I love a good revenge film. I’m a firm believer in turning the other cheek and experience has taught me that it’s better to walk away from a fight than take part in one but I don’t often go to the movies for a dose of reality. Most of us know someone who we’d like to get even with for some past deed. Movies offer viewers the opportunity for catharsis and a good revenge film will allow its audience to be immersed in the heroes plight, take part in their journey and right an assumed wrong. But when all is said and done, no one should be left unscarred by the experience. Revenge is never easy or pretty and my favorite revenge films usually end in an empty victory for the hero. The winner might take all but often gains nothing.

Revenge is a typical theme in many great westerns such as The Man from Laramie (1955), The Searchers 1956), The Bravados (1958), Nevada Smith (1966), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Hang ‘Em High (1968). Something about the untamed west lends itself to tales of vengeance. In a lawless land filled with gun-toting cowboys and ruthless outlaws, revenge often seems to be the only option for the righteous. It could also be a remnant of white settlers’ guilt. Maybe we’re all collectively trying to make sense of America’s complicated history when we watch a man like Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) take vengeance on the native Indians who killed his family and kidnapped his niece?

One of my favorite revenge westerns is Hannie Caulder (1971) starring the beautiful Raquel Welch and the recently deceased Robert Culp. In the film Raquel Welch plays a woman named Hannie who is left to fend for herself after three vicious criminals (Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam and Strother Martin) murder her husband, sexually assault her and burn down the home they shared together. In most westerns a woman like Hannie wouldn’t have survived and her husband would have sought revenge. She also might have found comfort in another man’s arms and spent the rest of the film trying to cope with her feelings of guilt and shame. But Hannie Caulder is anything but typical and after she buries her dead husband Hannie decides to seek revenge for his murder and her own rape.

Luckily for Hannie she bumps into Thomas Luther Price (Robert Culp) at the start of her journey. Thomas is a smart and skilled bounty hunter who’s always eager to find work. After a rough start the two form an uneasy friendship and Thomas teaches Hannie how to use a gun. Hannie’s transformation from wronged woman to a pistol packing angel of vengeance is not smooth. Thomas constantly reminds Hannie that killing isn’t easy and throughout the film Hannie struggles with her need for revenge and the guilt associated with taking another man’s life. Raquel Welch isn’t necessarily known for her acting abilities and her performance in the film didn’t win her any awards, but she manages to bring a sincerity and warmth to the role of Hannie Caulder that I really admire. Hannie is a reluctant hero who gets the shakes after she kills her first man and she never really comes to terms with the violence she experiences. She also never relents in her quest for justice and her clear-eyed sense of right and wrong is admirable.

One of the film’s greatest assets is Robert Culp who is terrific as Thomas Luther Price. Thomas is an aging sharpshooter who is loosing his eye-sight and he knows that his time is almost up. And although it becomes clear over the course of the film that he has feelings for Hannie, the two never consummate their relationship. In a genre that is occasionally unfriendly to its female characters and accused of misogynistic tendencies, Robert Culp’s performance as Thomas truly stands out as a beacon of justice and male integrity. We never learn a lot about him or most of the characters in the film. But Culp understood the mystique of the western hero and we come to appreciate who he is through small gestures, a knowing look and his commitment to helping Hannie.

Hannie Caulder was the only western produced by the British studio Tigon in association with Paramount. Tigon is mostly known for the terrific horror films it made in the late ’60s and early ’70s such as Witchfinder General (1968) and Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), but this film suggests that the studio could have benefited from producing more westerns. The movie isn’t without its problems but I think it mainly suffers from Burt Kennedy’s direction and writing.

Before making Hannie Caulder, Burt Kennedy worked on television shows such as The Virginian and Lawman. He also directed many western comedies including The Rounders (1965), Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969) and Dirty Dingus Magee (1970). By any measure, Hannie Caulder should have been a serious film shot in a style reminiscent of classic revenge westerns but instead Burt Kennedy seemed determined to inject laughs into the movie whenever he could. A better director would never have attempted to turn Hannie’s quest for revenge into a comedy and thankfully most of the film’s stars seem to want to play it straight.

Besides Raquel Welch and Robert Culp, horror veteran Christopher Lee gives a noteworthy performance as a respectable gunsmith living on the coast with his family. Lee brings his usual sense of gravitas to the proceedings but he also seems to be enjoying himself in his role and he’s surprisingly good with a gun. I also like Stephen Boyd’s wordless performance as the mysterious man in black. Stephen Boyd could be seen as a stereotypical gunman or a sublime angel of death who seems to be following Robert Culp’s character and watching over Hannie Caulder. We’re never really sure of his nature or motivation but I appreciate the way Boyd portrayed the character.

Unfortunately the three outlaws played by Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam and Strother Martin suffer the most from Burt Kennedy’s bad writing and poor direction choices. They’re all great actors who are more than capable of playing the ruthless characters that the script should have called for. Instead they’re made out to be The Three Stooges of the American west. One minute we’re supposed to be chuckling at their expense and in the next we’re supposed to be rooting for their demise. This erratic take on the material lessons the emotional impact of Hannie Caulder and turns what could have been a truly great film into a bit of a muddled mess.

Like many European westerns, Hannie Caulder was shot in Spain and it’s a great looking movie. Even though Burt Kennedy’s writing and directing decisions in the film are questionable, there’s no getting around the fact that this is a gorgeous movie full of breathtaking long shots that show off the majestic beauty of the Spanish countryside. Burt Kennedy should also be commended for the way he decided to shoot Raquel Welch. Welch is a beautiful woman but Hannie Caulder isn’t the most glamorous role of her career and throughout most of film she’s dressed in an ill-fitting poncho that makes her look like a female version of Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name.” But due to Burt Kennedy’s direction and Edward Scaife’s cinematography Raquel Welch’s has rarely looked as good as she does in Hannie Caulder.

Over the years I have forgiven the film’s faults and I appreciate what the movie gets right much more than what it gets wrong. Hannie Caulder is not a perfect film but it is one of Raquel Welch’s best movies and it offered Robert Culp the opportunity to create one of the most complex and compelling characters of his career.