★ 6 / 10
**_The Cruel Ones: The madness of a lost
Wuchak
**_The Cruel Ones: The madness of a lost cause_** Joseph Cotton stars as Colonel Jonas, an unrepentant Confederate who led a regiment called The Hellbenders…
**_The Cruel Ones: The madness of a lost cause_**
Joseph Cotton stars as Colonel Jonas, an unrepentant Confederate who led a regiment called The Hellbenders during the Civil War. Lee surrendered and the war's over, but not for Jonas and his three sons. They ruthlessly rob a Union convoy in the Southwest carrying $1 million. The group not only has to evade the Union Army, but also a posse, Mexican bandits, vengeful Natives, and even each other if they are to get back East with the money.
The ratings for this film are all over the place. Some viewers say it's trash whereas others grant it a surprisingly high grade; and I can see why on both counts. Let's look at the positives and negatives respectively.
While some complain about Joseph Cotton's supposedly wooden performance, his deadpan expressions superbly capture his character's single-minded vision. Jonas' family is nigh insane because they refuse to admit that the Civil War has been lost. His ultimate harebrained purpose is to finance a renewed Civil War. Everything else is secondary, including life itself. Hauling their loot around in a coffin is a symbol for the hopelessness of their cause. You'll hear Jonas talk about God & Scripture now and then, but it's all outward adornment, even while I'm sure he's sincere. He justifies killing Union soldiers on the grounds that they're still at war while he rationalizes murdering hirelings because their motivation is not the Confederate cause but rather filthy lucre. The man's brutal and despicable, but interesting nevertheless. He’s a “Christian” fake, but just doesn’t know it.
I'm thankful for the characters of Ben and Claire without whom there'd be no one to sympathize with amongst the protagonists. In her prime Norma Bengell was one of the most stunning women to walk the earth and the filmmakers were sure to capture this in a pond-bathing sequence where she strips down to black stockings and modest lingerie.
Another positive is that the movie's filled with action and generally maintains your interest even while glaring flaws regularly surface. For the family's nutty scheme to work they resort to nigh absurd deception; and you know what Sir Walter Scott wrote: "O what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." Something else I liked that can easily be overlooked takes place when the Indians come seeking justice for the death of the chief's daughter and it provokes brother against brother, the Civil War in microcosm.
Ennio Morricone (as Leo Nichols) composed the score with a decent leitmotif. It's full of guttural sounds with interesting percussion, harmonica, trumpets and guitar. But it’s pedestrian compared to “Death Rides a Horse” (1967) and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966).
As far as shortcomings go, someone complained about the movie on the grounds that it comes across as if the producers just enlisted several actors & extras and a couple of alluring women, then got some horses, a couple of coaches, a coffin, some Mexican clothes and made the whole thing up in the Spanish desert as they meandered along. This is my main objection to the movie, particularly in the second half where the scriptwriters awkwardly try to fit one episode after another into the story. At one point, for instance, Mexican bandits suddenly appear who had absolutely nothing to do with the plot up to this point. They disappear just as quickly when the Federals swiftly arrive. The worst example of this is the odd beggar who appears out of nowhere in the desert in the last act. This entire sequence is so badly done it horribly mars the movie.
A technical cavil: Jonas and his three sons are the remnant of Confederate Hellbenders regiment and you see them equipped with Winchesters. This can be overlooked on the grounds that there were "Yellow Boy" Winchesters in 1866, but the six guns they carry are Colt 1873 Peacemakers, an anachronism that should have been corrected and is hard to ignore if you are familiar with the weaponry.
The melodramatic climax reveals that good intentions were there, but the filmmakers just didn't have the funds to execute properly. If only they had the money, "Hellbenders" would rank with the best Spaghetti Westerns. As it is, it's still worth catching for the highlights noted.
It runs 1h 30m and was shot in Spain and Italy.
GRADE: C+/B-
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★ 7 / 10
Corbucci on the Road
cengelm
After the Civil War a dedicated ex-Confederate officer leads a hearse with a coffin full of money to New Mexico where he wants to revive the Confederation. His…
After the Civil War a dedicated ex-Confederate officer leads a hearse with a coffin full of money to New Mexico where he wants to revive the Confederation. His company is formed by his three very different sons and an alcoholic women. After the woman gets killed she is replaced by a seasoned female gambler who is well played by Norma Bengell. The whole story unfolds in the way of a road movie where the characters are passing through the typical obstacles of a Western environment. Due to a massacre the bunch committed in the beginning they are hunted by unionists and government officials. Corbucci manages to make the characters who are basically all criminals very likable and I was more often than not at the edge of my seat when the bunch run into trouble. Probably THE WILD BUNCH from Peckinpah got some inspirations from here and Corbucci's COMPAÑEROS can be considered a later variant with a different mood.
The mood of the film is excellently supported by Morricone's score which belongs to his best. Cinematography is above average. The Spaghetti Western Web Board rated this film at #24 of all SW in 2005.
7 / 10
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