HANNIE CAULDER was released in America in the summer of 1972 and played for about a week and then was gone; I caught it on TV some years later, and being a total western fan, loved it. But HANNIE CAULDER is not your typical gunfighter out for vengeance movie, for the gunfighter is a woman and she's played by Raquel Welch, the most beautiful woman of the era.
As in all good westerns, the plot of HANNIE CAULDER is basic and simple: the title woman is brutally raped by the three Clemens brothers in the opening scenes after they have murdered her husband. Determined to get even, she implores Thomas Luther Price, a bounty hunter, to teach how to use a gun proficiently so as to exact payback on the villains who committed such an unspeakable crime against her. Price is initially not receptive to Hannie's pleas, but in the end goes against his better judgment and teaches her how to go up against a man with a gun and walk away alive with him dead. But Price warns her that the cost of retribution is high, even when well justified and deserved, and that she should just walk away. "Win or lose, you lose, Hannie Caulder."
Of course Hannie does not listen, there'd be no movie if she did, and inevitably there is a showdown with the Clemens brothers, revenge is had and the cost is taken.
This movie is a piece of total entertainment for many reasons:
Raquel Welch at the peak of awesomeness in one of her best roles, that a woman would stride through the Old West in poncho and tight jeans is a piece of pure fantasy; so is the makeup and permed hair she sports throughout the movie. But damn, she is a sight to see and we always keep expecting the breeze to blow that poncho up and reveal that she is going totally bra-less-a real 1970's thing. Raquel Welch was never considered to be a great actress, but I think this is a great performance, especially in her scenes with Robert Culp as Price, we totally understand why this wary bounty hunter would succumb to her ample charms.
A great supporting cast, starting with the villains, played by three of the toughest amigos of the day: Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin, and Jack Elam, expert scenery chewers all of them. It's a real jarring contrast that the Clemens brothers are played for laughs after we are presented with a truly brutal rape scene. Director Burt Kennedy, who also did THE WAR WAGON and SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF, simply allowed Borgnine, Martin and Elam to play to their strengths, and for us fans of these three, this movie is a real treat. It's also a treat for us Christoper Lee fans to see him in what has to be his only western role as a former Confederate gunsmith living on the coast down in Mexico. Former British sex symbol, Diana Dors, makes the most of her few scenes as a whorehouse madame. Stephen Boyd appears in a cameo as the Preacher, a mysterious character, whom I've always thought of as an Angel of Death in this story, come to claim his own.
A great score by Ken Thorne, which ranks as one of the finest pieces of music ever in a western. And there is great dialog: "I wouldn't want to be you anytime."
The woman seeking bloody revenge plot was a novelty back in the early 70's, but I think no one has quite done it as well since; most pro feminist versions of this plot try to go way over the top and lack the humor of HANNIE CAULDER. And people who have a problem with rape being used as a easy dramatic device in novels and movies do have a point.
It's sad HANNIE CAULDER was not a big hit, it had everything needed to be a blockbuster. I think it was made about four years too late and by the time it came out, westerns were going out of favor with audiences. Too bad, see it now for the great entertainment it is.
As in all good westerns, the plot of HANNIE CAULDER is basic and simple: the title woman is brutally raped by the three Clemens brothers in the opening scenes after they have murdered her husband. Determined to get even, she implores Thomas Luther Price, a bounty hunter, to teach how to use a gun proficiently so as to exact payback on the villains who committed such an unspeakable crime against her. Price is initially not receptive to Hannie's pleas, but in the end goes against his better judgment and teaches her how to go up against a man with a gun and walk away alive with him dead. But Price warns her that the cost of retribution is high, even when well justified and deserved, and that she should just walk away. "Win or lose, you lose, Hannie Caulder."
Of course Hannie does not listen, there'd be no movie if she did, and inevitably there is a showdown with the Clemens brothers, revenge is had and the cost is taken.
This movie is a piece of total entertainment for many reasons:
Raquel Welch at the peak of awesomeness in one of her best roles, that a woman would stride through the Old West in poncho and tight jeans is a piece of pure fantasy; so is the makeup and permed hair she sports throughout the movie. But damn, she is a sight to see and we always keep expecting the breeze to blow that poncho up and reveal that she is going totally bra-less-a real 1970's thing. Raquel Welch was never considered to be a great actress, but I think this is a great performance, especially in her scenes with Robert Culp as Price, we totally understand why this wary bounty hunter would succumb to her ample charms.
A great supporting cast, starting with the villains, played by three of the toughest amigos of the day: Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin, and Jack Elam, expert scenery chewers all of them. It's a real jarring contrast that the Clemens brothers are played for laughs after we are presented with a truly brutal rape scene. Director Burt Kennedy, who also did THE WAR WAGON and SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF, simply allowed Borgnine, Martin and Elam to play to their strengths, and for us fans of these three, this movie is a real treat. It's also a treat for us Christoper Lee fans to see him in what has to be his only western role as a former Confederate gunsmith living on the coast down in Mexico. Former British sex symbol, Diana Dors, makes the most of her few scenes as a whorehouse madame. Stephen Boyd appears in a cameo as the Preacher, a mysterious character, whom I've always thought of as an Angel of Death in this story, come to claim his own.
A great score by Ken Thorne, which ranks as one of the finest pieces of music ever in a western. And there is great dialog: "I wouldn't want to be you anytime."
The woman seeking bloody revenge plot was a novelty back in the early 70's, but I think no one has quite done it as well since; most pro feminist versions of this plot try to go way over the top and lack the humor of HANNIE CAULDER. And people who have a problem with rape being used as a easy dramatic device in novels and movies do have a point.
It's sad HANNIE CAULDER was not a big hit, it had everything needed to be a blockbuster. I think it was made about four years too late and by the time it came out, westerns were going out of favor with audiences. Too bad, see it now for the great entertainment it is.