Those Calloways (1965)

Those Calloways (1965)

Those Calloways consist of Cam, his lovely wife Liddy and their son Bucky.  The plot centers around Cam Calloway’s (Brian Keith) big dream of wanting to build a goose sanctuary so he can protect our fine feathered friends from Canada, from hunters who like a good cooked goose for dinner. The film is as exciting as the plot sounds.  It’s not anymore dull or boring then if you were to visit a park and sit down and watch the ducks in the pond.  

 Of course in ‘Those Calloways’ there are sights you might not see in a park which include fights with the town jerk, boxing matches between father and son, encounters with a dangerous wolverine, a hoe down, God’s name not mocked or mentioned in vain, but in a rather positive light, and the whimsical presence of Ed Wynn. There is even the dread excitement of ‘Will the dog/man/movie live or die?” and ‘You bought a stupid lake with the money we were going to pay the mortgage with?” 

‘Those Calloways is one of the most quant pictures you will ever see.  If you want belly laughs that would shoot milk out your nose or want to grip your seat so you don’t fall out after coming close to the edge, you may want to choose a different film.  If you want a rather feel good film where the whole town comes together to build a log cabin in the spirit of friendship and good neighborliness, this is your film.  If you want inspiration to build your own goose sanctuary, I suppose this film can pump up your dreams. But to quote Stephen Colbert, “Follow your dreams. But what if it’s a stupid dream?”