Support Your Local Gunfighter – Review

A train is traveling with Goldie (Windsor), who is opening a new business in Denver, and getting married to boot! It’s a celebration for the rich lady. Her beau? A man named Latigo Smith (Garner), who desperately is looking to get out of this wedding date already. The next stop? A town named Purgatory. He figures it will have to do. He was into Goldie for a shot at some good money, but nothing seems worth getting hitched to the lady.

Purgatory itself is full of shootouts between competing miner groups, and raucous citizens. Patience Barton (Pleshette) stands in the street blasting away at those which look to do her harm. She means business. Her Pa Taylor (Morgan) and brother Bud (Curtis) try to talk some sense into her. Latigo Smith enters the fray, making his escape from fiancé Goldie, and breathes a bit easier, for a moment. He checks into a hotel and tries to figure out the local scene. Where is the money to be made?

Maybe this confidence man Latigo can play the competing mining companies against each other? Supposedly there is a heap of gold buried somewhere. As the players mix up and dive into the plot, shenanigans play out left and right. While it is always silly, it is also usually entertaining. Maybe there is also more to this Latigo Smith than meets the eye.

Support Your Local Gunfighter remains a comedy set in the wild west, which is full of moments of satire and poking fun at the western genre. James Garner remains a strong lead, and the wild cast around him amp the plot up to the desired plateaus. It does not differ allllll that much from Support Your Local Sheriff! as far as overall plot or comedic elements, nor does it bring any brand-new story ideas to the game. That being said, the story is good enough and Garner gets to be a new character with slightly different motivations. It is over the top, and exaggerated, but that is part of its fun. The style and presentation are definitely a bit dated, but it remains decently entertaining. If you liked the other one, this is a fine follow up despite new characters and plot.