Macho Callahan (1970)

David Janssen is Diego “Macho” Callahan, who escapes from the desperation of a Confederate Civil War camp with the intention of tracking down the man whose trickery landed him there.

Along the way, he encounters David Mountford (David Carradine), a one-armed former Rebel officer who is honeymooning in Junction City with his pretty wife Alexandra (Jean Seberg).

Mountford spies a bottle of champagne in the local saloon. The barkeep sells it to him for a king’s ransom, though it’s been reserved for Macho.

When Macho sees Mountford leaving the saloon with his bottle, he prods him into a gunfight and kills him.

Alexandra, horrified, puts a price on Macho’s head with the help of a traveling horse trader and gambler named Duffy (Lee J. Cobb).

Duffy turns out to be very man Callahan is seeking. With her lone partner in vengeance gone, Alexandra decides to take matters into her own hands.

She winds up beaten and raped. She also winds up in love with the man she’s trying to pay bounty hunters to kill.

And thinking she’s been kidnapped during a barroom brawl, there’s a large band of men trailing them with the intention of rescuing Alexandra and collecting the reward on Callahan.

David Janssen as Macho Callahan, willing to kill a man over a bottle of champagne in Macho Callahan (1970)

Jean Seberg as Alexandra Mountford, raising the reward on her husband’s killer in Macho Callahan (1970)

Review:

Bernard Kowalski’s film starts impressively enough, with a horrifying depiction of a rat-infested, bug-infested prisoner-of-war camp where former Union soldiers are wasting away and dying.

And the film has enough unique touches — the showdown over a bottle of champagne, a vicious fight between Callahan and Alexandra, and the attempt to save a bear cub — that it could have been successful.

But all of that is spoiled by an illogical central premise: Alexandra’s change of heart toward Callahan after being beaten, raped and treated like a piece of property, simply defies logic. Especially since Callahan is such a somber — and not very literate — individual.

In fact, somber best describes this film. It simply isn’t enjoyable.

James Booth plays Harry Wheeler, the gambling hall owner who’s smitten with Alexandra and let’s her write letters for money in is establishment as a means of raising her reward for Callahan’s head. Bo Hopkins is a cowpoke perhaps even more taken with the blonde beauty.

Lee J. Cobb as Duffy, sneaking a peek at a bathing Alexandra in Macho Callahan (1970)

Pedro Armendariz Jr. as Juan, Macho Callahan’s saddlemate in Macho Callahan (1970)

Directed by:
Bernard Kowalski

Cast:
David Janssen … Diego Callahan
Jean Seberg … Alexandra Mountford
Lee J. Cobb … Duffy
James Booth … Harry Wheeler
Pedro Armendariz Jr. … Juan
David Carradine … David Mountford
Bo Hopkins … Yancy
Anne Revere … Crystal
Richard Anderson … Officer
Diane Ladd … Girl
Matt Clark … Jailer
Richard Evans … Mulvey
Cyril Delevanti … Old Man
Robert Morgan … McIntyre

Runtime: 100 min.

Bo Hopkins as Yancey, a young cowboy smitten with Alexandra in Macho Callahan (19700

James Booth as Harry Wheeler, the saloon owner in love with Alexandra in Macho Callahan (1970)

Memorable lines:

David Mountford, trying to unbutton Alexandra’s dress without a left arm: “Honey, I’ve lost whole battles in less time than that.”

Macho Callahan, trying to retrieve his bottle of champagne from Mountford: “If you keep walking, I’m going to shoot you right between the shoulder blades and take a chance the bottle don’t break when it hits the ground.”

Macho Callahan: “The authorities gave me a choice — go to war or go to prison. Well, it wasn’t my war.”

Macho Callahan, planning to bed Alexandra: “Are you one of those (who) have to be told you got real pretty eyes or some damn thing?”

Alexandra Mountford, when she and Callahan are pinned down by bounty hunters and she opts to stay: “Harry thinks I’m insane. Am I?”
Callahan: “Well, most women I can think of, given the choice, wouldn’t chose to sit behind a rock and get shot at.”

David Carradine as David Mountford, trying to undo his new wife’s dress with one hand in Macho Callahan (1970)

Matt Clark as a guard in a Confederate prisoner of war camp in Macho Callahan (1970)

Jean Seberg as Alexandra Mountford, coming face to face with her husband’s killer in Macho Callahan (1970)

David Janssen as Macho Callahan, pleading for mercy as a prisoner of war in Macho Callahan (1970)