Callaway Went Thataway

Consider the time this film came out. It is one of the first feature films about the cinema's new rival, television. More specifically it is based on the renaissance of Hopalong Cassidy as an early television star.

This film takes me back to when I was a lad in the early days of television when there was a need for programming. The first films that were shown on early television were grade B product from the studios which were not about to be re-released for the big screen. And of course those B westerns were in plentiful supply. In fact I have a theory that John Wayne's rapid rise to number one at the box office may have been in large part to the showing of his pre-Stagecoach westerns giving him valuable publicity for the A product he was currently working on.

But the guy who had the biggest benefit was William Boyd who made his last Hopalong Cassidy picture in 1948. He had scraped together every bit of cash he could to buy all the rights to the Hopalong Cassidy films and character from producer Harry Sherman and author Clarence Mulford.

So when those Cassidy films became a big hit on early television Boyd's career revived and he became a tycoon with all the Hoppy merchandise. And the craze was big, the film accurately depicts the merchandising bonanza that Hoppy was in real life and Smokey Callaway in this film.

Like the Cassidy films in real life, the old films of B picture western star Smokey Callaway become a big hit on TV. They'd like to make more of them, but where's Smokey. TV programmers Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire would sure like to find him. Smokey's just dropped off the planet. MacMurray and McGuire dispatch former agent Jesse White to locate Callaway who was quite a boozer back in the day and nothing like his screen image.

In the meantime they locate a cowboy from Colorado who is a Callaway doppelganger. Howard Keel plays both parts and plays them well. The two scheming TV programmers hire Keel on to impersonate his lookalike. But they get quite a bit more than they bargain for.

Callaway Went Thataway is an enjoyable film about a forgotten era in our social history. Cowboys don't have quite the image they once did in America and I'm not sure how today's audience relates to a film about early television which we pretty much take for granted. Still it's a piece of nostalgia for me.

Initially, I thought that "Callaway Went Thataway" was going to be a well-intentioned, cornball/hokey 1950's film. What a delight to find that the film is a charming comedy, leavened with a wickedly mordant wit. Stars Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel and Fred MacMurray (playing against his usual good-guy, Steve Douglas - "My Three Sons" type) are all superb. Of course, the Hollywood nightclub scene, in which Howard Keel's character, cowboy Stretch Barnes, has absolutely no idea at all who the unbelievably-stunning Elizabeth Taylor and the uber-macho Clark Gable are, is uproariously funny! As previous posters have pointed out, look for such future, noteworthy television comedic actors as Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver of "Leave It to Beaver"), Natalie Schaeffer (Mrs. "Lovey" Howell of "Gilligan's Island") and a remarkably then-ectomorphic John Banner (Sgt. Schultz of "Hogan's Heroes") to appear in the film. "Callaway Went Thataway" is a gem that will not fail to delight and amuse you.

A bygone era is depicted in this cleverly produced 1951 film. Remember when children sat glued to the set to watch those cowboy shows. There was always the great chase scenes and the hero saving the town and getting the girl at the end.

You would think this picture would be like that from its beginning. Instead, it turns into a comedy about what life should really be.

When a cowboy star of past movies becomes popular once again, a team nicely played by Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire look for him. Our hero is Howard Keel in a non-singing role. Trouble is that Keel has become a has-been hiding out in Mexico under the influence of alcohol and women.

Jesse White is sent to look for him. In the meantime, a double appears that the MacMurray-McGuire team will use.

The story becomes heartwarming as the fake Callaway, Keel, in a double role known as Stretch, becomes enamored by the part but realizes that something has to be done with children who are impoverished and ill. His setting up of a fund for them is wonderful but when he meets up with the "real" Callaway, all hell breaks loose.

This movie has everything. Comedy, helping and that old western spirit of a bygone era.

"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.

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.