The Man from Button Willow (1965)

The first undercover agent helps Western settlers.

Director:

David Detiege

Writer:

David Detiege

Stars:

Dale Robertson, Edgar Buchanan, Barbara Jean Wong

Cast

Cast overview:
Dale Robertson	...	Justin Eagle (voice)
Edgar Buchanan	...	Sorry (voice)
Barbara Jean Wong	...	Stormy (voice)
Herschel Bernardi	...	The Captain / Saloon Man#1 (voice)
Ross Martin	...	Andy Svenson (voice)
Pinto Colvig	...	Abner Hawkins / Animal Sounds / Man on Trolly / Laughing Saloon Man (voice)
Clarence Nash	...	Senator Freeman / Mountain Lion (voice)
Buck Buchanan	...	News Boy / Boy (voice)
Verna Felton	...	Mrs.Pomeroy / Mother / Lady on Trolley (voice)
Shepard Menken	...	Shanghai Kelly / Chinese Singer / Saloon Man#3 / Trolley Car Conductor (voice)
John Hiestand	...	Old Salt / Moatgomerey Blaine (voice)

Storyline

In 1869, Justin Eagle lives on his ranch called "The Eagle's Nest" near the town of Button Willow, California. In addition to being a rancher, Juston is a trouble-shooter for the U. S. Government which calls for him to act as an undercover operative and thwart the forces of evil in the rapidly-growing West. He is sent to San Francisco to find missing U. S. Senator Freeman, who has disappeared while fighting the efforts of Montgomery Blaine, a villain who has been, with the aid of his henchman, "The Whip," forcing settlers to sell their land to him, not knowing that the land is in the path of a proposed railroad, from Utah, that will link the western United States to the East. Senator Freeman is the leader of an effort to veer the railroad southward to bypass Blaine's land and, for his efforts, is kidnapped by Bliane's henchmen and shanghaied from the San Francisco waterfront. Justin Eagle's job is to find and return him safely.

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Plot Keywords:

betrayal | congress | railroad | undercover | whip | 

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Taglines:

AM EXCITING NEW WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT ADVENTURE! (original poster - all caps)

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Musical | Western

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cliff Edwards's final major length film.

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Goofs

Around the 45 minute mark, there's a scene where it is night, and stars are shown in the sky. In the next shots, it is daylight or early morning. The last shot of these shows the same dark, starry sky.

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Quotes

Justin Eagle: Can I trust you Andy?
Andy: Ya we all in same boat.
Justin Eagle: Have you seen a 60 year old man aboard grey hair, glasses.
Andy: Ya he's in same boat to right over there.

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Soundtracks

Irish Washerwoman
Traditional Irish Jig
[Piano player in San Francisco bar plays this song during bar fight sequence]

User Reviews

A two-dimensional Western in more ways than one.

"Balto," "Sarah," this - what is it about animated movies with live-action openings that dooms them to failure ("The Phantom Tollbooth" and "The Pagemaster" notwithstanding)? Dale Robertson, voice of "The Man From Button Willow" ("presented" by the man, who also shares credit for songs) introduces the movie with an explanation of what it's about: with the railroads expanding west, some unscrupulous types tried to take advantage of the situation by buying up the necessary land and selling it back at a profit. The Government sent Senate investigators to put a stop to this, and government agents like the title Button Willow man to put a stop to any subterfuge.

All of which could have made for a decent movie, had it not been for writer-director David Detiege shooting himself in both feet and chopping them off for good measure by devoting far, far too much time (about two-thirds of the movie) to our hero's home life... he lives on a ranch with his sidekick Sorry and adoptive Japanese daughter Stormy. And lots of animals. And we even get a song or two. This sub-Disney drivel is not the kind of thing the audience wants, especially as it has nothing to do with the main story; it makes the movie look padded out from a half-hour TV show (not impossible, given the OK but far from A-grade animation).

When the movie does get down to business it improves, but not enough to keep this from being a waste of time - nice Howard Keel song though. (And note: the end credits for the print I saw have been changed a bit to reflect a 1975 re-release.) When this ended, I caught part of "The Wild Thornberrys" - now that's decent cartooning.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Mann von Button Willow

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1