Mackintosh and T.J. Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Mackintosh and T.J. Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 26, 2021

If you actually need an example of what a traditional "nice guy" Roy Rogers was, watch the archival making of featurette included on this disc as a bonus feature. In it, Rogers is discussing his co-star Clay O'Brien, mentioning that the lad is "all boy" and using a familiar maxim to further that description, albeit with one important omission. There's a well known three word phrase typically used to describe males in particular of a certain temperament that includes a perhaps objectionable (to some) euphemism for urine along with the word for what dictionaries define as "an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings", but Roy simply leaves out the potentially offensive word, saying O'Brien is 100% "vinegar". Take that, black hat types with no regard for the womenfolk and their sensitive ears! Of course, this is all said with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but I think it's in fact evidence of what a kind of sweet guy Rogers was, never wanting to even slightly push any perceived envelopes. Mackintosh and T.J. marked Rogers' return to the big screen after an absence of several decades, and the film was in fact expressly written for him as a kinda sorta comeback vehicle (he unfortunately never made another feature film).

While it was marketed as a "modern western", Mackintosh and T.J. really is more of a character study that takes place in the west. Mackintosh (Roy Rogers) is an aging cowboy who travels from place to place finding work. On one of these journeys, he spies a kid named T.J. (Clay O'Brien) about to commit a bit of petty larceny at a store, and he steps in to save the day. He ends up giving T.J. a ride to nowhere in particular (though T.J.'s ultimate goal is to get the Pacific Ocean, which he's never seen), and the two begin getting to know each other. In this regard, it's kind of fun to note that Paul Savage's screenplay makes T.J. a rather talkative type, while Mackintosh is more of a laconic loner, perhaps just slightly in a somewhat more aged (for that time) Clint Eastwood mode, albeit frankly more accessible and friendly.

When Mackintosh's truck breaks down, T.J. accepts a ride with a passing stranger, and the two seem to have gone their separate ways. Later, however, when Mackintosh drops by a bar (for dinner, not a drink, of course), he spies T.J. working as a busboy and T.J. soon discloses (in a brief allusion that may strike some as un-PC) that the guy who picked him up was "funny", offering a limp wristed gesture that I assume is meant to suggest the driver was gay. A bar fight breaks out, probably for no other reason than the film needed to have some kind of action in it, and the upshot is that Mackintosh and T.J. take off on their road trip, reunited again.

The two more or less settle down at a Texas ranch where Mackintosh impresses the locals by breaking horses (and shooting coyotes), and T.J. is assigned some menial tasks. It's in this section of the film that the putative "bad guys" finally appear, but rather interestingly, they are (or, perhaps more appropriately, he is) part of a tangential sidebar involving the ranch employees, including maybe a creepy type or two, and Maggie (the lovely Joan Hackett), the pretty wife of the ranch foreman. The real interest, however, is the developing quasi-father and son relationship between Mackintosh and T.J., this despite T.J.'s repeated assertions that Mackintosh isn't his "pa".

In that aforementioned vintage featurette, Rogers states he wanted to make a "family film" since so many people were clamoring for one (this was the mid-seventies, of course), and as such, Mackintosh and T.J. may strike some as a little anemic, even when compared to the "cowboys and Indians" programmers that were a regular part of Rogers' earlier career. But there's really a rather heartwarming and sweet ambience to much of what transpires in the film, even with a momentary tip toward melodrama toward the end. Rogers is winning throughout, and O'Brien, who went on to a rather remarkable professional roping career, is also fun, and, well, vinegar-y.

Mackintosh and T.J. Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mackintosh and T.J. is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The cover of this release touts a 4K restoration from "original film elements", and as some of the supplemental features included on this release get into, this was something of a pet project for Steve Latshaw. For such a frankly little remembered film, the care afforded this transfer is evident, and this overall one of the nicest looking releases I've personally reviewed that has come from MVD Visual. The palette is really beautifully suffused throughout almost all of the presentation, and fine detail is frequently impressive on things like those great western hats Rogers and some of the other guys wear (or even the incredibly grimy baseball cap O'Brien wears). Outdoor location work provides some nice depth of field and good detail levels even in wide shots. There are a few rough looking moments, including some of the dark interior scenes, as in the bar where Mackintosh and T.J. meet up again, but on the whole this is a really organic and pleasing looking transfer.

Mackintosh and T.J. Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mackintosh and T.J. features an LPCM 2.0 track that is listed as stereo on the menu, but which my receiver (and ears) reported as mono. The soundtrack is quite interesting, utilizing a number of tunes by the likes of Waylon Jennings to play counterpart to the onscreen happenings, and all of those cues sound nicely warm and inviting. A few passing ranch sound effects are arguably a bit on the boxy side, but all dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly without any problems whatsoever. Optional English subtitles are available.

Mackintosh and T.J. Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes Featurette (HD; 12:29) is an archival featurette that comes with a preliminary warning about sound and video quality, though I personally don't think there's anything overly objectionable in either of those realms. This has some fun location scenes and appealing interviews.


• Lone Pine Cast Reunion (HD; 1:07:52) is an immensely enjoyable Zoom panel with Clay O'Brien Cooper, Andrew Robinson, Larry Mahan, C. Courtney Joyner and Steve Latshaw.


• Billy Green Bush Interview (HD; 16:28) is another nice Zoom affair with Bush, Joyner and Latshaw.


• Trailers includes Mackintosh & T.J. (HD; 1:45), along with trailers for other releases by MVD Visual.


• Directors Commentary features C. Courtney Joyner hosting Andrew Robinson, Clay O'Brien, and Steve Latshaw. This can be accessed under the Setup Menu.

Mackintosh and T.J. Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some regular readers of my reviews may know of my longstanding interest in Golden Age actress Frances Farmer, and one of Roy Rogers' first feature film appearances was as an unbilled Son(s) of the Pioneers in Frances' fun 1936 musical with Bing Crosby and Martha Raye, Rhythm on the Range, which had an ebullient song score that introduced such classics as Johnny Mercer's "I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)", performed on screen by a gaggle of the cast, including Roy and the other Sons. At the other end of his long and notable career, Rogers really does fantastic work in this "small" film, and MVD Visual has provided a release with solid technical merits and some appealing supplements. Recommended.