4.09.2010

support your local sheriff


the year: 1969

the genre: western



the cast: James Garner (Jason McCullough); Jack Elam (Jake); Joan Hackett (Prudy Perkins); Harry Morgan (Mayor Olly Perkins); Walter Brennan (Pa Danby); Bruce Dern (Joe Danby)



the plot: A frontier town in the Old West springs up overnight when the rather klutzy and hotheaded Prudy Perkins discovers gold in a grave during a funeral. Her father Olly becomes mayor of the new settlement. He and the other members of the town council bemoan the facts that the place has become a drunken free-for-all, and that in order to ship out all the gold that is mined, they must pay a hefty fee to the Danbys, a family of ranchers/bandits who control the only route out of town. This all changes with the arrival of Jason McCullough, who is passing through town "on his way to Australia." Needing money after discovering the town's ruinious rate of inflation, McCullough demonstrates his shooting ability to the mayor and town council, and becomes the new sheriff. McCullough acquires a semi-willing deputy in the form of the extremely scruffy Jake, who was previously the "town character." The arrest of Joe Danby ignites the wrath of the patriarch of the Danby family and while the rest of the town immediately quiets down under McCullough's reign, "Pa" mounts various efforts to get Joe out of jail.



count: the percentage of inflation at Emma's Tasty Food Emporium.

don’t miss: how the Sheriff gets Joe to stay in the jail cell with no bars.



check out: Prudy's biscuit baking skills.

listen for: "Sixty for who and forty for who?"



extra bonus points: if you know the name of Prudy's mining company.

the scene: arresting Joe and keeping him in jail (PG clip: some gunfighting in the first few seconds - after all, it IS a western.)

7 comments:

Erika said...

Happy birthday to James Garner, who turned 82 on Wednesday!

another favorite quote:
"Prudy for once in your life do the smart thing and keep your big fat mouth shut!" Ah, loving parents.

Millie Motts said...

Answer: Millard Frymore Memorial Mining Company (named for the man whose funeral was being held when the gold was discovered).

Erika said...

"He was a good man..."

Laney said...

I LOVE when he takes Joe's gun, puts him back in jail and then empty's out the bullets! Ah-ha!

B Porter said...

I didn't know there was that much plot to the movie. I thought he was mostly just on his way to Australia.

Unknown said...

Does anyone know the name of the pretty blond actress who played Emma, uncredited in the film..?

Unknown said...

Who played the waitress at Emma's eatery that got her butt pinched?