weezeralfalfa A pleasant western farce, with Brit Kenneth More as Johnathan Tibbs, who shakes up the little Wild West town of Fractured Jaw. He just wanted to sell some British-made guns to the locals, but ends up shanghaied into becoming the latest in a series of recent sheriffs, the others having died by violent means....... Is Tibbs likely to fare any better? Well, many of the locals initially have a strong prejudice against him because he's obviously a Brit of good breeding, talking and acting: very different from the other men of this town, and probably a tinhorn when it comes to sheriffing. As Jane Mansfield(Kate), as the proprietor and singer of a saloon and boarding house discovers, he's less than handy at shooting firearms. And as the local Indians discover, he's never ridden a horse and, again, shows little aptitude in mounting or staying on a horse. But he has 2 assets that help him: He's not afraid to approach armed men, Including Indians) and talk to them. Also, he has a derringer up his sleeve, attached to his arm, that impresses everyone, who often submit to him after seeing it. Seeing this makes Kate change from acting surly toward him to deciding that maybe he is her ticket out of this forgotten town into the wide world of sophistication and urbanites......Kate lip-syncs to 3 songs sung by Connie Francis, and composed by Harry Harris. Two("Strolling Down the Lane with Bill", and "If the San Francisco Hills Could Only Talk") were sung as part of stage shows, with dancers in the background. The third: "In the Valley of Love", probably the best, was sung while accompanying Tibbs on a buckboard ride through a canyon, where the walls supposedly echoed her singing, enhancing it. Connie also sang this during the opening credits. Kate lost her strong Southern lingo, when singing......Although first billed, Robert Morley, as well as Robert Squire and David Horne, were only present in the rather brief beginning, when we supposedly are in the UK....William Campbell serves as Keeno, who has some hostile encounters with Tibbs....Henry Hull, as Mayor Masters, exhibits his signature bombastic personality, similarly seen in "Jesse James" 1939, for example.... Sidney James is the drunk in the initial stagecoach ride. .....Jonas Applegarth serves as the Indian Chief(Running Deer), who has a number of interactions with Tibbs, and serves as Kate's substitute father in her wedding to Tibbs....Charles Irwin serves as the undertaker, who is waiting for Tibbs to be shot dead......The climax involves a 4 -way battle in the boondocks, between the cowboys of the Lazy S and the Box T, who are gunning for each other, as well as for Tibbs, who is defended by Kate and her rifle. Eventually Tibbs' blood-brother Indians show up to tip the battle in Tibbs' favor. The two groups of cowboys agree to forget their differences, and behave in town....I enjoyed the film, for the most part. More and Hull, especially, are appropriately amusing, and Jane provides some serious eye candy, endearing sassiness and charm, whatever her deficiencies in acting might be. See it at YouTube.

fredcdobbs5 A comedy that takes a cultured, well-bred Englishman and plops him down in the middle of the American "Wild West" wasn't new when this film was made ("Ruggles of Red Gap" did it in 1918 and was remade at least twice) but this isn't a prime example of the premise. Although he's a bit too old for the part, Kenneth More does a good job as a gun salesman for a British firearms company owned by his family who is sent to the West to sell his family's products and the Spanish scenery fits in quite well for the American west. Veteran character actor Henry Hull gleefully chews the scenery as the crotchety, scheming mayor who finagles More into taking the job of sheriff of the tough, wild town of Fractured Jaw, which is plagued by a feud between the forces of two local ranchers and troubles with local Indians, with Bruce Cabot playing the head of one of the warring factions. On the downside, the rest of the supporting cast is weak and much of the humor falls flat.However, the film's biggest negative is Jayne Mansfield, playing a tough saloon singer who falls for More. She's just, to put it charitably, awful. She can't act to save her life, but her acting wasn't the reason she was hired for this--or any other--picture. She had done comedies before ("Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter", "The Girl Can't Help It") so she had some idea of how to deliver lines, but you sure couldn't tell by her performance in this film. She's inept to the point of embarrassment. Her chest was her single biggest talent (or talents, depending on your point of view) and even that's not enough to carry a picture. She and More have no chemistry whatsoever, and even though More gives it "the old college try", there's just nothing there.Her incompetence ruins what potential the picture had, but given the script's limitations and usually reliable director Raoul Walsh's heavy-handed direction, it really didn't have a whole lot of potential to begin with. I don't know if it was a hit or not--it may have been in England, but I can't see how American audiences would have taken to it. Western comedies don't have a particular good success record overall--"Blazing Saddles" notwithstanding--and this picture is a good example of why. There are, at most, three reasons to watch this film, Kenneth More's amusing performance being one of them, but otherwise, forget it.

Spikeopath A British comedy Western filmed in Spain, starring a bastion of English acting (Kenneth Moore), an American sex-bomb (Jayne Mansfield) and directed by the man who brought us High Sierra & White Heat (Raoul Walsh}. Yes that's quite a hodge-podge of elements and it's no surprise to find that that's exactly what the film is; a mixture of fun froth and cringe inducing oddities.The film is adapted by Howard Dimsdale from a short story written by Jacob Hay. The plot centres around Jonathon Tibbs (Moore), the young son of a family of English gunsmiths. He travels to the American West in the 1880s to sell firearms to the locals. While on stagecoach route he survives an Indian attack purely by stiff upper lip British luck, and then he inadvertently acquires a reputation of quickness on the draw due to his wrist mounted Derringer style weapon. Sensing an opportunity to finally clean up Fractured Jaw, which is in the middle of a war between The Lazy S & Box T factions, the mayor bluffs Tibbs into becoming the sheriff. Cue hilarity as the hopelessly ill equipped Englishman starts to clean up the town with the help of buxom saloon owner Kate (Mansfield) and his new family; the Indians.The problems with the film are many, the over used fish out of water formula, the budget restrictions being over obvious and the glaringly blatant lack of chemistry between the two oddly casted leads-are just the ones that first spring to mind. Then you can add the bad idea to include the likes of Robert Morley and Sid James in your film, and give them next to no time on screen. So yes it's not too harsh to say that The Sheriff Of Fractured Jaw is a weak film in many ways. Yet it is funny, something that comes quite often with the fish out of water formula if the writing is clever enough. Mercifully Dimsdale's screenplay sets up a number of humorous set pieces and Walsh, tho long past his best, professionally puts them together.Moore gives the whole British tenderfoot act his complete gusto, and Mansfield looks terrific; every inch the sex-bomb befitting her legacy. Some fine support comes from Henry Hull & Bruce Cabot, while the tunes (Mansfield dubbed by the brilliant Connie Francis), notably the gorgeous theme song "In The Valley Of Love," keep the film brisk and firmly footed in the light entertainment department. It's a film that if you dwell on it too much could drive you to distraction, but as time fillers go in the comedy Western sub-genre, it just about finishes above average and is recommended for like minded adults on a very rainy day. 6/10

ksf-2 Jayne Mansfield plays Kate, boarding house owner, and into town comes Kenneth Moore, a gun salesman from England. Not only are the songs by Jayne dubbed, it sounds like some of the lines are too. Starts out slow, gets better as it goes along. The mayor and the Indian chief steal the movie. There are a few gags and laughs, sort of an early version of Mel Brooks "Blazing Saddles". Nothing real good in "Special Features" on the DVD, but I guess that's due to the fact it was filmed in 1958. No real surprises here... your run of the mill spaghetti western with some laughs thrown in. According to the DVD liner notes included, this was filmed in England and in Spain (?) Too bad they didn't do more with Robert Morley; could have spiced things up more.