Callaway Went Thataway

"Callaway Went Thataway" is a slight comedy enlivened by some fine performances by Dorothy McGuire, Fred MacMurray, Howard Keel and Jesse White.

As television was threatening to take over the film industry, MGM produced this send-up of the TV western hero craze. Smoky Callaway's old movies are being run on TV and are such a hit with kids that an enormous licensing potential develops for Smoky products and endorsements, plus the making of more Smoky movies.

One small problem - Smoky done left the corral 10 years earlier and no one - including his agent (White) knows where he went. The ad agency partners (McGuire and MacMurray) find a lookalike, Stretch Barnes, a simple man with simple needs, and convince him to take Smoky's place, claiming that Smoky is dead. All goes well until Smoky's agent finds the real Callaway, a womanizing boozer, and brings him back.

This is a fun film for baby boomers who grew up with Gabby Hayes, Roy Rogers, The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers etc. Etc. And who used all the products that carried their hero's face: the cereals, the lunch boxes, the toys.

Howard Keel is terrific in the dual role of sweet, sensitive, aw shucks ma'm Stretch and the hard-drinking slob Smoky. McGuire is lovely in her role, and MacMurray does well as her less conscience-stricken partner.

MGM takes the opportunity to plug its stars - there are cameos of Esther Williams, Elizabeth Taylor, and Clark Gable, and there are lots of future TV stars as well. Besides Jesse White, there's Stan Frieberg, Natalie Schaeffer, and in an uncredited role, Hugh Beaumont. Fun viewing.

While CALLAWAY WENT THATAWAY isn't the deepest film I've seen, it sure was very perceptive and fun to watch. I also wonder if maybe although the film has a disclaimer saying it ISN'T based on any celebrity they REALLY were lampooning several of the big-name cowboy stars (such as Gene Autry who was a lot like the original Callaway)--a lot like how A FACE IN THE CROWD was based on Arthur Godfrey, though the studio strongly denied this.

The film is about a cowboy movie star from a decade ago who has suddenly gained a new following with kids thanks to television--just like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were re-discovered thanks to TV. As a result of his fame, the advertisers are anxious to find the actor who played Smokey Callaway so they can make more films as well as public appearances. The problem is that the actor was a big-time drinker and he just seemed to vanish after going on an extended bender in South America. Even a private eye (Jesse White) can't find the guy, so Dorothy McGuire and Fred MacMurray (who own the advertising agency) go in search of a double to pretend to be Callaway. In the process, they find a dead ringer--played by Howard Keel. The only problem is, eventually the drunk and nasty Callaway DOES resurface and they are in quite a quandary! The film has some nice comedic moments but late in the film it also becomes rather serious and romantic. Leonard Maltin's guide indicated the film was excellent until this change, but I actually liked the finished product. While not a great film, it was well worth seeing and quite perceptive about the private lives of some celebrities. Also, it's worth a look for some cameos of other stars playing themselves, such as Clark Gable and Dick Powell (among others).

A cowboy hero dressed in white is chasing down a group of dastardly villains. Pull back to reveal that what we are seeing is on television. Now cut to scenes across the country to show children from all walks of life glued to their sets watching wichaway Callaway went. Meanwhile, back in the offices of the creative team behind the TV series, it seems that they've got a problem on their hands. The show has been pieced together from old movies, but it's such a success that now the public is demanding to see the real deal and nobody actually knows where Callaway is. Enter a perfect double, an honest-to-goodness aw-shucks cowboy, and you can guess the rest.

This is a predictable comedy which does little to distinguish itself, but it isn't without its charms. The lead actors are very appealing and occasionally have some snappy dialog to work with. Howard Keel is particularly entertaining in the dual roles of "Stretch" Barnes and "Smoky" Callaway. Anyone who enjoys comedies from this time period should get a kick out of this film.

Thanks be to TMC for rescuing this minor gem from movie oblivion. Sure, kids have long since traded cowboy idols for computer screens, but the pointed humor surrounding Hollywood's money-making machine remains as fresh and timely as ever. MacMurray and McGuire are Hollywood hustlers looking to cash in on cowboy Callaway's renewed popularity via that novel entertainment gimmick, television. Meanwhile, kids everywhere are clamoring for more of their TV idol. The trouble is the actor has long since decided he prefers a drunken stupor to riding horseback and has disappeared from public view. What to do-- the hustlers are so close to the big bucks they can almost smell easy street. In a stroke of luck, a Callaway look-a-like turns up, and they hire him as an impersonator. The trouble is he's a straight-shooter from the boondocks, can't act, and couldn't care less about the Hollywood scene. But the two M's are real Tinsel Town slickers so things begin to work out. Then, however, the real Callaway (Keel, also) shows up and the fun really starts.

Fine script from Panama and Frank. The barbs fly thick and fast, so you may need a scorecard to keep up. I love it when the stagehands and those folks who never get their names on screen show how to sabotage an arrogant movie star. Watch the flop Callaway takes executing one of those spectacular flying horse mounts. Though the humor is mainly aimed at Hollywood types and film-making generally, it's never mean-spirited, and we end up liking MacMurray even though he takes real advantage of the innocent "Stretch". Note too, the studio disclaimer at the end. That, no doubt, was to keep Hoppy happy since Cassidy's old films on TV were the movie's obvious inspiration. Being one of those kids that long-ago lined up to meet the real Hoppy, I can testify that he was stone cold sober and a nice guy, to boot. So as the disclaimer says-- the movie is intended merely in the spirit of good fun with no aspersions cast. And a lot of fun it is.

It's the early days of television and much of the programming consists of old western movies. Suddenly, the films of Smoky Callaway (Howard Keel) are discovered by a new generation and he becomes a star once again.

One problem: the real Smoky Callaway is a hopeless drunk who has disappeared somewhere in Mexico. Enter Hollywood agents Frye and Patterson (Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire), who need to find a replacement to make a new series of westerns and cash in on the merchandising possibilities. They discover an actual cowboy, Stretch Barnes (also Keel) who agrees to impersonate Smoky.

There's a Frank Capra feel as simple Stretch turns out in real life to be the white-hatted western hero that Smoky pretended to be onscreen. Things get complicated when the real Smoky returns.

The writing team of Panama and Frank (A Southern Yankee, The Court Jester, White Christmas) delivers another warm, funny movie that pokes fun at Hollywood superficialities and contrasts them with the genuine values of hometown America.