Back in 1971, James Garner and Lou Gossett starred in "Skin Game", a western comedy about two hucksters who make money selling Jason (Gossett) and Quince (Garner) rescuing him and splitting the money. The plot makes no sense and goes beyond 'not politically correct'....but was, in a weird way, kind of fun.
In 1974, a sequel to "Sidekicks" came out...but this time, instead of Quince being played by Garner, Larry Hagman played the role. In so many ways, it's essentially the same sort of story...though, of course, there were a few differences and the story wasn't quite so original any more. Of course, neither story was 100% original, as the stories were very similar to Garner's previous movies, "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "Support Your Local Gunfighter"...which were, in many ways, similar to Garner's earlier TV series "Maverick"!
The story finds the two huckster still up to their old tricks. However, IMDB's summary is wrong...the story takes place before the end of the Civil War and slavery still is legal. But in this odd and definitely unrealistic world set in a free state, black people seem to be treated much the same as whites....no racism nor hatred here. In fact, in addition to Quince and Jason being friends (a highly unlikely thing back then), some bank robbers ALSO are black and white friends. Again...this story IS anachronistic and I am sure it might ruffle a few feathers in the way it treats black/white relations...as well as prior to this the pair were in the South selling and recapturing Jason!!
As far as this film goes, the law thinks Jason and Quince are the bank robbers, the Sheriff's insanely violence daughter (Blythe Danner) thinks the same AND a group of outlaws think the pair are the robbers. How can the pair extricate themselves from this situation? See the film.
This is an enjoyable film provided you just turn off your brain and enjoy. As a US History teacher, I DEFINITELY needed to do this!! But if you can, the film is enjoyable and worth seeing. And, if you're interested, it's now posted on YouTube.
In 1974, a sequel to "Sidekicks" came out...but this time, instead of Quince being played by Garner, Larry Hagman played the role. In so many ways, it's essentially the same sort of story...though, of course, there were a few differences and the story wasn't quite so original any more. Of course, neither story was 100% original, as the stories were very similar to Garner's previous movies, "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "Support Your Local Gunfighter"...which were, in many ways, similar to Garner's earlier TV series "Maverick"!
The story finds the two huckster still up to their old tricks. However, IMDB's summary is wrong...the story takes place before the end of the Civil War and slavery still is legal. But in this odd and definitely unrealistic world set in a free state, black people seem to be treated much the same as whites....no racism nor hatred here. In fact, in addition to Quince and Jason being friends (a highly unlikely thing back then), some bank robbers ALSO are black and white friends. Again...this story IS anachronistic and I am sure it might ruffle a few feathers in the way it treats black/white relations...as well as prior to this the pair were in the South selling and recapturing Jason!!
As far as this film goes, the law thinks Jason and Quince are the bank robbers, the Sheriff's insanely violence daughter (Blythe Danner) thinks the same AND a group of outlaws think the pair are the robbers. How can the pair extricate themselves from this situation? See the film.
This is an enjoyable film provided you just turn off your brain and enjoy. As a US History teacher, I DEFINITELY needed to do this!! But if you can, the film is enjoyable and worth seeing. And, if you're interested, it's now posted on YouTube.
