Most Recent Customer Reviews
Date : 2007-06-28
Summary : Robert Culp was "HOT" in this Western
The brothers (played by Strother Martin, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam)as mentioned in other reviews, are "slap stick" at times. Welch's make-up was too heavy for the time period, and her dress un-buttoned down her navel while she is cooking, was a bit much. With all that it is still a very good movie and Robert Culp's best acting. He could teach me to shoot a gun anytime!
One of the better Welch movies, I have this on VHS and have watched it over and over!
Date : 2007-01-29
Summary : Another One Of Raquel Welch Great Films
I when I saw this movie I was hesitant about buying because I could picture Raquel Welch being in a western. Boy was I wrong! Raquel Welch played the role of Hannie Caulder living in a small house with here husband. Ernest Borginine, Jack Elam and Rufus Clemens play the role of three ruthless cowboys. When the 3 brothers pay Hannie Caulder visit things turn ugly and Hannie sets out for revenge. Enter Robert Culp who plays the role Thomas Luther Price a bounty hunter who takes Hannie under his wing. Price teaches Hannie how to shoot a gun and that's when things start to get interesting. If you're a Raquel fan you'll enjoy this different but none the less great movie. The movie starts out slow but shifts into hide gear not long after it starts.
Date : 2006-06-27
Summary : Lukewarm Welch Western Wastes Potential
Hannie Caulder is a Western that isn't horrible, but could have been much more than what it is.
Raquel Welch plays a woman whose husband is killed, and the killer rape her and burn down her house. The killers are played by veteran character actors (and perennial Western movie actors)Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin, and Jack Elam.
Tracking the three men, she crosses paths with a sage bounty hunter, played by Robert Culp, who teaches her how to shoot and the ins and outs of gunfighting. Together, they take off in pursuit of the three men.
This movie had a lot of potential, but wastes it in several ways. The script can't find a balance between her being too hard or two soft, so she seems both, negating the believability of the premise. The three men, as directed by veteran Western director Burt Kennedy, also tries to have it both ways with them being savage and cartoonishly humorous. Culp is fine in his role, but can only do so much when the focus is supposed to be on Welch's character.
This is a film that could be remade and redone better.
Date : 2004-06-19
Summary : Above average 70s western drama
I caught this on the tube, having not seen it in over 30 years. I was expecting something very campy, in keeping with Raquel Welch's overall film oeuvre and was rather pleasantly surprised. Despite flaws, this is an above average western with the unusual addition of a strong female protagonist.Hannie Caulder is raped and left for dead by a gang of three outlaws (Strother Martin, Jack Elam and Ernest Borgnine...reprising roles that each of them played over the years many times). She hooks up with a bounty hunter (Robert Culp) who teaches her how to shoot so she can get revenge on the rapists.
Certainly there are some aspects of this film that are severely dated: Raquel Welch hangs around in a poncho for the first half of the film...a kinda mini-dress with apparently nothing underneath, so you find yourself looking salaciously to see some flesh. This is a Playboy magazine-like detail that is more distracting than anything else...it plays off of Ms. Welch's beauty (and she is absolutely at the peak of her loveliness here) and the image of her in nothing-but-a-short-poncho is quite iconic. But it's dumb...how on earth can she ride a horse in the desert with NOTHING on the lower half of her body? Ouch! Later, she acquires a pair of super-tight deerskin slacks, which is equally ridiculous. No woman of the 1800's would have been caught dead in men's clothing. Neither would one have worn her hair long and straight or tons of black mascara. This superimposing of modern styles on a period drama is particularly badly handled and quite unnecessary, as Ms. Welch was more than beautiful enough to handle this role in proper period attire.
Robert Culp is delightful in an unexpected turn as a be-spectacled bounty hunter with a gentlemanly demeanor. The budding romance between his character, Price, and Hannie is nicely handled. This is a good example of how unexpected characters often blend better romantically than "conventional" stock characters. Christopher Lee has a nice supporting role as a grisly old gunmaker -- further evidence that he's a fine actor who deserved a lot better than the typical horror movie roles he often got stuck with.
The worst of this film is the comedic treatment of the three gangsters. If they had been treated more seriously, the rape would be more devastating (Price wants Hannie to forget about it and go off with him) adn it's aftermath more understandable. The attitudes about rape here are very simplistic and dated, unfortunately, but if you watch other movies about rape victims from the same era, you will see it was a standard treatment. However, comedic villains are not frightening nor do they warrant being killed off, so the "Three Stooges" quality defeats much of the thrust of the plot.
Despite these flaws, "Hannie Caulder" is consistently interesting and generally well-acted, with good cinematography. It represents a very rare attempt to show a western with a female protagonist, let alone an "action hero" type who gets to ride and shoot and defend herself! The budding feminism that produced this still had a long way to go in terms of understanding the psychology of rape, but compare "Hannie Caulder" to such otherwise excellent modern westerns such as "Unforgiven" or "Open Range" where the female parts are limited to prostitutes or schoolmarms.
It would be fascinating to see this remade today with some of these elements addressed (the rape, the "funny" rapists). However, this is a nicely done and unusual western drama from a period where corny Spaghetti Westerns were the norm. It took some guts and creativity to break that mold and "Hannie Caulder" is the interesting result. Hopefully, they will get this out on DVD one of these days...it would be fascinating to hear commentary from the surviving cast members about this film.
Date : 2004-06-04
Summary : Revenge western with Raquel
Hannie Caulder is a surprisingly good western with a very good cast. After a failed bank robbery, three bumbling brothers come upon a lone house in the desert. They kill the man of the house and rape his wife, Hannie. The trio burns the house and leaves her for dead. However, Hannie survives hoping to one day get her revenge on the three gunmen. She runs into a bounty hunter who begins to teach her how to handle and fire a gun with some sort of accuracy so she will be able to exact her revenge on the brothers. In a way, this is the female version of Nevada Smith with Hannie chasing after three gunmen just like Steve McQueen's character, Max, did in Nevada Smith. The gunfights are well choreographed with blood squibs, ala The Wild Bunch. Hannie Caulder is a very good revenge western that is well worth a watch.
Raquel Welch stars as frontier wife turned gunfighter, Hannie Caulder, who teams up with a bounty hunter so she can kill the men who raped her and killed her husband. She does a lot with so little, and it doesn't help that she never looked better than she did in this movie. Much of the first half hour has her in a poncho and nothing else. Robert Culp is also excellent as infamous bounty hunter, Thomas Luther Price, who teaches Hannie how to handle a gun. The bumbling Clemens brothers, Emmett, Frank, and Rufus, are played by Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, and Strother Martin. For such despicable people, this movie gives them lots of comedic moments. Christopher Lee stars in a small part as a gunmaker, Bailey, who makes a specialized gun for Hannie. The movie also stars Stephen Boyd and Aldo Sambrell in uncredited roles. It is a shame there is no DVD release for Hannie Caulder since it is such a beautifully shot movie. For a better than average revenge western with the gorgeous Raquel Welch, check out Hannie Caulder!
