Rockford Redux

James Garner, as Jim Rockford, behind the wheel of his Camaro in a car chase was pure joy. He was probably second only to Steve McQueen in Bullitt as far as car chases. James Garner died back in July but his legacy will live on as long as there is four wheels, a steering wheel and somebody needs a man's man on film. He was a symbol of manhood an average guy could aspire to easier than John Wayne. A good example came from Murphy's Romance:

Murphy Jones: You are a miserable little son of a bitch, you know that? I don't know why she took you in the house... I'd bed you down with the dogs! And I'll tell you something else, mister, you may be a lot younger and stronger, but you're about to get your ass kicked from here to the state line... and I'm wearin' the boots that can do it!

Bobby Jack Moriarty: You're a feisty old booger, aren't ya.

Murphy Jones: I thought we just settled that!

James Garner was four years younger in Murphy's Romance than the old Don is as this is written, but he seemed a match for anyone. I was closer to the worthless Bobby Jack in age when I saw this movie but identified with Garner just as I had when I was a little boy watching "Maverick" or a wildly lost youngster in my Roaring 20s watching Rockford Files.

Back in the day when I wrote for a living, the passing of the Rockford Files was noted. I've reproduced the article from 1980, as I went back and discovered it's a fitting epitaph for James Garner now as it was for Jim Rockford then. It appears on the Heroes & Outlaws page.