Verdugo Entertainment will launch the newly restored 4K version of the 1975 classic Mackintosh and T.J. on Blu-ray and DVD. The modern day American western stars the legendary “King of the Cowboys” Roy Rogers, in his final feature film appearance.
Distributed by Verdugo Entertainment and MVD Entertainment Group, the film is also streaming now on Amazon Prime, Vudu, You Tube and Google Play.
Mackintosh and T.J. is described as “a moving photo album of ranch life in Texas in the mid-1970s.” Screenwriter Paul Savage, most known for his TV work in Wagon Train, Big Valley, and Gunsmoke, penned the film specifically with Roy Rogers in mind. The film is one of the few in which Roy Rogers did not play himself, portraying instead the title character of Mackintosh, a veteran ranch hand.
In the film, wandering through rural Texas ranch country, Mackintosh becomes a father figure for the young and homeless T.J. (Clay O’Brien) and helps him to stay on track. They land jobs on the ranch of Jim Webster, where Mackintosh proves his skills as a horse tamer. When a murder takes place, Mackintosh is framed which leads to dramatic events.
The film was restored to 4K from the original 35MM camera negative, including audio cleanup and went through a color correction process to match the original film. Colorist Sean Lawrence comments, “Our color correction approach was to try and be as true to the original intention and not impose modern color correction aesthetics. Were the filmmakers alive to see it, we would want them to feel that this matched their original vision.”
Mackintosh and TJ’s original score is by Waylon Jennings and the soundtrack features songs by Jennings and country music icon Willie Nelson.
The film was recently spotlighted in the What is a Western? Interview Series: Ranching, Rodeo and Roy Rogers produced by The Autry Museum and featuring a lively discussion with rodeo world champion Larry Mahan (who also has a role in the movie), and film historians C. Courtney Joyner and Stuart Rosebrook. The panelists discuss the realistic portrayal of 20th century rodeo and ranching life in movies, particularly in Roy Rogers’ final film, and explore the significance of the Western genre and the ways in which the movies shape our understanding of the American West.
“It isn’t a Roy Rogers movie, it’s a wonderful movie that Roy Rogers is in that reflects quite a bit of 1970’s sensibility,” says Joyner.
“Roy Rogers’ character Mackintosh seems to be an amalgamation of some of those characters we saw in Junior Bonner, J W Coop, The Honkers - men out of time, men who have values, who still follow the ‘Code of The West.’ So that message came across very strong,” comments Rosebrook.
“Producer Tim Penland wanted to do older style Westerns,” explains Mahan. “He had quite an extensive Christian background, and he wanted to get away from what he saw in Westerns, as there was too much violence, and he wanted to do something that was more in line with his values.”
