- This essay will inevitably contain spoilers!
'HANNIE CAULDER' (1971)
- A review by Richard Harrison (2010)
In the heady world of film criticism, where some very average films are
held aloft in unquestioned exaltation as masterpieces (it would be
inappropriate to mention any specific titles here but The
Magnificent Ambersons does readily spring to mind), there are
others that are vastly underrated. One such film is Hannie Caulder,
notable
for several aspects- not least as a British Western
(no- I can’t either).
Released in 1971, Hannie Caulder can be considered a
Revisionist Western in its presentation of a sassy, female gun-toting
vigilante, for it takes conventional aspects of the genre and subverts
them in order to do something different. In this the film fits
comfortably into the other Westerns in the early 1970s (such as The
Culpepper Cattle Co. and The Cowboys) yet in turn
differentiates itself from them. Hannie Caulder is a British
film, but it does not shout this from every frame as those set in the
grimy North or in a landmark-filled metropolis do. Indeed, Tigon as a
company sought to avoid such familiar images, preferring instead to
create almost an alternative Britain whereby the audience was helped
(through vibrant and exotic mise-en-scene) to forget the
nationality of what they were watching. Contextually, Hannie Caulder
is one of just two films Tigon distributed, and one of a mere 14
produced by Tigon in the period 1968-1972. Despite not being a horror
film (as much of Tigon’s output was), Hannie Caulder has
characteristically beautiful cinematography, the shoreline scenes
beside Bailey’s home being one major example.
The structure of Hannie Caulder is not a complex one, but this
is no bad thing. In fact, the focused narrative enables Hannie’s
character to develop midst the stunningly plausible setting (the film
was shot in Spain, as were several other Westerns at the time). One
crucial necessity for the film to work is in the persona of Hannie- she
has to inspire a wealth of emotions in us, the audience, but, above
all, we must like her. Raquel Welch plays the role to
perfection, striking a fine balance between sex-kitten and
empathy-inducing killer seeking revenge, and charts a highly credible
as well as satisfying character development across the film’s running
time.
Thus, Hannie Caulder herself has great plausibility. She does not, as
has been the case in more modern movie heroes, learn to shoot
overnight, but learns gradually through the patient training of Thomas
Price (Culp). This initiation could have been glossed over, as if
unimportant and not providing the action the genre demands. However,
the fact that we get to learn along with Hannie aligns us with her
character, shows the development of the Caulder-Price relationship and
also makes us conscious of time- this is relatively short, and Hannie
must be ready to face her destiny. Time is an important theme in Hannie
Caulder, being manipulated throughout to relate to human experience
and bringing us closer to our heroic characters as the end draws near.
Welch is ably supported by a fine cast- Robert Culp gives a
career-defining performance as the grizzled bounty-hunter who takes
Hannie under his gunslinging wing, Christopher Lee is magnetic and
barely recognisable, and Diana Dors provides a neat cameo. The film’s
only weak point is in the Clemens brothers themselves. True, they
become a trio to inspire hatred (as all good villains must) but they
are too clownlike- too inept- to be fully credible. However, I suppose
they are such exaggerated blunderers to provide comic relief, although
that is often in the superb dialogue between Hannie and those she
encounters.
By the closing scenes of the film, if writer and director Burt Kennedy
has done his job, we should be rooting for Hannie- willing her to
succeed. The closing section of Hannie Caulder, which is the
culmination of the development in its previous hour, is a masterpiece
of aggressive tenseness. It is in this arena where a good film either
suddenly collapses like a deck of cards in a strong gale or becomes a
great film. Hannie Caulder, a great film for its previous hour,
continues that trend.
It is almost unfashionable, no doubt, to champion a film that has a
simple narrative, basic villains and that is a British-made Western
movie shot in Spain. However, fashion is something that hasn’t ever
particularly bothered me- but great films have. Hannie Caulder
is, without doubt, a highly satisfying film- and should be considered
one of the great Westerns.
Hannie Caulder is available on DVD
from Odeon Entertainment.
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