Zachariah (film)

Zachariah
Theatrical release poster
Directed by George Englund
Produced by George Englund
Lawrence Kubik
Written by Joe Massot
Phil Austin
Peter Bergman
David Ossman
Philip Proctor
Starring John Rubinstein
Don Johnson
Patt Quinn
Dick Van Patten
Music by Jimmie Haskell
Cinematography Jorge Stahl Jr.
Edited by Gary Griffin
Production
company
Distributed by Cinerama Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • January 24, 1971 (1971-01-24)
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1,200,000[1]
Box office $625,000[1]

Zachariah is a 1971 American Western musical film directed by George Englund and written by Joe Massot and the four members of the comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre (Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Philip Proctor). The film stars John Rubinstein as Zachariah, and Don Johnson as his friend Matthew, as two gunfighters journeying through the American West.[2]

Cast

Production

The film is loosely based on Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha,[3] surrealistically adapted as a musical Western. Massot said his inspiration came from when he joined the Beatles in India,[4] when they were studying Transcendental Meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in early 1968.[5] Massot said he arrived to find only George Harrison and John Lennon there, after their bandmates had left the course early, and the two Beatles "locked into some sort of meditation duel … to see who was the stronger character".[5]

Massot initially asked Harrison to provide the film's soundtrack, following his work on Wonderwall, which Massot directed.[6] According to Levon Helm of The Band, Harrison discussed making Zachariah as an Apple Films project starring Bob Dylan and The Band, in late 1968.[7] The following April, Rolling Stone announced that Cream's drummer Ginger Baker and The Band were to be major players in the film.[8]

This film was billed as "The first electric Western".[2] It features appearances and music supplied by rock bands from the 1970s, including the James Gang[2] and Country Joe and the Fish as "The Cracker Band".[2] Fiddler Doug Kershaw has a musical cameo[2] as does Elvin Jones as a gunslinging drummer named Job Cain.[2]

Soundtrack

The music and lyrics that appear in the movie soundtrack were written by:

  • "We're the Crackers" - Joe McDonald
  • "All I Need" - Joe McDonald
  • "Poor But Honest Crackers" - Joe McDonald and Barry Melton
  • "Country Fever" - Joe McDonald and Barry Melton
  • "Laguna Salada" - Joe Walsh, Jim Fox, and Dale Peters
  • "Drum Solo" - Elvin Jones
  • "The Ballad of Job Cain" - Doug Kershaw
  • "Grave Digger" - Michael Kamen and Martin Fulterman
  • "Shy Ann" - Byard Ray
  • "Down in the Willow Garden" - Byard Ray, Obray Ramsey, and Arthur Gorson
  • "Camino Waltz" - John Rubinstein

The Minneapolis group White Lightnin' performs their rock and roll version of the William Tell Overture[9][10] on the soundtrack. The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble perform Grave Digger.[9][10] The soundtrack features songs by the James Gang, Joe Walsh, and Country Joe and the Fish.[9][10]

Zachariah (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the soundtrack album, was released in 1971 as a vinyl LP by Probe Records, a subsidiary label owned by ABC Records.[10] It contains the following titles:

Side 1:

  • Zachariah (Main Title) - Jimmie Haskell
  • Laguna Salada - The James Gang
  • We're The Crackers - Country Joe And The Fish
  • William Tell Overture - Jimmie Haskell
  • All I Need - Country Joe And The Fish
  • Ballad Of Job Cain - Doug Kershaw
  • Country Fever - The James Gang

Side 2:

  • The Lonely Ride - Jimmie Haskell
  • Camino / Used Horse Salesman - Jimmie Haskell
  • Camino Waltz - Jimmie Haskell
  • Gravedigger - The New York Rock And Roll Ensemble
  • Shy Ann - White Lightnin'
  • Matthew - Jimmie Haskell
  • Zachariah (End Title) - Jimmie Haskell

Reception

Don Johnson later said in a 2014 interview with The A.V. Club "I was sort of the Govinda character."[11]

Roger Greenspun of The New York Times wrote in a review of the film "It is, at least in my experience, the first movie to parody the Western with the apparent intention of propagandizing homosexual love. I am aware that male relationships are a stock in trade of most Westerns and that, in Andy Warhol's brilliant "Lonesome Cowboys," there has already been a homosexual parody."[2]

The film recorded a loss of $1,435,000.[1]

DVD

Zachariah was released to DVD by MGM Home Video on August 24, 2004 as a Region 1 widescreen DVD.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "ABC's 5 Years of Film Production Profits & Losses", Variety, 31 May 1973 p 3
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Greenspun, Roger (January 25, 1971). "Zachariah (1970) Screen: 'Zachariah,' an Odd Western". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ Irv Slifkin (2004). Videohound's Groovy Movies: Far-Out Films of the Psychedelic Era. Visible Ink Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-57859-155-8.
  4. ↑ Reid, Graham (February 14, 2011). "JOE MASSOT INTERVIEWED (2001): And after all, you're my wonder wall ..." Elsewhere. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Massot, Joe (October 1996). "Identity Crisis". Mojo. p. 146.
  6. ↑ Madinger, Chip; Easter, Mark (2000). Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium. Chesterfield, MO: 44.1 Productions. p. 420. ISBN 0-615-11724-4.
  7. ↑ Helm, Levon; with Davis, Stephen (2000). This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of The Band. Chicago, IL: A Cappella Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-55652-405-9.
  8. ↑ Hopkins, Jerry (April 5, 1969). "Baker and Big Pink Sign for Western". Rolling Stone. San Francisco, California: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. p. 9. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. 1 2 3 Segal, Dave (September 2, 2011). "Don't Look a Gift Zachariah OST in the Mouth". The Stranger.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Zachariah (Movie Soundtrack)". Discogs.
  11. ↑ Harris, Will (May 30, 2014). "Don Johnson on Cold In July, Dennis Hopper, and auditioning for Miami Vice". The A.V. Club.
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