Un colt pour 3 salopards

After she is raped and her husband murdered, a woman (Raquel Welch) hires a bounty hunter to instruct her in the use of a gun so she can get her revenge on the three outlaws (Ernest Borgnine and two guys) responsible.

Quentin Tarantino said the film was one of his inspirations for Kill Bill. "Why I love Hannie Caulder so much is Robert Culp. He is so magnificent in that movie. I actually think there's a bit of similarity between Sonny Chiba and Uma (in Kill Bill) and Raquel Welch and Robert Culp in Hannie Caulder." You can totally see it during the training montage, which smacks of kung fu movies more than westerns.

And Christopher Lee is in this? How many westerns has he done? None other that I can think of. But what do I know? It is still great seeing him here.

Raquel Welch stars as the title character in this lively, oddball Western that alternates between a serious tone and a comedic one. Ms. Welch, who looks MIGHTY fine throughout, has her life forever altered by the villainous Clemens brothers. They kill her husband, take turns raping her, then burn down her house! Hannie becomes coldly determined to exact vengeance upon them, and keeps pestering bounty hunter Thomas Luther Price (Robert Culp) to teach her the fine art of shootin'. Eventually, he agrees.

The movie has an extremely intriguing pedigree: it's produced by the British company Tigon, was shot in Spain, and was directed by American Western specialist Burt Kennedy ("The War Wagon", "Support Your Local Sheriff!"). Not only that, but it actually plays its nasty bad guys for laughs much of the time, and Ernest Borgnine (as Emmett), Jack Elam (as Frank), and Strother Martin (as Rufus) are priceless as they spend much of their time bickering with each other; Martin is particularly funny.

This thing gets off to one Hell of a great start by coming up with a unique way to view a bank robbery: through the barrels of a shotgun! Superb widescreen photography (cinematography by Edward Scaife, camera-work by John Harris), beautiful scenery, and soaring music by Ken Thorne only add to the fun factor. Welch is quite easy to watch, and Culp, in one of his best ever roles, is excellent as the reluctant teacher. Diana Dors is wasted in a nothing role as a madame, but there's still great curiosity value in seeing Sir Christopher Lee here, as he plays Bailey, the kindly gunsmith who lives out in the middle of nowhere; his performance is wonderful. Look also for Aldo Sambrell, uncredited as a Mexican soldier, and Stephen Boyd, who has perhaps the most interesting role in the entire movie, as the mysterious and ultimately helpful "preacher". He utters not a word, yet has an undeniable presence.

A jaunty pace and generous doses of the red stuff help to make this a solid visceral entertainment. Quotable dialogue includes the gem "There are no hard women, only soft men." Clocking in at a trim 86 minutes, "Hannie Caulder" doesn't overstay its welcome, or ever get too draggy. It's sexy, violent, and a real hoot, and one of the influences on Quentin Tarantino's pair of "Kill Bill" films.

Eight out of 10.

Pretty terrific western is outlandish, yet engrossing, satisfying and often funny (both intentionally and unintentionally). After being violently raped, widowed and left for dead by three dirty, cackling brothers, Raquel Welch learns to shoot a gun from hot-headed bounty hunter Robert Culp and hopes to seek her revenge on the mangy trio. Welch is sexy and droll as Hannie Caulder, and we are on her side from the get-go. She receives excellent support from Culp, Christopher Lee as a gunsmith and the three villains, Jack Elam, Strother Martin and Ernest Borgnine. A fairly unusual western which, until "Ms. 45" and "Sudden Impact", pretty much stood alone in the female sharpshooter genre. A large portion of its success belongs to Ms. Welch, convincing and sympathetic while riding the vengeance trail...but always remembering, "win or lose--you lose." Nobody won any awards for this, but it is exceptionally well done. *** from ****

Ah sue me! I think it's great. Raquel Welch plays Hannie Caulder, a gorgeous cowgirl who is raped and left widowed by three scuzzy brothers played by Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin and Jack Elam. Hell bent on revenge, Hannie hooks up with smooth bounty hunter Thomas Luther Price (Robert Culp excellent), learns how to fire weapons and pursues her quarry to the day of reckoning.

That is it, it is what it is, Welch is stunningly beautiful and sexy and director Burt Kennedy wastes no opportunities to capitalise on this fact. If we are honest she's miscast, but it really doesn't matter, nor does finding Christopher Lee in the picture as a wily old gunsmith!

The mix of humour with a rape revenge storyline is a little uncomfortable at times, but not insultingly so, while Kennedy has a good eye for action. Edward Scaife photographs (Panavision) pleasingly out of Almería in Spain, and Ken Thorne's musical score trundles along without intrusion.

It's off-beat, even unique, and while it misses the chance to be a feminist Western of some standing, there's a real good time to be had here for those willing to buy into the daftness of it all. 7/10

This offbeat Western could have been another standard revenge flick, but the vivid portrayals from the stars inject lots of spice and no small amount of humor into the proceedings.

Raquel Welch portrays "Hannie", and Robert Culp craftily plays "Luther Price", ace bounty hunter, mankiller, and Hannie's mentor.

The real stars of this piece are Strother Martin, Jack Elam and Ernest Borgnine. If you can imagine 'The Three Stooges' as utterly filthy, scummy vagabonds with a propensity for murder, rape and theft, you might get an idea of how this family operates.

Strother Martin in particular is a delight; in the middle of a gunbattle he engages in a clumsy fistfight with one of his brothers over some trivial matter. Another priceless moment is when he presides at a brother's funeral, using a stolen Bible that he cannot even read.

Look for Christopher Lee's subtle and well-crafted performance as a former Confederate gunmaker.

Not your usual Western, this film is well worth watching despite its flaws.

Rated 7.7/10.