Review: The Castaway Cowboy (DMC #54)
Happy New Year, fellow Disnerds! We hope you all had safe and happy holidays. After a much needed break, we are back to kick off 2021 with The Castaway Cowboy, the 54th movie in the Disnerd Movie Challenge. Are ya rarin’ to go? If this is your first time seeing this or if you need a refresher, our synopsis is directly below as always. Otherwise, feel free to skip ahead to the main review!
Synopsis
One day while fishing with his friend Kimo on the island of Kauai, young Booton MacAvoy discovers a man floating in the water. The man is brought to Booton’s house where his mother, Henrietta, and her housekeeper, Liliha, tend to him. The next morning, Booton checks in on the man who shares that his name is Lincoln Costain. Costain is from Texas, but he was shanghaied at sea. Booton looks outside and sees a bull grazing and trampling on the farm’s plants. Henrietta and Liliha fight the bull off with hot water while Costain observes. Henrietta later leaves for the local town, promising Costain to look for a ship for him so he can leave. Booton tells Costain he thinks his mother is off to see Bryson who keeps asking Henrietta to marry him. At the local town, Calvin Bryson tries again to persuade Henrietta to marry him and sell him her farm, promising her wealth and a good future for the island, but she politely refuses. She also notices a WANTED sign looking for seamen sailing to San Francisco and Seattle. While walking around the island, Booton shares with Costain that he and his mother own 10,000 acres of farm, but their potato business is not doing well. Booton asks if Costain could see himself living on the island or settling down with a wife and children, but Costain says no to the former question and is not sure about the second question. They hear a ringing in the distance and run back to the farm. Liliha is banging a bell as a group of cattle have invaded the farm. The native farmhands attempt to scare off the cattle with an old cannon filled with dirt and grass, but are unsuccessful. Costain is able to drive them away with some rope, subsequently wrangling a lone black bull after it nearly charges at Booton. That night, Booton recounts the story to his mother. Henrietta is impressed. She briefly describes their issues with selling their potatoes, and Costain suggests that the family could do better selling cattle. Costain asks about the ship, but Henrietta chooses not to tell him about the poster she saw, instead requesting he stay to help work on the farm until a ship comes along. Henrietta offers to pay Costain for his help in taming the local cattle and turning the farm into a cattle ranch. Costain decides to stay for a little bit to help.
The next day, Henrietta announces to the farmhands that Costain (rather than herself) has come up with the idea to tame and sell the animals. The farmhands are skeptical. One in particular, Malakoma, angrily watches this announcement from a distance with a look of anger. Costain begins teaching the farmhands how to mount and ride a horse as well as lasso, but the lessons do not go well. The farmhands find them to be funny much to Costain’s annoyance. Costain expresses his frustrations to Henrietta, particularly regarding how the farmhands are laughing so much and aren’t dressed properly. He also says that they need more horses in order for this plan to work. Henrietta says she knows how to get more horses, and goes to Mr. Bryson for a loan. At the farm, Costain is giving another lesson when Malakoma challenges him to a fight. Costain initially ignores him until Malakoma hits him with a spear. Costain trips and Malakoma holds a spear near his throat, but decides to spare him. Costain declares Malakoma the winner of this round, but then punches him in the face and tells him to leave. The horses that Henrietta bought soon arrive, although the lessons are still not sinking in as quickly as Costain would like. Booton grows frustrated and wants to quit, but Costain tells him where he’s from you don’t quit until the sun sets or the dinner bell rings. Mr. Bryson arrives and tells Costain that the cattle can’t be loaded onto ships, and that the only way to load is by longboat which would be difficult for cattle. The next day, Costain searches for the farmhands and finds them swimming instead of working. He is knocked into the water and becomes angry. That night he tells Henrietta he is leaving and asks for his wages. Henrietta tries to defend the farmhands and raise Costain’s salary to make him stay, but Costain leaves. The next day, Booton angrily asks why his mother let Costain go. Costain plays poker at a pub to earn some additional money and cleans house. Outside, he is greeted by Booton, Kimo, and the other farmhands all dressed in cowboy attire and on their horses. They plead with Costain to stay, but he gets on a small rowboat and is rowed out to sea towards a schooner. Booton yells out to Costain that he didn’t hear the dinner bell ring. Costain realizes he can’t give up and returns to shore. He uses his poker money to buy boots for the farmhands who soon show a renewed commitment to Costain’s teachings. They can now ride and lasso, and the fencing for the cattle has finally been finished. Meanwhile, Mr. Bryson’s henchman Marruja notices their progress and reports his findings to Mr. Bryson.
Mr. Bryson pays Malakoma a large sum of money to stop the cattle being sold. At the farm, Costain sends Kimo out to wrangle a lone bull, but Kimo is disoriented and falls from his horse. After a medical doctor is unable to help, Henrietta shares with Costain that she believes Malakoma, a witch doctor, is behind Kimo’s sudden illness. Liliha tells Costain he can find Malakoma in a nearby cavern, and Costain goes to confront him. The two fight until Costain defeats Malakoma. Costain brings Malakoma back to the farm, where he orders him to heal Kimo. Malakoma does so, and Costain demands he leave for good and find another island. Soon after, Costain leads the group out to the countryside where they manage to rope a large number of cattle. They use a test raft to see if they can transport the cattle, but the spooked cattle shift around and break the raft. However, Costain believes he has found an alternative method. He and Henrietta meet with a captain of one of the ships to settle on the price of the cattle. Mr. Bryson gets word of their success and orders Marruja to stampede the cattle that evening. Costain hears the cattle as the stampede begins and immediately alerts everyone to flee as the cattle tear through the property. Costain and the farmhands chase after the cattle and subdue them. Marruja is separated and captured by Costain, who ties him up and takes him to Mr. Bryson’s office. Costain demands Mr. Bryson hand over Henrietta’s note, claiming that after the damage he did to her property she no longer owes him. Mr. Bryson fakes handing the note and then attacks Costain, but Costain quickly recovers and defeats Mr. Bryson, who is soon arrested. The next morning, Costain and the farmhands round up all their cattle and lead them out to the water where they’ll “swim” tied to longboats to reach the captain’s awaiting ship. Booton successfully wrangles a bull of his own, and Costain admits he was wrong about the farmhands. The captain offers Costain a place on his ship so he can return to Texas, but Costain decides to stay with the MacAvoys.
Thoughts Before Watching
Megan: I’ve never seen or heard of this one before. Honestly, I’m setting my expectations pretty low at this point.
Kevin: As has become the norm for many older Disney films, I have not seen this one. It has James Garner though, and while I can’t be certain if I’ve seen any his films before he is certainly a household name. Also, is it just me or does the boy shown in the preview image on Disney Plus look A LOT like Haley Mills, particularly from The Parent Trap? Seriously, he is the spitting image! Anyway, this movie is tagged as a Western, and Disney’s Western films have been disappointing, to put it frankly. But wait, what’s this? The setting is Kauai and there is a witch doctor involved?! That’s new for a Western film, and actually sounds interesting!
Thoughts After Watching
A waste of opportunities
Kevin: The hardest thing about writing these blog posts is when I’m watching a movie I’ve never seen before. I try to make sure I don’t go in with expectations, but I do occasionally research basic info about the film, such as the cast list, the directors, the writers, when it was released, etc. As mentioned before, I know James Garner was a well-known actor and I was hoping this would be a good film. Honestly though, I thought this was straight up boring. After we finished the movie I told Megan that this felt as bad, if not possibly worse, than Treasure Island. While I didn’t fall asleep as we watched this one like I did with the earlier movie, Treasure Island has the slightest of edges over The Castaway Cowboy. Both films include a sort of father/son relationship that makes up the core of the story. In Treasure Island we have Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins, and in The Castaway Cowboy we have Lincoln Costain and Booton MacAvoy. Where I was able to believe, however minimally, that Silver and Hawkins had established a mutual connection, I did not think there was any such connection between Costain and Booton, at least not deserved. It’s even worse because Silver and Hawkins eventually become enemies, but Costain and Booton are on the same side throughout the whole film. It just did not work here.
Kevin: This is actually one of the main reasons the film was so dull to me. It’s been said before over and over, but if the characters fall flat then the story falls flat. Both Garner and Eric Shea (who plays Booton) do their jobs well, and Vera Miles (playing as Booton’s mother, Henrietta) is also great here. All of the cast works well together, but there was just never a moment where I thought any of the characters themselves had real chemistry. Henrietta appears to take a liking to Costain immediately, so much that she does not want him to return home to Texas in spite of knowing him for at most a few days. Yes, fast-paced romance is typical Disney formula, and it works in movies where we can at least witness the characters bond and grow together. Most of Costain’s screen time is spent with Booton or the farmhands. There’s implied romance between Costain and Henrietta, but it doesn’t come off as earned because of their lack of time together. I did not think there was enough of a relationship established to justify why Booton and his mother want Costain to stay so badly. Costain made it pretty clear throughout the movie that all he wanted to do was get back home to Texas. It’s great that he could help get the MacAvoys’ farm up and running, but after that there was no real reason for him to stay at all.
There’s also a wasted opportunity in how Costain’s character is treated. In very typical fashion for Hollywood of this age, James Garner’s Lincoln Costain is a straight talk, no-nonsense manly man. He stands up to the witch doctor Malakoma (played by Nephi Hannemann) and businessman Calvin Bryson (played by Robert Culp) and wins both physical fights. He also gets the Hawaiian farmhands into shape and teaches them how to run a cattle ranch. The filmmakers had a golden opportunity staring them in the face by having a fish out of water cowboy living in a land he doesn’t know. Costain could have adapted his Texan roots to the Hawaiian culture, learning from them and working with them for mutual benefit. Instead the story forces the Hawaiians to learn things Costain’s way (more on this subject later). Basically, Costain gets to do everything his own way, in spite of being a stranger in a strange land. This is typical of this age because men are often portrayed as being stubborn and unchanging. What a man wants to do, he does. Indeed, the “manly way” is often seen as the right way by default. Henrietta remarks to Booton at one point that “[Costain’s] a man, he does what he wants to.” This quote was in context of Booton demanding to know why his mother didn’t stop Costain from leaving the farm, but it sums up Costain’s character throughout the movie. Henrietta also adds on that “[she] couldn’t stop him.” So, not only does the movie state that, as a man, Costain is able to do whatever he pleases, but that Henrietta can’t possibly do anything to change his mind because he’s a man. It’s a sexist trope that feeds into an outdated stereotype about masculinity. The trope is fueled by the fact that Henrietta sees Costain as the leader the farm needs in order to become successful. Why the movie could not establish Henrietta herself as the leader (you know, since it’s her farm), or, even better, have her and Costain be equal leaders and partners, thereby providing a justified romance, is beyond me.
Kevin: Costain’s character is a result of what society viewed as the typical male role model at the time, and so I don’t think much could be changed there. But as to his relationships with Henrietta and Booton, I think what’s missing is enough screen time to establish who these characters are and why we should root for them. I kept looking at the remaining time on the movie as it kept dragging on, getting more excited the closer it got to being over and done. The irony here is that more screen time probably would have helped develop the characters more and given us a reason to, well, actually care about them. Wasted opportunities, indeed.
Toxic masculinity makes for pretty dull conflict
Megan: As Kevin already pointed out above, Costain’s character was made from the stereotypical “manly man” mold. This creates a number of issues. For one thing, Costain always getting to do things his way makes for, well, a pretty dull story, honestly. There’s never a question of “will he be able to succeed?” with each obstacle he faces because he never actually fails. Sure, he “fails” to train the farmhands to ride horses or rope cattle in the beginning, but we aren’t really seeing him fail on a personal level. Without that struggle, the obstacles he faces become less formidable because we know he’s going to overcome them pretty easily. When he decides he’s had enough and he threatens to leave, we don’t really believe him. We know he’s going to turn back. Maybe the film is so predictable because we’re viewing this as an audience who’s been exposed to hundreds of storyline tropes like this, but I have to imagine this wasn’t exactly a groundbreaking story even for audiences of the 1970s.
Megan: The toxic masculinity further contributes to the uninspiring conflicts of the film in that every dispute between two men is resolved through a display of physical dominance. Malakoma feels threatened by Costain, so what does he do? He challenges him to a spear-throwing match. When Costain loses the spear match—a threat to his own masculinity—he turns it into a fist fight by punching Malakoma in the face. Bryson has a touch more nuance in his approach to conflict, for when he feels threatened by Costain’s influence over Henrietta (and her property), Bryson sends Marruja to do the work for him. However, this, too, ultimately culminates in a physical brawl when Costain captures Marruja and delivers him to Bryson’s office to demand Bryson hand over the note for Henrietta’s mortgage. Bryson might throw the first punch, but Costain easily gives in to the violence, and the confrontation ends with Costain victorious, Bryson arrested, and Bryson’s office completely damaged. While fight sequences like these might have been exciting to watch at the time, too many films have shown men resorting to physical fights to resolve conflict whereas women more often are shown using persuasion and conversation to resolve conflict. Is it any wonder, then, that our society still struggles with men who can’t resolve conflict without throwing a punch?
Searching for a father figure
Megan: Tied into this concept of toxic masculinity is the complete absence of father figures in this film. From the beginning, Booton is without a father, yet we see how he craves a father figure in his life. Though Bryson has auditioned for the role, Booton sees through him and knows the man has no interest in truly living up to what it means to be a father. Yet when Costain arrives, Booton is enamored with him and desperately clings to him, hoping he might be the father he’s been longing for—even though Costain clearly has no interest. I mean he can’t even get Booton’s name right for the entire course of the movie! It isn’t until the final scene of the movie that Costain actually calls Booton by his real name. While I believe the intention of the filmmakers was to have us believe that Costain would finally be the father Booton had been searching for, I don’t buy it. Costain has shown zero propensity for fatherhood over the course of the film, and much like Costain’s relationship with Henrietta, he hasn’t earned Booton’s affection. One could easily imagine how events might unfold after the end of this film. Costain would go on being stoic and emotionally detached, and Booton would soon realize what a disappointment Costain was as a father. What’s worse, Booton would probably grow up thinking a man is supposed to shut down any emotional attachments, forgetting the pain of his own childhood without that connection and perpetuating the cycle. Sure, they’re just fictional characters, but the stories we immerse ourselves in have a lot more power than we give them credit for. The toxic masculinity displayed in this film is only echoed in our own society.
Colonization and the white savior
Kevin: The Disney Plus version of the film opens up with the same warning about negative depictions and mistreatment of people as The Aristocats did. As soon as we saw that warning, we expected there would be some issues. The Castaway Cowboy shows a group of Hawaiians basically being servants to white people. While they are not slaves, there is still a clear master/servant dynamic. Henrietta, a white woman, is the owner of the MacAvoy farm and has Hawaiians as her farmhands. We see Henrietta’s first instance of giving some type of command when she instructs her housekeeper, Liliha (played by Elizabeth Smith) to bring supplies needed to care for Costain after he washes ashore. Although housekeepers are usually depicted as subservient regardless of race, it is telling that this movie has a white person in charge and a person of color as the servant. This cannot be overlooked or simply brushed aside given history over the last century. Later, Costain is persuaded to stay around for a while and help Henrietta and Booton on the farm. Henrietta further convinces Costain to teach the farmhands how to cattle ranch in order to turn the farm around into a successful business. I’m not sure when the movie is supposed to take place, so it is unclear whether Hawaii is a state or still a territory in the context of the story. Either way, the point is that it is still troubling that the filmmakers decided to show Costain and Henrietta making decisions for the Hawaiians. Although Costain is doing these things to help out the farm, the Hawaiian farmhands are being subjected to a lifestyle a white man shows them, rather than the white man learning from them or having them learn from each other. Given the scenario, the whole thing looks like colonization. Costain’s actions are depicted not just as beneficial to the farm, but also as more appropriate. The farmhands take to calling Costain “boss,” although it should be mentioned that Liliha first calls him that while he’s recovering from the storm, long before he has even begun teaching the farmhands anything. Is Liliha simply accustomed to calling people boss because of her relationship with Henrietta?
Kevin: Costain makes clear a few times that he doesn’t like how the farmhands take to his lessons. They regularly fall from their horses and trip each other up while trying to lasso. They laugh about it, but Costain is visibly annoyed. He has the following exchange with Henrietta:
HENRIETTA: Yes, it’s true, they do like their fun.
COSTAIN: Like it? They’d rather giggle and laugh. They’d rather laugh than eat. They’re like a bunch of kids out there. A school girl’d be more sober, ma’am.
I like that the farmhands are having such a good time and not letting their struggles get to them. Unfortunately, the way the film presents this makes it seem like we’re supposed to find it childish and therefore wrong. Costain’s comment reeks of a sense of superiority whether intended or not. Likening them to “a bunch of kids” is meant to be derogatory. I believe the more likely explanation is that the farmhands are having fun because this is all so new to them. If anything, their excitement looks to me like it’s more out of curiosity. Costain also keeps ignoring the crucial detail that cattle ranching takes time, and he should not expect the farmhands to pick it all up quickly.
Megan: Also, the day that Costain can’t find the farmhands because they’re off swimming and having a good time? It’s a Sunday! I know all of us appreciate that weekends are for fun and relaxation. Clearly Costain does not think anyone working for him deserves a break.
Kevin: Later in the conversation (after rudely interrupting Henrietta to talk about there not being enough horses on the farm), Costain brings up the lack of the right gear for horse riding and makes a quip about the farmhands’ clothes:
COSTAIN: Ma’am, they don’t even have anything decent to wear!
It’s one thing to point out needing the right gear for any task, but it’s something else to claim that the farmhands aren’t dressed appropriately. Costain’s upbringing and beliefs clash with the Hawaiian culture, so “decent” for him could be different than what it might be on the island. Again, while it may not be intended as an insult, it’s a sign that Costain sees his lifestyle as the “correct” way and the natives need to adapt to it. Henrietta defends the farmhands by stating:
HENRIETTA: Their clothes may not suit you, but they find them very comfortable.
Henrietta gets some points for this, but we should not ignore that it was her idea to have Costain take this job to begin with (not to mention she presented it to the farmhands as being Costain’s idea entirely). They both choose to take what Costain knows and apply it to the Hawaiian farmhands, demonstrating a belief that this is the best and only right way to move forward. The scene where Costain tries to leave and is greeted by Booton, Kimo, and the other farmhands on their horses is particularly bad. They all plead for Costain to stay by promising him they will be the cowboys he wants them to be. For example, Kimo says “You stay. We be cowboy for you, boss.” and other farmhands say “No swim, no fish. Not even Sunday. We work hard, boss” and “No water slide. Not any kind of play.” On one hand, working hard is the best way to become good at something, but on the other hand, we all need fun in our lives, too. This scene is so uncomfortable to watch when you realize the natives are eagerly willing to toss aside their lifestyles and pastimes to satisfy what Costain wants, who completely refuses to budge on his stance and meet them halfway like Henrietta suggested. The farmhands repeatedly call him boss and keep urging him to stay, which Costain ultimately chooses to do. In the end, the ranch is transformed thanks to Costain’s efforts and the farmhands successfully learning the cattle ranching trade. But, at what cost? The film makes it clear that the “childish” and “lazy” island natives must adapt to the “hard working” and “adult” ways of Costain’s Texan life. The ending shows that this was all for the greater good of the farm. The natives’ lives have been changed dramatically by a white man, and the white man gets to be the “savior.” This may have been normal fifty years ago, but this movie did not age well at all.
The pitfalls of being a woman who owns property
Megan: It came as no surprise to me that this film failed the Bechdel test. While the film does have two named female characters in Henrietta and Liliha, the only time they speak to each other is in reference to male characters. Initially I had hoped that Henrietta would play a more pivotal role. Here is a woman who owns property, and not just a little patch of property, but ten thousand acres of island paradise! That’s enough to rival the fortunes of Aunt Polly in Pollyanna! The fun seems to stop there, however. Henrietta may have inherited the property after her husband died, but there are other men who seek to profit from the land or take it from her. Bryson, of course, overtly makes his intentions known, trying to convince Henrietta to marry him so he can take ownership of the property. (Though the decade of when the film takes place is a little unclear, I imagine this was still in the age where all of a woman’s property reverted to her husband the second she got married). To Henrietta’s credit, she rebuffs Bryson’s advances, keeping things amicable primarily for the sake of their business relationship (and probably at least partly for her own safety, since we see what sort of man Bryson becomes once scorned). However, Costain also seems intent on turning a profit from Henrietta’s land. Of course, since he’s the hero, we’re supposed to see his intentions as “honorable”—he’s doing it to help Henrietta, not for his own self interest. But even Costain gets a wage from the work, and you can’t deny the covetous look he gives the land when Booton tells him they own ten thousand acres. With no real romantic chemistry between Costain and Henrietta on screen, it’s hard not to question if his motives are purely financial.
Megan: Even if we take the men out of the picture, I’m still a bit disappointed by Henrietta’s character. There was so much potential for her to be a great leader, but the filmmakers push Henrietta into a damsel-in-distress role. She doesn’t know what to do with the property she has. She’s been unsuccessfully trying to farm potatoes (and a pathetically small-looking patch of them, from the looks of it). She can’t seem to keep cattle out of the fields. She “needs” a man to come along and show her business sense. Similar to the white savior trope, here we have the male savior/damsel in distress trope. I’m sorry, but I find it hard to believe someone like Henrietta, who is smart enough to evade Bryson’s advances and convince Costain to turn the farm into a cattle ranch, wouldn’t have been resourceful enough to at the very least build fencing to protect the crops from the cattle. Yet time and again we see her ceding ownership of her ideas (it was her idea to hire Costain as a cattle rancher) and being pushed to the side as a woman without any power or agency. It makes for a rather uninteresting character to watch.
Unanswered questions
Megan: From a storytelling perspective, this film left me with a lot of unanswered questions, and not in a good way. For one thing, why was Costain shipwrecked? He said he was shanghaied, but why? What happened on that ship? Is he a wanted man? Is some villain from his past going to show up and ruin everything for the MacAvoys? Also, why are Henrietta (and later Costain) ordering around Hawaiians on the Hawaiian islands? Who died and made them “boss”? And honestly, why can’t Costain get Booton’s name right after what looks to be months on the island with the boy? It’s an uncommon name, but it’s not that hard! He has no problem learning the Hawaiians’ names. Also, were all the cattle okay? I know their horns are pretty strong, but some of that lasso work did not look very fun for the animals…
Do I really want the answers to these questions? No. I didn’t care about the movie enough for that. However, the point still stands that this film leaves a lot to be desired.
Verdict
Kevin: 2
Megan: 2
Final Score: 2
What did you think of The Castaway Cowboy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Ways to Watch
DVD