn't guarantee you'll find Support Your Local
Sheriff hilarious yourself, well... I guess that'd be another one of
those haunting philosophical questions for the ages.
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Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.