Hannie Caulder (1971) Once again, BQ's tireless search for cinema obscurities of the 60's and 70's has born fruit....
You want odd? How about a British financed and produced western, filmed in Spain, starring Hollywood's hottest bombshell of the era, Raquel Welch?
And featuring an eclectic once-in-a-lifetime cast including the most mighty triumvirate of character actor villains ever assembled in one films - Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam and Strother Martin.
On top of the joy in watching that trio practically popping blood vessels to out-ham each other, the film also throws in Sir Christopher Lee as a gunsmith.
No wonder this movie's a big fave of Quentin Tarantino, who may have used it as the template for his two "Kill Bill"s......
That's right, we're talkin' female empowerment with a vengeance here. And hell hath no fury like Raquel's Hannie Caulder. Ernie, Jack and Strother, playing an unholy trio of squabbling, psychotic brothers, invade her frontier home, gang rape her, kill her husband and burn her house to the ground. And these scorched earth bandits are far from done.
Hannie survives it all, but before payback and karma can commence, our gal needs mentoring and training in gun play......which she gets from wandering veteran bounty hunter Thomas Price, played deftly by underappreciated Robert Culp.
So off our odd couple go to Mexico and the remote beachside hacienda of a reclusive gunsmith Bailey (Christopher Lee). who makes Hannie a spiffy new fast draw firearm. Though Price cautions her against hitting the vengeance trail, Hannie rides off anyway to give the brothers instant lead poisoning.
And with Borgnine, Elam and Martin, here's where the movie wobbles in tone. As they overact to the max, the movie sometimes serves up their endless jabbering as comedy relief. Then the film turns around and shows them slaughtering innocent bystanders during their botched attempts at bank robberies. ( Elam and Martin's wailing byplay may remind you of the depraved bounty hunting duo played by Martin and L.Q. Jones in "The Wild Bunch". )
"Hannie Caulder" ends up as a lumpy hybrid of both American and Italian westerns.....the film's embrace of casual, nihilistic Sergio Leone-type carnage is typical of westerns in the 1970's.....for a more brutal, graphic example, check out BQ's 9/14/17 post on "The Hunting Party", also a 1971 release and also an oddball, blood-soaked mix of a British-American production filmed in Spain.
While she spent her entire career mocked by critics who labeled her as a starlet with delusions of adequacy, Raquel Welch gives her role a full commitment, at least to the extent of her limited range. And there were never more infinitely watchable actors than Borgnine, Elam, Martin and the near immortal Christopher Lee....all together.....and all way out west....(or the European equivalent )
Regardless of its uneven tone, "Hannie"s a must watch (at least once) for western completists and fans of the cast. 2 & 1/2 stars (**1/2)
No comments:
Post a Comment