Macho Callahan

This movie starts off really great, it shows Richard Kim...I mean, David Janssen in a Civil War Prisoner Camp. The conditions are horrid and he's in solitary confinement....anyway. I think they should have given Janssen more lines, he barely says a sentence throughout the movie. I watched this movie to see David Janssen in a different light other than the Fugitive. I don't know, I think his character could have been better developed. There is this really freaky scene where he rapes this girl then the day after, she falls for him. Yeah, right! The premise of his character is a really rough draft of Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, I think. Not a bad movie if your a David Janssen fan, but it could have been better.

Throw some "b" movie actors into a not fully developed revenge plot, and what you get is "Macho Callahan". This filmed in Mexico western has David Janssen, Jean Seberg, Lee J. Cobb, David Carradine, and Bo Hopkins trying their best to imitate the fast dying genre known as "spaghetti westerns". It certainly has the feel of an Italian "oater", with little character development, choppy editing, and revenge as a motive. The difference here is that the script starts out good in a revolting Confederate prison that Janssen escapes from, but then after Jean Seberg puts her bounty on Janssen for killing her husband, things get talky, and the film loses steam minute by minute. Don't expect much more than a slightly above average "spaghetti" type western, and it's watchable, but just barely. Interestingly the VHS box has the running time listed at 2 hours, 39 minutes. Thankfully this is incorrect, because 99 minutes was more than enough of "Macho Callahan" - MERK

In the original novel by Richard Carr and later in the movie directed by Bernard L. Kowaski, viewing audiences get to meet Diego Callahan played by David Janssen. He is a solid man not easily taken as a fool. However, A shifty eyed Government agent (Lee J. Cobb) tricks Callahan into signing an enlistment form to join the Confederate Army. later, Callahan finds himself in solitary punishment box for attempting to escape. Still, much later he manages to escape to hunt down the agent. In the interim, he crosses a Confederate Office (David Carradine) over a bottle of Champane, killing him in the process. The wife (Jean Seberg) of the dead man posts a large reward to anyone who will hunt down a kill Callahan. On the run, the hunted man and his Mexican friend (Pedro Armendariz Jr.) traveling to Mexico find themselves pursued by friends of the wife, reward seekers and gun packing lawmen. All in all, an interesting picture for Janssen, despite it being a bit dark. Nevertheless, I would recommend it as a milestone for him and those who join him in the cast, which include, James Booth, Bo Hopkins and Richard Anderson. ****

Another "spaghetti" style Western, a victim of its time.

It's pretty much just routine formula Hollywood. "Spaghetti" was actually just the same Hollywood formula and set of clichés set to extremes.

There are many problems with such movies, and this movie is a prime example. We never care about any of the multitude of dull "demi god" characters thrown at us. They're so self righteous and unmotivated in their "demi god" status that they just bore us.

Don't bother trying to watch it in one sitting. It isn't possible, unless you are one of the "Beavis and Butthead" types. It's too ordinary, too Hollywood, too much into its own relentless hate and boredom.

We can't relate to any of this, and only the most hate filled Beavis and Butthead bubble boys can't feel the deliberate alienation. Mature people, educated people, people who aren't crack heads, all of these are totally alienated by the writing here, and that's because of the stereotypical characters that are impossible to relate to.

It's like watching demi gods decide to make the world into crap, for no reason.

And what in the world was Lee J Cobb thinking, being a part of this garbage?

This is defiitely a pure western from the seventies: gloomy, disenchanted, and also an excellent vehicle for David Janssen. You have obviously the Spaghetti western influence but who cares? THE WILD BUNCH had it too. Bernie Kowalski gives here one of his best films for me, with also STILETTO made one year earlier. Most of today's audiences won't like this kind of film. Yes a pure product of the early seventies, enjoy or leave.