Attillio

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.

Oh, wow, what a great film, with comedians Jackie Gayle, Morty Gunty, Will Jordan, Sandy Baron, among others, reminiscing (hilariously!) over lunch, about the irrepressible Broadway Danny Rose! Mr. Allen is such a poor (but, extremely-likable) nebbish, who you just cannot help rooting for, as he contends with an egotistical, has-been singer named Lou Canova (portrayed by Nick Apollo Forte, who looks a heck of a lot like former New York Ranger hockey great, Phil Esposito), and the singer's "wise-guy widow" girlfriend, Tina Vitale (portrayed by the wonderful Mia Farrow, as the no-nonsense Jersey-girl with really big, blonde hair!). I'm grateful that several of the other posters here, have explained the meanings of so many of the Italian and Yiddish words used in this uproariously funny flick. I got a big laugh, when that wise guy's over-protective mother, flashed a Universty of Texas Football-like "Hook-Em, Horns!" gesture at poor Danny in front of everyone at that lawn party, and shouted: "Corno d' oro!" as in the Italian expression, "Horns of Gold," meaning that the entirely-innocent Danny had made a cuckold of that lady's gangster-son, by getting to "know" Tina in the "Biblical sense"! And, Mr. Allen exhibited a keen eye for New York/New Jersey details, when he had Danny driving a humble Chevy Nova (a real "Jersey-mobile"!) over the George Washington Bridge on his way to pick Tina up for Lou, in Bergen County, N.J. Tina's Garden State apartment, with the majestic view of the New York City skyline, looks as if it's located in either Fort Lee or Cliffside Park (next to the world-famous amusement park, formerly situated in Palisades Park, N.J.), all just south of the G.W. Bridge. Alas, the Liberty View Diner in Jersey City (where the two thugs "rearrange" Danny's beloved Nova in the diner parking lot with a couple of baseball bats) is no longer there. The now-demolished diner was just off of the "beautiful" N.J. Turnpike, and next to Liberty State Park, which affords visitors an absolutely spectacular view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and lower Manhattan along an extensive walkway on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. How could you not like a film that features the eclectic likes of Howard Cosell, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis, Jr., New York City's venerable, former "Mr. Late-Night-Local T.V. Talk Show Host," Joe Franklin, a very young Ricky Schroeder, and, the film's comedic "dark horse," the one-and-only, Barney Dunn, ventriloquist/unwitting romantic "beard" par excellence!?!