The Castaway Cowboy

It has the benefit of being one of the most Kauai-intensive movies ever filmed. Not only was 90% of the movie actually made on that beautiful Hawaiian island, but it's actually SET there, too -- and there are very few movies both shot AND set in Hawaii.

The photography is excellent; the score is very good (but would have been better with a little more island influence), and the use of the Kauai locations, though limited to just a few, is first-rate. Garner is fine, and Culp makes a good, if foggily-motivated, villain.

However, the attitude toward the Hawaiians is painfully paternalistic, and there's a stupid, TRULY stupid, subplot involving "sorcery" and some extremely improbable caves, full of Tahitian statuary. Very bad idea.

Historically, it's a bit muddled; much is made of the idea that no one has found a way to load cattle aboard a schooner at this time. (Somewhere around 1870, I guess.) But over on the Big Island, this problem had been licked, and the founder of the Parker Ranch was already getting rich selling King Kamehameha's "big dogs.

If the script had been better, with a less predictable story, THE CASTAWAY COWBOY could have been a little gem. As it is, it's mostly a pretty time-passer.

The Castaway Cowboy, a western film in the Disney tradition is a family film about Texan Lincoln Costain, played by James Garner. While in California, he gets shanghaied and jumps ship just off the shore of the Hawaiian islands. While there, he works on a ranch run by Henrietta MacAvoy, played by Vera Miles and comes face to face with a major problem. The problem is that wild cattle are destroying her crops, causing her to be further behind on her bank note. And the banker, Calvin Bryson couldn't be happier because he's got his eyes on Henrietta and her farm.

The problem is, Calvin is devious and dubious and will do anything, legal or not to get his hands on the property. If that even includes a little sabotage or murder, he feels he's above the law. He doesn't count on Lincoln Costain's no holds barred Texas approach on solving problems. Eventually, Henrietta and Costain are able to convert the farm from cash crops to cattle, which in the long run will net Henrietta with more income if they can successfully pull off how to load the cows onto a boat.

This is an interesting film, it shows a part of Hawaiian history prior to its statehood in the United States, a time when it was still being colonized and before it was completely commercialized. It's also one of only two films that James Garner made for the Disney company, the other being One Little Indian.

James Garner ("Costain") is washed up on the beach of an Hawaiian island where he is befriended by a widow "Henrietta" (Vera Miles) and her young son "Booton" (Eric Shea). They are struggling farmers, and so he sets his mind to try to help them out. All of this much to the chagrin of local bigwig "Bryson" (Robert Culp) who has designs on their cattle and on the good lady. The ensuing adventure is actually quite clunkily put together. It mixes mysticism, romance and avarice before an ending that though innovative, I found rather impractical and even a little cruel. It is still quite a fun family film to watch, though - perhaps some of the attitudes to and of the locals might not quite fit nowadays, but viewed in the spirit in which it was made 50 years ago, it is typical of the Disney-style of message mixing adventure and morality, and is just about worth 90 minutes of your time.

I don't know why I didn't see "The Castaway Cowboy" when it was in the theaters. It came out when I was seeing all of Disney's movies. Oh well, I watched it tonight and I thought "The Castaway Cowboy" was a good movie. A lot of it was really good. It is a well acted, fast moving movie. It's not your average western and I kind of liked that.

"The Castaway Cowboy" begins with Mr. Costain (James Garner) washing ashore on the island of Kaua'i in the Hawaiian Islands back in 1850. It seems that Costain was kidnapped and forced to work on a ship...and he availed him a chance to escape by jumping overboard.

Soon Costain is befriended by a widow and her son. The MacAvoys have a large plantation there, but it's being underutilized and the crops are failing. Costain has an idea...why try to make pennies on crops when there are dollars to be make cattle ranching. This film is about the difficulties encountered trying to make a go of it. Some of the difficulties were cultural, some were definitely man-made.

In 2022, this film might be seen as a bit politically incorrect in the somewhat paternalistic way the Hawaiians are portrayed....and Disney+ mentions this on a tacked-on prologue. Fortunately they have NOT trimmed the film. I also noticed near the end that Costain was using a revolver...something pretty much impossible in Hawaii at the time. The revolver wasn't mass produced until the 1850s...and finding one in 1850 in such an out of the way place seems more than just unlikely. Not a major problem...just something this history teacher noticed.

All in all, a decent movie...especially since in the 20th century Kaua'i DID become a big cattle producing island! Yep..cowboys and cattle on the island!