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MVD Visual: Mackintosh and T.J. (1975) - Reviewed
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| Courtesy of MVD Visual |
The last feature film of actor-singer-television
personality Roy Rogers and the first feature film of frequent television
director Marvin J. Chomsky Mackintosh and T.J. is something of a
farewell for the legendary actor.
Written specifically for him by Paul Savage, Rogers first began making
music in 1931 before taking up a film acting career in 1935 before becoming one
of the most recognizable faces of 1940s media from radio to television as well
as forming what became known as The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show. A figure synonymous with the contemporary
present-day American western, his last role on the silver screen returns to filmgoers
courtesy of MVD Visual in a brand new 4K digital restoration sure to impress newcomers
as well as longtime Rogers fans.
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| Courtesy of MVD Visual |
Elderly Mackintosh (Roy Rogers) is on
the road driving through West Texas plains in his jalopy pickup truck looking
for work breaking horses when he stops at a local grocery store for supplies and
catches a runaway juvenile delinquent named T.J. (ProRodeo Hall of Famer Clay O’Brien)
shoplifting. Rather than turn the kid back
into jail, Mackintosh takes the boy under his wing on his cross-country sojourn
through the wide-open west and they bond over their jobs together at a cattle
ranch. However, trouble is afoot on the
ranch involving a peeping tom co-worker named Coley (Dirty Harry and Hellraiser
villain Andrew Robinson) who inadvertently draws unwanted attention on Mackintosh
from the locals but Mackintosh, stoic and fearless, isn’t prepared to go down
without a fight.
A nice, relaxed-paced buddy movie
between two strangers that forms something of a paternalistic bond and one last
cowboy ride for Roy Rogers, Mackintosh and T.J. though tinged with
moments of darkness and violence is overall a comfortable little vacation of a
movie. Aided by a lyrical country set of
original sounds and music by Waylon Jennings and scenic cinematography by Terry
K. Maded, gorgeously rendered in 4K, the film is kind of sublime to see and hear. Yes the film does tend to look and feel
occasionally like a television movie but the screen presence of Roy Rogers allows
you to overlook the budgetary limitations.
Mostly it is an actor’s movie for Roy Rogers to play one final role on
his terms.
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| Courtesy of MVD Visual |
Though lacking a formal narrative plot
beyond the familial bonds forming between the two lead characters, Mackintosh
and T.J. for the uninitiated at times resembles the structure of the more
recently released News of the World, also a contemporary American
western of sorts. While I myself am
admittedly new to the canon of Roy Rogers, this was a splendid little
introductory chapter to the big/small screen legend. It has an infectious charm even the most
jaded of cyni-philes will be hard pressed to ignore, a kind of wonderful little
buddy movie that provides Roy Rogers with a grand send-off, a fitting and
appropriate end to a most colorful career.
--Andrew Kotwicki
