Movie review: ‘Hannie Caulder’

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As I’ve noted in previous reviews, I’m not much of a fan of westerns in cinema – and, yes, I know that’s simple heresy for a someone who loves American cinema. However, I do come across the occasional western that rises above the rest and today I’m taking a look at “Hannie Caulder” … a western that showcases Raquel Welch at the peak of her beauty on screen and is a neat motion picture and not just her parading about for the simple purpose of putting her on screen. I found “Hannie Caulder” on Amazon’s Prime Video, so it’s easy to find and, if you’re a fan of westerns, make sure you see this one.

‘Hannie Caulder’
(1972; 85 minutes; rated R; directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Raquel Welch, Robert Culp, Ernest Borgnine and Christopher Lee)

HANNIE’S OUT FOR REVENGE

(NOTE: I updated this review on Feb. 18, 2023, noting the death of Raquel Welch.)

I’m not sure of what made me think of the western “Hannie Caulder” recently, but I did and found it on Amazon Prime Video. Well, while you might believe that a Raquel Welch movie from the early 1970s wouldn’t be much of film, then reconsider. “Hannie Caulder” is a terrific movie and also what I’d say is a solid western.

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Now, as a western, “Hannie Caulder” isn’t in the league of Clint Eastwood’s “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (click here for my review) or “Silverado” (click here for my review), but it has really good acting – yes, I wrote “really good acting” – and a storyline that doesn’t insult your intelligence. Finally, it has as solid a cast as you’ll find in any film and the actors do a wonderful job conveying their roles – and it even has a gunfighter in all-black.

At “Hannie Caulder’s” core, you have three pieces of human trash in the form of the “Clemens” brothers: Ernest Borgnine as “Emmett,” who is the leader and most vicious; Jack Elam as “Frank;” and Strother Martin as “Rufus,” who is the court jester and motormouth of the slimy bunch.

Well, these guys find their way to and pillage the home and person of Raquel Welch and her husband. They kill him and take turns raping her in as brutal a violent scene as you could have found from Hollywood at the time of “Hannie Caulder.” The trio leave and soon Robert Culp as bounty hunter “Thomas Luther ‘Tom’ Price” arrives. Welch manages to convince this gunfighter to teach her how to shoot and kill men.

Along the way, the duo is involved in a gunfight in town as Culp collects another reward and then have a temporary respite at the lonely seaside residence of an American ex-pat gunsmith in Mexico. They also meet a mysterious gunfighter, who’s dressed all in black. It’s no surprise that you know you’ll see him later.

After helping fight off a group of Mexican bandits, the duo leaves the gunsmith’s home and is back on the trail to find the three brothers. They find them in a town and then it’s “Hannie get your gun!”

You can easily guess the outcome, but the movie is done with such precision and efficiency that it moves along quickly and you get to the end with no real surprises, but your movie experience hasn’t disappointed you even with the formulaic conclusion.

Here’s my look at the top of the cast …

  • A Golden Globe winner and nominee (not for this one), Welch digs a little deeper in her acting to give this performance. She’s a woman wronged and settles it at the end of a gun and Welch doesn’t buckle at any time in the film. Welch starts to learn her craft from Culp through education and exercise and finally the lesson to finish the job. While you wouldn’t nominate her for an Oscar for this one, Welch deserves your accolades as an actor and not just for the beauty she brings to the film. Welch was in roller derby with “Kansas City Bomber” before Kristen Wiig and Ellen Page in “Whip It” (click here for my review) and won her Globe for 1973’s terrific version of “The Three Musketeers” and was in “Mother, Jugs and Speed.” She’s done great TV from “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” to “Mork & Mindy” to “Evening Shade.” She was nominated for TV’s 1987 “Right to Die.” Welch died at 82 on Feb. 15, 2023, after a short illness.
  • A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Culp does a good job as the cold, calculating bounty hunter. He does show his humanity as Welch first begins to tag along and he comes around to begin to teach her how to kill. The best thing about Culp’s performance is that he never overplays it and manages to hit the correct note a the correct time. He played opposite the now-disgraced Bill Cosby in both TV’s “I Spy” (his nomination) and the movie “Hickey & Boggs.” He also was in the spoof movie “Spy Hard” as well as “The Pelican Brief” and I liked him best as the “mayor” in “Turk 182!” (click here for my review). Culp did episodes on dozens of TV shows and I liked him in each one of his 11 episodes as the father of “Debra” on “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He died at 79 in 2010 of a heart attack.
  • An Oscar winner (not for this one), Borgnine is even worse as a human being in this one than he was in Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch.” Borgnine stands above all others as his acting talent shines through from his first scene. Although he didn’t stretch himself in this one, Borgnine didn’t just mail it in to collect a check – as some Oscar winners would do. You might remember him better as “Cabbie” in “Escape from New York” (click here for my review) or from “The Poseidon Adventure” and he is best remembered as “Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale” on TV’s classic comedy “McHale’s Navy” (he even made a cameo in the horrid movie “reboot”). I liked him in Disney’s sci-fi effort called “The Black Hole.” Borgnine had a prolific career of 210 acting credits spanning seven decades beginning in 1951. He won his Oscar for the 1955 classic “Marty” and died at 95 in 2012 of renal failure.
  • Elam is just as tough and violent as he needs in this one, but doesn’t manage to make more of his character than necessary. I’d say he’s somewhat lost between the other two brothers. Elam was in “Once Upon a Time in the West” and also was in “Support Your Local Sheriff.” He did drama such as “Kiss Me Deadly” and comedy such as “The Cannonball Run” with Burt Reynolds (click here for my review). Elam died at 82 in 2003 of congestive heart failure.
  • A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Martin stumbles through this role as the violent, completely dense brother who argues with everyone and has all the comedy lines (“I was cleaning my gun,” he whines when the brothers talk about the killing of their father). He makes sure the character doesn’t become annoying, even though his act begins to wear on you a little bit. Martin was also in “The Wild Bunch” and was nominated for the TV series “Hawkins.” His resume had sterling entries from “Cool Hand Luke” to “Slap Shot,” both with Paul Newman; and “True Grit” with John Wayne. Martin died at 61 in 1980 of a heart attack.
  • A minor screen legend whose early reputation was built on horror flicks, Christopher Lee plays “Bailey,” the ex-pat gunmaker. Lee is smooth and expressive in his small time on screen, but leaves a memorable performance. He gives the supporting effort that bridges the film to the end that you see coming. Lee did “Horror of Dracula” and “The Mummy” in the late 1950s and went on to be “Count Dooku” in the “Star Wars” franchise as well as “Sauram” in “The Lord of the Rings” franchise. Lee died at 93 in 2015 of heart failure after a career in which he notched 282 acting credits spanning eight decades after beginning in 1946.
  • A Golden Globe winner and nominee (not for this one), Stephen Boyd is called “the Preacher,” but it’s an uncredited, but significant role. Boyd is the man-in-black that you see first at Lee’s house and then at the end as Welch has her final showdown with Borgnine. He has a miniscule role, but his character oozes menace – but not in an especially evil way. Boyd winds up a helping hand to Welch and its left to your imagination whether the two managed to hook up. Boyd won for “Ben-Hur” and was nominated for “Billy Rose’s Jumbo.” He died at 45 in 1977 of a heart attack.

One actor who must have had a good contract was Diana Dors, who plays “The Madame” and has a tiny part, but really good billing for the film. Dors doesn’t do anything with the character and was in “The Long Haul” and “As Long as They’re Happy.” A native of England, Dors died at 52 in 1984 of ovarian cancer.

The oddest component of “Hannie Caulder” is that the three brothers are cruel, vicious and beyond any human redemption, yet, they have a bunch of comedic lines and bicker like any sitcom you’ve ever seen. I just don’t know how to reconcile the two … usually, such human scum have no value, but you’ll still laugh at some of their lines – such as when the first brother is killed by Welch, Martin starts his “service” by saying, “Frank, you’re dead.” Not hit-the-floor funny, but you’ll smile if you watch it.

Da-dum-dum for comedy by vicious rapists and thugs.

Director Burt Kennedy did many westerns for both the big screen and TV, from “The War Wagon” with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas to “Support Your Local Sheriff.” However, Kennedy also did others such as “The Money Trap” and “Mail Order Bride.” I can’t say I saw many (or any) of Kennedy’s other films, but, if there’s any indication from “Hannie Caulder,” I’d say he knows what he’s doing.

I couldn’t find how “Hannie Caulder” was ranked at U.S. theaters. “Hannie Caulder” didn’t premiere in the U.S. until 1972, but is often listed as a movie from 1971. I’ve listed it as a 1972 film due to its release date in the United States. The No. 1 film in 1972 was, of course and without a doubt, “The Godfather” with $133.6 million, while “The Poseidon Adventure,” which also featured Borgnine, came in at No. 2 with $93.3 million. Here are the other films from 1972 that I’ve reviewed:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • “Hannie Caulder” is Lee’s only western in a film career spanning 282 acting credits from 1947 until his death in 2015.
  • Welch’s birth name was Jo Raquel Tejada and her nickname was “Rocky.”
  • Dors’ birth name was Diana Mary Fluck.
  • Rodd Redwing, who was a fast-draw artist, coached Culp for this movie.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “Quentin Tarantino has said that this movie was one of his inspirations for ‘Kill Bill.’ ‘Why I love Hannie Caulder (1971) so much is Robert Culp,’ he said, ‘He is so magnificent in that movie. I actually think there’s a bit of similarity between Sonny Chiba (Shin’ichi Chiba) and Uma Thurman In ‘Kill Bill’ and Raquel Welch and Robert Culp in Hannie Caulder (1971).’”
  • “Hannie Caulder” was the last film presented as CBS’ “Thursday Night Movie.” That was in 1975.
  • The film was remade as “6 Guns” in 2010. Well, that’s what they say …
  • “Hannie Caulder” reportedly had solid box office success in the United Kingdom, but was considered a box office disappointment in the United States.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Raquel Welch appears at 8:50 but, despite being on-screen almost continuously, doesn’t speak her first line until 18:38.”

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