Product Details

• Actors: James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan, Jack Elam
• Directors: Burt Kennedy
• Writers: William Bowers
• Producers: Bill Finnegan, William Bowers
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: United Artists
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301977203
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,647 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

While hardly the first Western spoof to ride out of Hollywood, Support Your Local Sheriff is easily one of the best. James Garner plays the confident, cool-headed cowboy who strolls into a wild gold rush town on the way to Australia and takes the job as sheriff. Like a parody of My Darling Clementine by way of Rio Bravo, he arrests the hotheaded but hopelessly confused son (Bruce Dern) of a ruthless ranching magnate (Walter Brennan). Stuck with a half-built jail (where he keeps his prisoner penned up with pure psychology and a few spatters of red paint), a rummy sidekick (google-eyed Jack Elam in one of his first comic turns), and a disaster-prone tomboy (Joan Hackett), he takes on a succession of gunfighters with increasing exasperation. "Sure is a childish way for a grown man to make a living," he laments before chasing one gunman out of Dodge by pelting him with rocks. Directed with laconic ease by veteran Western director Burt Kennedy, it's a clever spoof of familiar conventions in a lighthearted vein, more understated and affectionate than Mel Brooks's outrageous farce Blazing Saddles. It inspired a slew of imitators, including a decade of silly Disney Westerns that sank the genre in slapstick shenanigans, and was followed in 1971 by Kennedy's pseudosequel Support Your Local Gunfighter, which reteamed Garner and Elam in a more mercenary story of con artists and gunslingers. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taming the Wild West, September 29, 2003

By 

bixodoido (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Support Your Local Sheriff (DVD)

James Garner stars as Jason McCullough in this hilarious Western spoof. This was the era of John Wayne westerns, and this movie came about at just about the right time to make fun of the western and what it had become, often scarcely more than a cookie-cutter production with a predictable plot, scowling gunfighters, and the same basic storyline. McCullough is a wandering frontiersman on his way to Australia, and happens upon a small mining town which has sprung up overnight and become too big for its laws. He decides to earn a little extra money before moving on, and takes a job as the sheriff of the town. Consequently he's forced to deal with the Danby bunch, a rancher family who's swindling and intimidating the mine owners. Between dealing with the Danbys (headed by the very funny Walter Brennan), trying to keep his prisoners in a jail with no bars, and fighting off the advances of the hapless mayor's daughter, McCullough has his hands full.

Garner is great in his role as the opportunistic, but effective, sheriff. Jack Elam co-stars as his deputy, and the antics of this pair are enough to keep anyone entertained throughout the movie. Anyone familiar with Westerns from this era will appreciate the humor of this parody on Hollywood's Wild West.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Support Your Local Sherrif, January 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Support Your Local Sheriff (DVD)

This is one of those old comedies that you can watch over and over again. My family has worn out a VHS copy, so I'm happy that a DVD release is coming up. This movie not only stars James Garner, but several other popular actors from the 60's & 70's. Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan, and Jack Elam to name a few. When Jason McColough, played by Garner, rides into town, he finds it right smack in the middle of a gold rush- and right smack in the middle of the problems that too much too soon can bring. There is fighting in the streets, gunmen shooting up the town, not to mention the revelry going on at Madam Orr's place. Needing work to finiance his gold prospecting Garner accepts the job of sherrif. The Mayor (Morgan) happens to have a pretty but accident prone daughter. Her misadventures while trying to attract the new sherrif's attention add great comedy to the plot. The sherrif's work is cut out for him when the Danby's led by pa Danby (Brennan) try to spring the youngest Danby from jail. He makes the town drunk (Played by Elam) his deputy and from there things just get funnier. When the dust settles everyone is alive and happy. Not the most complicated plot ever written, but light comedy is not supposed to be. Easy and fun to watch.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful western comedy. . . ., January 12, 2000

By 

John A. Kuczma "RogueUlfric" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Support Your Local Sheriff [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It won't take very long to realize that Support Your Local Sheriff is little more than a feature length Maverick episode (unfortunately minus Jody Foster). Don't take that as a negative. This is a wonderfully entertaining romp through the silliest mining town you'll ever encounter.

James Garner is terrific as the lightning quick gunslinger with even quicker wits. The supporting cast includes Harry Morgan, Walter Brennan, Bruce Dern and Jack Elam. This may be Elam's finest performance ever.

There's plenty of action, plenty of laughter and a dollop of romance thrown in for good measure. Support Your Local Sheriff is great family entertainment; perfect for a rainy day, a lazy day, or just while you're passing through on your way to Australia.