Abominable Advent Calendar Day 8: Zachariah (1971)

Written by two members of the legendary Firesign Theater, in conjunction with Herman Hesse, Zachariah is a retelling of Siddhartha. But it’s a musical western, with plenty of the stuff you expect in westerns, like stagecoach robbing and gunfights, but also loaded with anachronisms, such as psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish, plus White Lightnin’, the James Gang, and the New York Rock Ensemble. There’s a drum solo by Elvin Jones (who played for Miles Davis, among others), and an off-the-hook performance by Dick Van Patten. Depending on who you talk to, this all goes together like peanut butter and chocolate or peanut butter and ketchup, and that is the beauty of Zachariah.

Zachariah (John Rubinstein) gets a mail-order gun, and he and his bestie Matthew (a positively dewy Don Johnson) decide to leave town and become gunfighters. They start by following an incredibly inept gang of stagecoach robbers called the Crackers, played by Country Joe and the Fish, and Zachariah becomes a competent gunfighter. But after a confrontation with gunfighter-drummer Job Cain (Elvin Davis), Matthew and Zachariah part ways, and Zachariah goes on a quest of self-discovery, meeting Belle Star (Pat Quinn), Dick Van Patten as a snake oil salesman, and of course the Old Man (William Challee), who ultimately makes him question the life he’s chosen. Zachariah’s change of heart puts him in further conflict with Matthew, who wants to take over Cain’s gang, and will test them both. This is Siddhartha, after all.

So is it a mess, or a masterpiece? You’ll have to decide for yourself, but in my opinion it’s one of the least-bad items in the Abominable Advent Calendar. Both way, it’s a fun ride full of “What the hell were they thinking?” moments, and you’re not likely to see a lot of other films like it.