The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw

Good family film - something particularly wholesome about Kenneth More - and I don't want to 'rain on the parade' (More is one of my favourite actors and 1958 one of my favourite years - see also: A Night to Remember', More et al 1958). But there does seem to be a lack of chemistry between More (Jonathan Tibbs) and Jayne Mansfield (Kate) - notwithstanding that this is primarily a spoof-western comedy rather than a RomCom. Did they actually get on? Some of the scenes with just the two of them are painfully laboured. But, yes, the film (due in no small part to the laconic ease of More) is entirely watchable, and the production values - even for this lightweight film - are as high as you would expect from any mainstream Hollywood film of the day.

I just happened to be at my father`s house and he had the western channel on.Which my father is a diehard western fan.This movie came on and I couldn`t believe Jayne Mansfield was in a western.I decided to watch some of the movie and got interested in it.It was not one of the best movies I had ever seen but I did enjoy it.I thought Kenneth Moore was very good as the sheriff.I didn`t really care for the singing in this movie but I did enjoy seeing Jayne Mansfield.

Kenneth More and Jayne Mansfield star in The Sheriff Of Fractured Jaw which plays very much like a Carry On film. In fact Sid James of the Carry On company has a brief role as a drunken stagecoach passenger and kind of lends an official presence to this satire of the western. The Carry On crew would later film Carry On Cowboy which this bears some resemblance to.

The real model for this film is Destry Rides Again as Kenneth More plays a rather mild mannered Englishman who goes west to sell firearms, firearms manufactured by his father Robert Morley's company. More sells Morley on the fact that in the lawless American west what better place can the company find a better market.

Poor Moore he manages to get himself involved in a range war between two large ranches, gets appointed sheriff of the town of Fractured Jaw and gets made an adopted member of the local Indian tribe. But this was not without its pleasant side as he manages to also win saloon singer Jayne Mansfield. She's more like Wrangler Jane of F Troop than Marlene Dietrich.

Jayne gets three songs also and she's dubbed by the familiar voice of Connie Francis. Not that Connie doesn't sing them well, but we know that's Connie Francis coming from Mansfield. They should have used an unknown singer.

The film has its amusing moments, but it really is an overblown Carry On film.

This little-known Western will probably be most attractive to contemporary audiences for one reason only...Jayne Mansfield. And Jayne Mansfield fans will indeed not be disappointed with this charming little movie which pairs sassy Miss M with the straight-laced British actor Kenneth More.

More is incredibly charming in this movie (as he tends to be in most of his screen appearances) and plays well of fast-talking saloon owner Mansfield. This is probably Mansfield's best on-screen partnership since her Rock Hunter appearance with Tony Randall. Gorgeously photographed in sumptuous Deluxe colour and with some nifty saloon songs from Mansfield (dubbed by Conny Francis), this is a sweet, amusing little movie with solid performances from two highly likable actors.

Hopefully, its release in the JM box set will introduce this film to a new generation of viewers. While scarcely a cinema classic, it's a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Enjoy!

I just loved this film. Kenneth Moore was inspired as the English gentleman buffoon. When you get that 'innocent abroad' persona - for example with Ali G in America; with 'The Idiot Abroad' etc, it's a brilliant tool for cutting through prevailing cultural norms, even if they are for example, whether it's etiquette to shoot first and speak later, or better to proffer a nice cup of tea. When he 'disarms' the injuns at the start of the film it's beautifully done and dead funny.

Jayne Mansfield is like a cartoon character, full blown - in a not quite 'Marilyn' way - and a reasonable foil for our Ken. Even her '50s starlet soon to be housewife' style of singing, (check out 'The Valley Of Love'), seemingly so inappropriate in a rough, tough saloon owner/ music hall glamour girl, fits in so neatly. The whole thing is a pastiche of the age - the 'civilized' 50s making sense of a wild, wild world, with a boy meets girl bottom line.

Like I said - brilliant! Oh and English classic comedian Syd James has a cameo role, so even better.