GodeonWay Since the consensus on IMDB seems to be that this James Garner vehicle is really outstanding, I'm only adding this short critique to warn hard-boiled and picky viewers that they might be a little disappointed if they're expecting something extraordinary.Sure, James Garner is as charismatic as ever - though in this picture he perhaps overplays his trademark easygoing persona. The supporting actors are all fine as well, and the film moves along quickly and pleasantly. It's a good movie, sure enough.But the script is more 'amusing' than funny, and is by no means as original as it is sometimes made out to be. Might seem that way to folks who aren't western addicts, but if you've seen Destry Rides Again or The Boy From Oklahoma or Cat Ballou or even the Audie Murphy version of Destry, you'll have seen much better satires of the western genre.And if it's pure laughs in a western you're looking for, The Paleface, Son of Paleface and Alias Jesse James are probably at the top of the heap. Still, if you're in the mood for something light, colorful and enjoyable, Support Your Local Sheriff will do nicely. And for Garner fans, it will be a delight.

Scott7411 For anyone who grew up on 1950s and '60s westerns (both TV shows and movies), this thing is a hoot. I know Roger Ebert in 1969 gave it a two out of four stars, and panned it for being what it quite precisely intended to be: spoof penance for all those old Western character actors...including Elam, Morgan, even star James Garner himself, being punished for Maverick (or reprising his best western role, take your pick). Even the over-the-top western music which critics deplored (a separate character unto itself, very much a part of the spoof and equally hilarious), was clearly intentional. But what this was for me (I just watched it after a few beers and several decades of avoidance), was a nostalgic laugh fest. And something else: This was James Garner at the top of his ironic game, preparing for his best and probably most popular role ever, two or three short years later: Jim Rockford. For Garner this was less a Maverick spoof retrospective, more like: What if Jim Rockford stepped through a time warp and arrived in an 1880s madcap western gold rush town? It's not Peckinpah or Eastwood or Leone, not even Mel Brooks slapstick. But it's good western comedy, nonetheless, and it is GREAT Garner.

Prismark10 After playing Maverick on television, James Garner probably was seen as a great fit in this comedy/western. The film parodies the iconoclastic western hero who rides in lawless frontier town and tames it while he is on his way to Australia.Garner plays the reluctant hero using his wits as well as sharpshooting skills aided by a reluctant sidekick Jack Elam to bring down the bad guys that includes Bruce Dern who we see gun a man down early in the film.The movie is good natured fun with good rapport between the main leads and set ups such as a cell without bars. It establishes a right blend of comedy which does not stray into a Blazing Saddles type swipe at the genre but is a well crafted gentle poke instead.It is still enjoyable today and shows that James Garner was the master of light comedy.

bigverybadtom Sadly, it didn't get the fame of other Westerns, but it definitely was better than most of them. The topnotch performers and direction helped make a parody Western just ridiculous enough without overdoing it, and it kept us interested in what would happen next and how it would all conclude.James Garner stars as a drifter who enters a Western town where gold had been found, and a gold rush has brought a bunch of wild people in-but they all fear the Danby clan, who take part of the gold from the townsfolk and whose members kill people at will, with no fear of any law. Finally Garner intervenes, and the mayor and city council hire him for the new sheriff, as two had already been killed and the third fled in fear. It turns out Garner is a very fast and accurate shooter, and the Danbys learn this when they try to spring their jailed relative. Stupid as they are, they learn how brave and clever and deadly the new sheriff is. What to do?Garner's character not only resorts to gun-play, but often uses his wits to outsmart the bad guys, and he works with little support from the cowardly townspeople. Eat your heart out, Alan Ladd!