Callaway Went Thataway 1951

      Mike Fry and Deborah Patterson are co-owners of an advertising firm.  They have been involved in reruns of the Smoky Callaway television series.  The show is very popular with children and there is a big demand for more episodes.  Unfortunately, the actor in the role of Smoky Callaway hasn’t been seen for about 10 years.  Mike and Deborah enlist the help of Smoky’s agent Georgie Markham to do whatever it takes to find the original actor.  A fan letter is received in the mail, a man named Stretch Barnes writes it and he looks just their like Callaway actor.  He writes about all the attention he’s been receiving because people think he’s Callaway.  Mike and Deborah travel to the ranch where Barnes works and lives.  They convince him to come back with them to be the new star of the series.

     There are a lot of complications when Callaway's agent Georgie locates the real actor and brings him back.  Mike and Deborah assemble a team to get Callaway in physical shape for filming.  The problem is that he’s a drunk and he can’t stay sober.  He’s the exact opposite of Stretch Barnes in every way.  He doesn’t care anything about the program or the fans because all he’s interested in is the money.  It’s interesting to see how greedy the advertising firm can be and the differences in Callaway and Barnes.  The filming crew wanted the original actor and they give Stretch Barnes a rough time as much as they can.  I didn’t know until later (I should've caught onto this?) that the same actor plays both roles.    2 ½* (This movie is just so-so)

81 min, Western directed by Melvin Frank, Norman Panama with Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel, Jesse White, Fay Roope, Natalie Schafer, Douglas Kennedy, Elisabeth Fraser, John Indrisano, Stan Freberg, Don Haggerty.

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, 17% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 3 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Beverly Hills, Iverson Ranch, Los Angeles and Culver City, California. This film was also titled The Star Said No and was filmed as a satire of the Hopalong Cassidy film of 1952.  MGM historical records show this film earned $1,071,000 in the US and Canada and $267,000 in other countries.  The result was a loss of $294,000.