Hollywood Studio Magazine (April 1970)

M&3B3'<StBS^S^SB&^S IF IT WON’T FIT... YOU WON’T BE A HIT ! For the natural look..let MR. DAVID from PARIS CUSTOMIZE YOUR WIG ! Pousc of pitgs 985-6353 10940 RIVERSIDE DRIVE NORTH HOLLYWOOD Corner of VINELAND OPEN ‘TILL 7 p.m. Page 8 By Lou Dyer MEXICO CITY — Action and sex these days spell out the name of the film game. And Avco-Embassy’s “Macho Callahan,” starring David Janssen, Jean Seberg, Lee J. Cobb and James Booth, has both. The Joseph E. Levine presentation, being produced by Martin C. Schute and Bernie Kowalski, with Kowalski also directing, falls into that category of motion picture which displays plenty of action and adventure, raw guts and violence mixed in with a lovely passel of beauties that provide the sexy angles. “Macho” is unique in that the story centers around a double-chase idea; a desperado (Janssen) seeking to kill a “hustler-drummer” (Lee J. Cobb) who enlisted him fraudulently in the Southern Confederate forces and a widow (Jean Seberg) who searches throughout the West for the desperado (Janssen), who killed her husband (David Carradine). Action dominates the start of the film, when Janssen (portraying “Macho Callahan”) breaks out of an Andersonville-type Confederate prison, selfishly not caring whether any of his inmates make freedom. A thousand extras, along with a score of feature players and stuntmen, stage a gruelling, vicious scene of brutal carnage and destruction as Macho thrashes his way to freedom. This “battle-royal” was directed by Kowalski at an old hacienda near Cuautla, some 28 miles from Cuernavaca. Outside Macho throws in with Juan (Pedro Armendariz Jr.) and the two lead a trail of robbery, horse-thievery and chicanery in Macho’s search for Duffy (Cobb). Their trail crosses a newly-wed GEER RETURNS Veteran character actor Will Geer has been set for a co-starring role in “Kane,” which will star Sidney Poitier for Columbia Pictures presentation. The film will be produced by Joel Glickman and directed by James Goldstone forPoitier’s E & R Production Corp. Geer will portray Doc Thomas, a small town country doctor in a story of today’s South. His last assignment at Columbia was “In Cold Blood.” * * * For the photographers who were wondering who the gorgeous blonde was couple (Seberg and Carradine) and when the young husband purchases a bottle of Champagne, already bought by Macho, the desperado forces the young man into a gunfight and kills him, all this being observed by the young girl. Now Alexandra (the girl) vows to kill Macho, although Macho has never seen her. And she throws in with the hustler Duffy (Cobb), who in turn is being sought by Macho. Sex scenes prevail in some of the bordellos which Macho and Juan visit, with plenty of exposure being displayed by lovelies Diana Iverson and Diane Ladd, as well as other ladies in the saloons and bars they frequent. In one scene Duffy almost forces himself into a bathroom where Alex (Miss Seberg) is bathing, this by design on the part of Duffy. But Alex puts him down with a great deal of dignity. Scenes in “King Harry” Wheeler’s (James Booth) gambling casino contain a bevy of beautiful girls and a great deal of action. Some 200 Western characters, with some 30 dancing girls, riot and tear the place apart when Alex tries to trap Macho, who walks in with Juan for a bit of fun-and-games. A posse chases the escaping Macho and Juan, resulting in more rugged and terrific action sequences. Audiences will love the “nudey” aspects and the crashing action of “Macho Callahan,” being filmed in color on locations in Mexico by Cinematographer Gerald Fisher from a screenplay by Cliff Gould. As Westerns go, “Macho Callahan” may well be one of the “classics,” since the denouement possesses great depth, love and understanding. with the bejeweled eyes at the “Marooned” premiere — it was Ginger Court, the hypnotist. Veteran actor William Bramley has been set for an important role in M.J. Frankovich’s “Doctors’ Wives, a Columbia Pictures’ release. He will portray a doctor involved in a desparate attempt in saving the life of one of his colleagues after he has been shot. * * * Anthony Quinn told an interviewer on the location set of Stanley Kramer’s Columbia film,“R.P.M.*”, that “an actor judging his picture is like a mother judging her child — they both can be awfully prejudiced — and awfully wrong.”