Support Your Local Sheriff 
Directed by Burt Kennedy
Written by William Bowers
1969/US
IMDb link
First viewing/Netflix rental
Joe Danby: [about his father] He’s got a heart as big as the whole outdoors, but he don’t have one brain in his poor old head.
The charisma of James Garner and the superb cast of supporting actors made me think I might be in for good Lockdown viewing. I was right.
In the Old West, a town springs up around a gold discovery by Prudy Perkins (Joan Hackett). Prudy’s father Ollie (Harry Morgan) becomes mayor. The town has not had a sheriff for years. The result is rampant lawlessness. In addition, Pa Danby (Walter Brennan) and his brood of boys control the only road into or out of town and extort an exorbitant toll.
Then Jason McCullough (Garner) rides in to town. He says he’s from Back East and is en route to Australia. The town fathers don’t have to twist his arm too hard to get him to accept the sheriff’s star. He soon deputizes local stable cleaner Jake (Jack Elam) and settles into board with Ollie and Prudy. Prudy is smitten at first sight and there is a romcom sub-theme throughout.
The Sheriff doesn’t waste much time before arresting Joe Danby (Bruce Dern) for killing a man. A combination of the Sheriff’s smarts and Joe’s dimwittedness keeps him confined in a cell without bars. Eventually, Pa Danby comes to get his boy out of Dodge.
I was so thrilled to see Walter Brennan again. He just takes everything he is in up a notch! Everybody else does what they do best. The cast makes the movie fun and several of the jokes make it genuinely funny. A feel-good film for the Lockdown.
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Yesterday, I also watched The Gay Divorcee (1934) which I have previously reviewed on this blog. I’ve seen the film several times over the years and it never fails to enchant.
