Hannie Caulder

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.


Revenge western with Raquel   June 4, 2004
T O'Brien (Chicago, Il United States)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

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!


New age woman in an old fashioned western   October 18, 1999
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I think this may be one of my favorites of westerns because of the angle it takes on revenge. Ironically enough, it is the hardened bounty hunter who tries to persuade Hannie Caulder to walk away from the situation. A reversal of roles, very interesting for a movie made back in the late sixties, several years before the Women's Movement. Welch's acting is believable and Robert Culp is wonderful as Thomas Luther Price. Christopher Lee is great as the gunsmith who watches the relationship between Caulder and Price grow and tries to persuade Caulder to "throw her gun in the water bucket and ride out with Thomas and don't look back". The movie does not end on an entirely positive note either - as Caulder kills the last of the Clements brothers, her revenge is complete, but Price's words come back to her "win or lose, you lose Hannie Caulder". I believe that this movie, for all it's violence does have an undercurrent of anti-gun, anti-violence solutions to such problems. And I especially liked the fact that Hannie Caulder was portrayed as a strong woman. She knew what she wanted, and she had the strength to see it through, no matter what the consequences were. An interesting western to watch and think about.


Vengeance is a strong incentive   April 16, 2002
Jacques COULARDEAU (OLLIERGUES France)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

This western is centered on three outlaws, three brothers who skim the frontier, as much as they can, and they can very little. They kill for pleasure and also to compensate their inability at robbing a bank properly or attacking a stage coach successfully. They are flunkies in the field. They run into a stagecoach station and they kill the station master, rape his wife and burn the station to the earth. Then the wife who wants vengeance runs into a bounty hunter. She will learn the trade and go through with her vengeance. The details create the suspense of the film and give it a real deep emotional value. The film also reveals how these outlaws could survive easily in some western cities because the local sheriff had an agreement with them : no trouble and he would disregard the WANTED notices, till something happens. Raquel Welch embodies her part with conviction.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU


Underrated Western scores with style   May 24, 1999
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Raquel Welch is Hannie Caulder: a woman who is raped and left for dead by a trio of ruthless outlaws. Her quest for vengence is guided by a sympathetic bounty hunter (in an unusual, but effective, performance by Robert Culp) and an exiled gunsmith (Christopher Lee). This is sadly an underrated Western that should receive more fanfare than it has. The movie is beautifully photographed; the script adult and sophisticated, edged with a sense of mystery. The music is sweeping and faintly similiar in style to the Elmer Bernstein score for The Magnificent Seven. Welch runs the gauntlet of emotions, with determination and regret underpinning her performance. Surprisingly, the director did a good job of casting the villians and characterizing them like a cut-rate version of the Three Stooges. All in all, Hannie Caulder is a nice, fresh approach to the usual Wild West story of guns and revenge.