In frontier-era Colorado, gambler and con man Latigo Smith is travelling by train with Goldie, a wealthy and powerful woman who is determined to marry him. To escape her, he gets off at Purgatory, a small mining town where two rival companies, run by Taylor Barton and Colonel Ames, are searching for a large vein of gold buried nearby. Amid dynamite blasts and gambling debts, Latigo plays both sides to turn the situation to his advantage.

How it was made

The film was originally known as Latigo and was shot in August and September 1970. The screenplay started from an older story by James Edward Grant, who had died in 1966; Burt Kennedy rewrote it, though Grant kept sole credit. It shares many cast and crew members and plot elements with Support Your Local Sheriff!, but it is not a sequel. According to screenwriter Bill Bowers, the title was changed at the last minute. The premise of a drifter who hires himself out to two sides recalls Yojimbo, as Michael Schlesinger notes in the DVD commentary.

Reception and legacy

Critics gave it mixed reviews, and it holds a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on thirteen reviews. Garner himself judged it not as good as Support Your Local Sheriff!. Over time it has been regarded more kindly than its reputation suggests, largely for its roster of beloved character actors. A year later, United Artists reused footage of the train winding through the mountains for the title sequence of Man of the East.

Stills

Trailer

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Trivia

Last-minute title change

According to Bill Bowers, the title was changed from Latigo to Support Your Local Gunfighter shortly before release, a decision he felt was ill-advised.

Reused footage

A year after release, United Artists used the shots of the train crossing the mountains in the title sequence of Man of the East.

More films by Burt Kennedy

The War Wagon1967

Support Your Local Sheriff!1969

The Train Robbers1973

Hannie Caulder1971

Return of the Seven1966

Suburban Commando1991

Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.