Legend of the West

James Garner: Legend of the West

Posted January 12, 2008

James
Garner. That’s the answer I always give when asked who my favourite
actor is. Recently I had to try and justify this to someone who seemed
to have some pretty major Garner prejudice.

Although I like my films and telly, I do try to steer discussion
onto other topics when meeting new people, at least for a while. On
this occasion I mentioned James Garner, only to be told I was wrong.

While trying not to appear too bothered with this slur, I felt I had
to defend his honour in his absence. I like to think I did alright,
even after a few Jack Daniels and cokes, but it left me thinking more
needs to be done to raise the profile of America’s finest.

So I’ve dug out an article I put together last year for a film course I took (written just after watching The Americanization of Emily) and, before that, here’s what I said about Jimbo back in this blog’s first post:

The blog is dedicated to Mr James Garner, Legend of the West Bret Maverick in Maverick, The Scrounger in The Great Escape and LAs finest, Jim Rockford PI in The Rockford Files.

His work and style epitomise everything I like in my entertainment.
Heroes that aren’t black or white, but black and grey. Characters that
would rather talk their way out of a situation than fight (who would
have the guts to fight someone with a gun in real life? A Garner
character would rather leg it). Humour that is understated rather than
puerile or OTT. And a bit of realism in amongst the nonsense makes for
good entertainment.

Read the article at

James Garner: Legend of the West