CALLAWAY WENT THATAWAY (1951)

The advertising firm of Frye (Fred MacMurray) and Patterson (Dorothy McGuire) has hit TV gold by recycling the old Western films of former singing cowboy star Smoky Callaway (Howard Keel), sponsored by a company that makes Corkies cereal, with the films aimed at kids. The Lorrisons, the couple who own the cereal company, ask Frye and Patterson to find Callaway so he can star in a new cowboy show. Having heard that Callaway became a drunk and quit acting, they hire his former agent Georgie (Jesse White) to track him down. Meanwhile, a real cowboy from Colorado named Stretch Barnes (also Howard Keel) writes to complain that, because he bears a striking resemblance to Callaway, he has suddenly become a local celebrity. By offering him a lot of money (which he could use to invest in his own ranch), Frye and Patterson convince him to come to Hollywood and pretend to be Callaway to make a TV show. There follows some amusing 'fish out of water' scenes as Callaway meets stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Clark Gable, not quite knowing who they are, and has to be taught by Frye how to enter a bar like a cowboy by casually "moseyin' and lookin’ around." But eventually, the agent finds the real Callaway having hit the skids in a Mexico City dive bar. Georgie tries to get him dried out and functioning again, but Barnes has already been sent out on a publicity tour. The competing cowboys cause trouble, but can a solution be found before the thing is exposed as a hoax?

This is mild 1950s satire, cute and clever but not very deep or biting. Actually, it has the feel of a TV show and if you take it at that level, it’s enjoyable enough. Keel does a great job with the two distinct personalities: as Barnes, he's naive, innocent, cute, and healthy; as Callaway, he's crude and always drunk, with dark circles under his eyes. The two have a fun fist fight near the end. MacMurray is in mildly comic leading man form but seems awfully lightweight even for that mode. McGuire is plain and bland. It feels like the screenwriters never really settled on whether or not the two should be romantically involved and there are hints they might have been, but [Mild Spoiler!] Patterson ends up with Barnes at the end and Frye's OK with that. There's interesting casting in two of the smaller roles: Natalie Schafer (Lovey on Gilligan's Island) plays one-half of the sponsor couple, and Stan Freberg, better known as a satirist, comedian, writer, and voice talent for cartoons, is Marvin, the nerdy assistant to Frye and Patterson. His role is small but he stands out for his odd look. There is a disclaimer at the end noting that no disrespect was meant to real cowboy actors or their positive effect on America's youth. The whole thing is fairly bland and surface, but worth seeing for Keel in his dual roles. Pictured are MacMurray, McGuire and Keel. [TCM]