Help Me, I don't get the joke...

Oh, I see what you’re saying. It’s not so much a joke I think as it is that Jake realizes that the first view (profile shot) is not his best side, so to speak, so he turns the other way, so as to appear more “dignified.” Which I suppose is the joke after all.

Jake is showing his bad eye in the first pose!


Its that man again!!

Actually, Elam doing the closing lines on a train is the end of Support Your Local Gunfighter. In Support Your Local Sheriff, where he delivered the lines you quoted, he is sitting on the hitching post in front of the sheriff's office.

As to the "joke", it's just someone looking to show his best side for a photograph, especially in an era where photos were rare.

Also, he's being facetious or simply deluded or joking tongue-in-cheek when he states:

"... then I go on to become one of the most beloved characters in Western folklore."


Actually he can't be mentioned in ANY folklore since he doesn't even have a last name! LOL

It's also a little humorous (at least to me) when he states that the sheriff never does make it to Australia (despite his repeated declarations), but keeps reading books about it to keep that hope alive even though he most likely realizes after a while that it's a lost cause.

You're gonna need a bigger boat.

I thought immediately he was referring to himself - Jack Elam - not his character. Elam appeared in countless Westerns. I've always said "It wouldn't be a Western without Jack Elam.

I wonder if it has something to do with letter boxed version or not ? Maybe you need to see whats at the far left or right of the screen for it to make sense ?
The humor in this movie was too good for it to end with such a dud - I can't see the writer/director/actors letting that happen.