Those Calloways (1965)

Story of Cam Calloway and his family, who live in a densely wooded area in New England. Cam dreams of building a sanctuary for the geese that fly over the area each year, and he tries ... See full summary »

Director:

Norman Tokar

Writers:

Louis Pelletier (screenplay), Paul Annixter (book)

Stars:

Brian Keith, Vera Miles, Brandon De Wilde

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brian Keith	...	Cam Calloway
Vera Miles	...	Lydia (Liddy) Calloway
Brandon De Wilde	...	Bucky Calloway (as Brandon de Wilde)
Walter Brennan	...	Alf Simes
Ed Wynn	...	Ed Parker
Linda Evans	...	Bridie Mellott
Philip Abbott	...	Dell Fraser
John Larkin	...	Jim Mellott
Parley Baer	...	Doane Shattuck
Frank DeKova	...	Nigosh (as Frank de Kova)
Roy Roberts	...	E.J. Fletcher
John Qualen	...	Ernie Evans
Tom Skerritt	...	Whit Turner
Paul Hartman	...	Charley Evans
Russell Collins	...	Nat Perkins

Storyline

Story of Cam Calloway and his family, who live in a densely wooded area in New England. Cam dreams of building a sanctuary for the geese that fly over the area each year, and he tries several schemes to buy a nearby lake for this santuary. He is thwarted at every attempt, it seems; he and his son try to get enough furs from their trapping venture to get the money, but the bottom falls out of the fur market. He uses the little money they get for a down payment on the lake, thereby losing their house when he can't make the mortgage payment. They move to the lake, where their friends help them build a cabin. A salesman stops in town, and tries to get the people to sell their land for a tourist venture; Cam is outraged at his tactics and takes desperate measures after he himself is tricked.

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Plot Keywords:

vermont | coming of age | wolverine | goose | geese | 

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Taglines:

A motion picture you'll never forget!

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brandon De Wilde was seven months older than Linda Evans in real-life, even though his character was two years younger than hers. Bucky Calloway was 16 and Bridie Mellott was 18.

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Goofs

When the guys are in the store talking about the town meeting for the hunting club, one of them is holding a box of Winchester AA ammunition. These shells were not available until the 1960's....years after the time frame of the film.

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Quotes

Cam Calloway: Buck, I been asking around. You know something? We could buy this whole place for eleven hundred dollars. I mean, lake and all.
Bucky Calloway: Buy it? Well, what for, Pa? It runs mostly to marsh.
Cam Calloway: Well, for the geese. You know, for a stopping-over place. Some place they could come down every year and be safe from these dogs and guns.
Bucky Calloway: Yeah, but they don't stop every year.
Cam Calloway: Just cos' they ain't been invited. There's a way of bringing them down. Indians got a trick; all you got to do is plant some corn. See you could ...
[...]

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Connections

Edited into The Magical World of Disney: Those Calloways: Part 1 (1969)

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Soundtracks

Angel
Music by Max Steiner
Lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

User Reviews

I do really like Brian Keith as an actor, but he really did get the more lamer Disney films didn't he?

Bland. It's a film that slowly creeps through its 131 minute runtime.

I do really like Brian Keith as an actor, but he really did get the more lamer Disney films didn't he? 'The Parent Trap' aside, all of his others with the studio up until this point are marginally good at best; despite Keith's talent.

'Those Calloways' is poorly paced and doesn't have any truly lovable characters. The shtick with the main family is that they are opposed to hunting, yet their whole thing is hunting in itself. Sure, they're doing it for differing reasons, but it's hardly a massive gap - it's not like the film portrays them as disliking it either.

As for the cast, Keith is the best on display as Cam. Brandon deWilde (Bucky), Ed Wynn (Ed) and Walter Brennan (Alf) are fine. All of the antagonists are forgettable, though. Considering how long the film goes on for, they hardly do anything with the exception of one moment. There's a few scenes which could've done with some music too, particularly ones involving Bucky and Whit (Tom Skerritt).

There is definitely a good message attempted, but it kinda falls flat unfortunately. This isn't one I'd recommend, even if it isn't terrible.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Those Crazy Calloways

Filming Locations:

Vermont, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1