Two marketing professionals hire a lookalike of classic Western actor Smoky Callaway to impersonate the actor and make new films, but things go awry when the real Callaway, thought long miss... Read allTwo marketing professionals hire a lookalike of classic Western actor Smoky Callaway to impersonate the actor and make new films, but things go awry when the real Callaway, thought long missing, returns.Two marketing professionals hire a lookalike of classic Western actor Smoky Callaway to impersonate the actor and make new films, but things go awry when the real Callaway, thought long missing, returns.
- Johnny Terrento
- (as Johnny Indrisano)
- Native Girl with Smoky
- (uncredited)
- Cowboy
- (uncredited)
- Girl
- (uncredited)
- Mexican Bartender
- (uncredited)
- Headwaiter at Mocambo's
- (uncredited)
- Mr. Adkins - Attorney
- (uncredited)
- Gaffer
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaHugh Beaumont and Fred MacMurray brush shoulders in a hotel hallway near the end of this movie. They went on to play iconic television fathers in separate series - Beaumont in Leave It to Beaver (1957) and MacMurray in My Three Sons (1960).
- Goofs(at around 30 mins) Stretch fastens the same three buttons on his shirt twice.
- Quotes
Mike Frye: You know, sometimes I wonder why I keep you around.
Deborah Patterson: Maybe it's because I own 50% of the stock.
Mike Frye: That must be the reason.
- Crazy creditsCard at the end states: 'This picture was made in the spirit of fun, and was meant in no way to detract from the wholesome influence, civic mindedness and the many charitable contributions of Western idols of our American youth, or to be a portrayal of any of them.'
- ConnectionsSpoofs Hopalong Cassidy (1952)
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.
- bkoganbing
- Apr 21, 2006
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Der Cowboy, den es zweimal gab
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,103,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 21 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1