Was there ever a better tv show than The Rockford Files? I think not. C'mon, you're humming the theme song already. When I carve out my monument dedicated to charming Okies, I'm placing James Garner to the left of Ben Johnson and a little behind Will Rogers. Look up the word affable in the dictionary and you'll probably find his name there. Maybe that's why he was so good at playing tricksters and guys on the con. In every episode we learn some new underworld scam factoid or see Rockford apply some streetwise defensive maneuver that's simple, impromptu, and more plausible than, say, a MacGyver mousetrap. I hope I remember to use some of these if ever a couple of suited goons corner me and try to break my neck. I also love the way Garner's accent becomes more pronounced when he gets excited. It sounds pleasing and authentic, much the way Larry Hagman's I Dream of Jeannie accent did before he started over-hamming it as J.R. As for screentime, Rockford gets plenty of room to move around and get comfortable. It seems like he's in almost every scene. Sure, the writers had a few other outs, but I'd wager that he had more lines and more screentime per episode than most top-billed stars do in feature films. Garner must have worked his tail off, every week, and he made it seem so smooth and easy.
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1 comment:
and who could forget Tank?
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