THE SHERIFF & THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL KID (1979) – I’m often asked about movies that are safe to watch with children around at Christmas time. Here are TWO such films, both starring gruff but likable Spaghetti Western icon Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli) and, of all people, Cary Guffey – the little kid from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The first film, The Sheriff & The Extraterrestrial Kid is also called The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid. Three years BEFORE Steven Spielberg’s E.T. Guffey played an alien child who gets stranded on Earth and meets modern day law enforcement figure Sheriff Hall (Spencer), who helps keep him out of the hands of sinister government officials who want to study the unearthly child.
Cary Guffey’s character is named H7-25 and possesses an alien device similar to a television remote control device. That device lets H7-25 rewind time and other miraculous acts to help Sheriff Hall against their pursuers. The kid often uses it to rewind unpleasant events for the bad guys during the many, many chase and fight scenes.
Sheriff Hall is, typically for Bud Spencer, a brute with a soft heart and muscles of steel whose action scenes are like a hybrid of a Three Stooges short and an old Popeye cartoon.
Toy replicas of the device used by the little alien were enormous sellers in Europe when this film first came out.
The movie is a family-safe comedy with a lot of slapstick action, broad humor and simplistic good guys vs the bad guys storytelling. The Sheriff & The Extraterrestrial Kid ends happily, of course, and sets up a sequel featuring the further adventures of Sheriff Hall and H7-25.
WHO KNOWS WHY THIS HAPPENS TO ME? (1980) – This movie, like a lot of Italian flicks, has been released under plenty of alternate titles. The story presents our sheriff and his young alien adoptee still on the run posing as father and son. The extraterrestrial still sports his device which lets him affect reality in assorted ways.
Hall becomes the sheriff of a town called Monroe where he must deal with a serial bank robber and a gang of bikers. Eventually, his problems snowball to the point where he and H7-25 are once again in danger of falling into the hands of the evil American government PLUS Earth is faced with an invasion by strange robotic aliens.
The aliens are stronger than Earth people, which makes them much tougher opponents for Bud Spencer than the government and military types. Some of the action takes place at the “Monroe Attraction Park” which is really Six Flags Over Georgia.
More light hearted conflict, goofy chase and fight scenes and, best of all, another happy ending are all in store in this adequate sequel.
FOR MY REVIEW OF THE CHRISTMAS MARTIAN (1971) CLICK HERE.
Balladeer's Blog 
Haha these look brilliant and Sheriff Hall looks like Matt Berry. I want to watch these film at Christmas now. Great read, as always.
Thank you very much! Yeah, Matt Berry or a bulked up Luciano Pavarotti!
“Evil American government.” A mouthful of redundancy. Good read though. Thanks.
Ha! How true! Thanks for the kind words!
Very nice for the family.
I agree.
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