Borserie
it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.
Claire Dunne
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Jenna Walter
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Neil Doyle
There's a delightful dual role for HOWARD KEEL as a has-been cowboy star who has vanished when his old pictures are shown on TV--and FRED MacMURRAY and DOROTHY McGUIRE are desperate to lure him back so they can make more dough off all the cowboy merchandise he inspires. This was at a time when early TV was showing mainly the old Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers films for the kiddies.Persuaded to come back east and take on Callaway's role, Keel finds himself in a lot of funny situations once he takes on the assignment of playing the cowboy star. Later in the film, when the real Callaway is being groomed for a comeback, Keel's performance in the dual role is really impressive. There's never any mistake about which character he's impersonating, thanks to a subtle difference in nuances, looks and expressions.DOROTHY McGUIRE gets the glossy MGM treatment for her close-ups and looks wonderful as the sweet woman who develops an interest in the cowboy "Stretch" who's doing the Callaway impersonation. FRED MacMURRAY gets every grain of humor out of the role of the fast-talking agent with money on his mind. It's an enjoyable romp for all three stars with some guest appearances by folks like Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable and Esther Williams.Summing up: Pure fluff, but pleasant enough. The trick photography is abetted by the use of stunt doubles for the final fight scene between Keel and Keel.
Draconis Blackthorne
A spoof on the massive western trend of Hopalong Cassidy and the like. When a western character comes into favor with the masses, a film company initiates a frantic search to find the original actor who portrayed that icon of wholesome American heroism, but when there are no leads, they decide on a good-hearted yokel who just so happens to resemble the cowboy of yore, and offer him a substantial salary if he will bring the character back to life for all the little kiddies who look up to him so admirably.By and by, an investigator manages to locate the original Callaway, who had taken residence in Mexico with some spicy senoritas and his chronic alcohol consumption. Now a rather grizzled version of his former self, he refuses to leave his lifestyle of excess, so the investigator plans on literally kidnapping him after he passes out to catch a ship back to the states. He reluctantly agrees to assume his former role, much to the chagrin of the female chaperon accompanying the new cowboy, as she takes quite a fancy for him as he does with her, who after traveling across the country, become, shall we say, 'very well acquainted'. A fight eventually ensues between the cowboys, and the real one wins out over the drunk.Amusing scenes include: in an effort to bring the drunken cowboy back to shape, he hides bottles of booze in various locations throughout this health ranch, including in a well bucket, and in a rock while jogging out on the trail.The well-meaning impersonator manages to gain possession of all of the money the character had been generating up to that point and sets up a fund for clinically ill children, after feeling deeply guilty since a stern woman admonished him about their conditions. He eventually grows to embody the Callaway icon, and assumes the role whole-heartedly.
bkoganbing
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.
willrams
This is the first time I've ever seen this 1951 comedy. When Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Malone from Hollywood find this famous Cowboy, Smokey;Howard Keel, to make TV movies and lots of money, they end up hiring a standin, Stretch; Howard Keel. Things get rough and hilarious when con men like Jesse White and his pal get involved; but all comes out well in the end. The scene that impressed me the most was how the heck they filmed the fist fight between Fred and Howard (playing two roles together); does anyone know how they do it? Remember Jesse White, the Maytag man?
