''Zachariah'' is a 1971 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by George Englund and starring

John Rubinstein John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director. Early life Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the dau ...

, Patricia Quinn and

Don Johnson Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...

Plot

After finding a mail-order gun while riding in the desert, Zachariah and his best friend, Matthew the blacksmith, begin to play with it, and eventually decide to leave their small town and seek more colorful adventure as gunfighters. While following a criminal band called "The Crackers" into a saloon, Zachariah is challenged, and shoots the aggressor dead, demonstrating he has a quick talent for gunplay. He and Matthew strong-arm their way into joining The Crackers, but find they are inept at pulling off successful crimes, and leave them behind. A taunting fiddler alerts Zachariah to the legendary outlaw Job Cain, and soon he and Matthew seek him out at his home saloon hoping to join with him. Job, whose gun skills are kept sharp through musical drumming, challenges the boys to fire at each other to demonstrate their talent, but Zachariah refuses, sensing that it will lead to an eventual showdown between himself and his friend. He leaves the compound to seek answers elsewhere, but Matthew stays behind to join Cain's organization. Zachariah meets an Old Man living alone in the desert, who allows him to stay the night provided he leave his gun outside the house. He alludes to the pleasures to be found in a border town called El Camino, and Zachariah rides off for there the next day. El Camino is a virtual sin city, centered around the brothel/spa operated by Belle Starr, who insists she only sleeps with affluent gunslingers. Zachariah manages to charm her into intimacy, but ultimately chooses to leave her, finding that hedonism is not what he has been seeking either. Meanwhile, Matthew has risen into a positions of trust with Job Cain, but plots to ultimately surpass the gunslinger. Zachariah returns to the Old Man's compound, where he learns about the beauty and stillness of the desert. The Old Man teaches him a mantra, "Hurry up and die," to stress the contrary notion of slowing down and enjoying the circle of change. Zachariah sheds most of his gunfighter attire and becomes more spirit-minded. Cain announces his plan to take his men and visit El Camino, asking Matthew to watch his saloon. Matthew instead trails him, and stops at the Old Man's compound, where he is reunited with Zachariah, and announces his plan to duel with Cain in El Camino. Zachariah furtively returns to practicing his shooting, anticipating his prophesied showdown with his friend. The Old Man is horrified at the return to violence, and confronts him with his spent bullets and a dead mouse, demonstrating how even when he seems to be shooting at nothing, he is still harming the desert; he tells him he will not speak to him again. The next morning, however, after Zachariah finds an arrowhead in the area where the Old Man had been searching, he breaks his silence to tell him he is ready to die, and expires soon after. Matthew confronts Cain in El Camino, and shoots him dead. It is hinted he too celebrates with Belle Starr. He returns to the compound, and goads Zachariah into a gunfight with him. Zachariah tries multiple means to stall the duel, but Matthew persists. The two fight hand to hand in the dirt, and Zachariah rides off, wondering aloud how Matthew seems to have learned nothing. Matthew angrily expends all his bullets, yelling threats of death, but then begins to laugh with a sense of clarity, and rides off to reunite with his friend in the sunset.

Cast

as Zachariah * Pat Quinn as Belle Starr (as Pat Quinn) *

as Matthew * Country Joe and The Fish as The Crackers *

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

as Job Cain *

Doug Kershaw Douglas James Kershaw (born January 24, 1936) is an American fiddle player, singer and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1948, he began his career as part of the duo Rusty and Doug, along with his brother, Rusty Kershaw. He had an ext ...

as The Fiddler * William Challee as Old Man * Robert Ball as Stage Manager *

Dick Van Patten Richard Vincent Van Patten (December 9, 1928 – June 23, 2015) was an American actor, comedian, businessman, and animal welfare advocate, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He was best known for his role as patriarch Tom Brad ...

as The Dude *

James Gang James Gang is an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass), and ...

as Job Cain's Band (as The James Gang) *

White Lightnin' ''White Lightnin is a 2009 dramatic film directed by Dominic Murphy and written by Eddy Moretti and Shane Smith. It stars Edward Hogg, Carrie Fisher, Muse Watson. Inspired by the life of Jesco White, an Appalachian mountain dancer, it was sh ...

as Old Man's Band * The New York Rock Ensemble as Belle Starr's Band

Production

The film is loosely based on the works of

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include '' Demian'', '' Steppenwolf'', '' Siddhartha'', and '' The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual ...

's 1922 novel '' Siddhartha'', and 1930 novel '' Narcissus and Goldmund'' (wherein two young friends take divergent paths in life, to reunite and share similar perspectives); surrealistically adapted as a musical Western. Massot said his inspiration came from when he joined

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

in India, when they were studying Transcendental Meditation under

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1918

in early 1968. Massot said he arrived to find only

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

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". Massot initially asked Harrison to provide the film's soundtrack, following his work on '' Wonderwall'', which Massot directed. According to

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

of The Band, Harrison discussed making ''Zachariah'' as an

Apple Films Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a Conglomerate (company), cong ...

project starring

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and The Band, in late 1968. The following April, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' announced that

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

's drummer

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and African rhythms and pi ...

and The Band were to be major players in the film. This film was billed as "The first electric

". It features appearances and music supplied by rock bands from the 1970s, including the

New York Rock & Roll Ensemble The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, whose music was described as "classical baroque rock". The group performed wearing classical musician's attire, white tie and tailcoat (not tuxedo). Hist ...

, White Lightning and Country Joe and the Fish as "The Cracker Gang". Fiddler

has a musical cameo as does

as a gunslinging drummer named Job Cain.

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" - The James Gang * "Laguna Salada" -

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr ...

, Jim Fox, and Dale Peters * "Drum Solo" - Elvin Jones * "The Ballad of Job Cain" - Doug Kershaw * "Grave Digger" -

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was bor ...

and

Martin Fulterman Mark Snow (born Martin Fulterman; August 26, 1946) is an American composer for film and television. Among his most famous compositions is the theme music for science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. The theme reached no. 2 on the UK Si ...

* "Shy Ann" - Byard Ray * "

Down in the Willow Garden "Down in the Willow Garden", also known as "Rose Connelly" is a traditional Appalachian murder ballad about a man facing the gallows for the murder of his lover: he gave her poisoned wine, stabbed her, and threw her in a river. It originated in the ...

" - Byard Ray, Obray Ramsey, and

Arthur Gorson Arthur Gorson, also known as Arthur H. Gorson, is an American film producer. He also has experience as a cinematographer, screenwriter, cameraman and record producer. He is currently (2021) active in TV, film and commercial production. As a reco ...

* "Camino Waltz" - John Rubinstein The Minneapolis group White Lightnin' performs their rock and roll version of the ''

William Tell Overture The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera '' William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), whose music was composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, a ...

'' on the soundtrack. The

perform ''Grave Digger''. The soundtrack features songs by the James Gang,

, and Country Joe and the Fish. ''Zachariah (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'', the soundtrack album, was released in 1971 as a vinyl LP by

Probe Records Probe Records was a sub-label of ABC Records. It was started in 1968 as their label for psychedelic rock and progressive rock, but was deactivated in 1970. Between 1970 and 1974, the label was also used for international distribution of materia ...

, a subsidiary label owned by

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

. 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

later said in a 2014 interview with '' The A.V. Club'', "I was sort of the

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

character."

Roger Greenspun Roger Greenspun (December 16, 1929 – June 18, 2017) was an American journalist and film critic, best known for his work with ''The New York Times'' in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for '' ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote in a review of the film "It is, at least in my experience, the first movie to parody the

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 Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

's brilliant ' Lonesome Cowboys,' there has already been a homosexual parody." The film recorded a loss of $1,435,000.

Home media

''Zachariah'' was released to DVD by MGM Home Video on August 24, 2004 as a Region 1 widescreen DVD, and released to Blu-ray by Kino Lorber on February 5, 2019.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zachariah 1971 films 1970s Western (genre) musical films 1970s parody films 1971 LGBT-related films ABC Motion Pictures films Adultery in films American LGBT-related films American Western (genre) musical films American parody films American rock musicals Bisexuality-related films Cinerama Releasing Corporation films 1970s English-language films Films directed by George Englund Films scored by Jimmie Haskell Adaptations of works by Hermann Hesse Homophobia in fiction Jukebox musical films Metafictional works Neo-Western films Rock musicals 1970s American films