Login
An amiable little bauble of a film with nothing much in mind besides simple entertainments, The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw is one of the better offerings from star Jayne Mansfield’s film output. Borrowing more than a little liberally from Destry Rides Again, this too sees a fish-out-of-water sheriff with a penchant for not using firearms taking control of an anarchic town. Fractured Jaw even comes complete with a tough-talking saloon girl, this time she’s the proprietress/songstress instead of the just being the songstress (and vaguely hinted at prostitute) Dietrich played.
It offers up a consistently bemused atmosphere, never truly reaching for anything beyond mild diversions. This is fine, as it does this job with great efficiency. Director Raoul Walsh had made better films before this, and would go on to make a few more greats ones, but he brings a professionalism and craft that makes the entire thing run like clockwork.
Walsh also manages to get a performance out of Mansfield that isn’t mannered, she doesn’t find that extra little spark to truly make the character sing, but it’s a very good effort on her part. (Her singing is dubbed by Connie Francis, who gets credit for singing the title song and nothing else.) Kenneth Moore as the titular sheriff is a consistent delight, bumbling his way through situations through a combination of blind luck and help from friends, frequently oblivious to the dangers around him. One does wish that Frank Tashlin had gotten a hold of this material and really played it up for all the comedic potential it had, not to mention that he was the only director who really knew how to use Mansfield to great effect. Tashlin would have managed to trim some of the fat from it, too.
