The Hellbenders / I crudeli (Sergio Corbucci, 1967)

[quote=“Dillinger, post:60, topic:578”]I got one question regarding this flick:

It contains great music, but it sounded quite familiar to me. It was recycled somewhere. Do you know where?[/quote]

In Drummer of Vengeance (Il Giorno del Giudizio/Doomsday)

Also The Return of Clint the Stranger. Me and the Reverend had a conversation re this a while back now, and the Reverend may have mentioned another title aswell. I have also heard themes from The Hellbenders in other westerns aswell, but cannot remember which ones.

Thank you! That’s why it sounded so familiar, I watched the drummer about two months ago. And “Clint” is a movie I watched several times, one of the first SWs I bought…

Now somethnig else comes to my mind. Yesterday I cut “Sam Cooper”, that I had recorded on Tele5. After Cooper they aired Clint, so I heard the theme of hellbenders yesterday! I think I’m getting old… alzheimer at 33! Poor me!

[quote=“Dillinger, post:63, topic:578”]Thank you! That’s why it sounded so familiar, I watched the drummer about two months ago. And “Clint” is a movie I watched several times, one of the first SWs I bought…

Now somethnig else comes to my mind. Yesterday I cut “Sam Cooper”, that I had recorded on Tele5. After Cooper they aired Clint, so I heard the theme of hellbenders yesterday! I think I’m getting old… alzheimer at 33! Poor me![/quote]

Worse things have happened to people at 33

The great thing about Alzheimers is that you will have forgotten you have it by tomorrow :wink:

I am just as bad as I have to do lists for everything these days, and have to remember not to forget the lists.

So put this on the list as well :wink:

I sure will ;).

And of course you meet new people every day.

:smiley: :smiley:

Sorry…What were we talking about again?

Hellbenders of course!

Another top class production from Corbucci. It may be blasphemous to say so, but I find Corbucci a better director than Leone because of his versatility. Corbucci could handle many different styles as Leone seemed to only adhere to one particular technique. Leone was a master at his strengths, nonetheless. Also, according to Antonio Margheriti, Leone was unable to handled direction of big action scenes and this is where Corbucci excelled. And that’s why HELLBENDERS is so peculiar to me in that Corbucci is masterfully restrained in the action department here. Aside from the opening and the ending, he opts for a more suspense oriented piece, tightly building tension between the main participants till they all explode in violence at the end.

In my book the master of big action scenes was Castellari. Corbucci made many powerful ones as well.

I agree with you. Castellari was an ace in the action department, but delivered relatively few movies of substance when compared with other directors such as ‘The Three Sergio’s’. Not a bad thing at all, though. Castellari could navigate from westerns to crime to post apocalyptic actioners with ease. About the worst thing I ever saw from him was THE LAST SHARK (1980).

But Corbucci wasn’t able to handle big action scenes before The Mercenary.
The small ones, like in the beginning of Johnny Oro or Django, are very, very good, but they are similar to the way Leone did them.

The mass shootouts at the end of Johnny Oro, in Django (3 long scenes) or the train assault in Navajo Joe are all rather stiff and awkward. Especially such a fine film like Django is hurt by these shortcomings. Some of these scenes are wrong by the way they were constructed, some others would probably work if they were cut like later shootouts in The Mercenary and in Companeros.

When Django confronts the clansmen in the muddy street, this should be an absolute highpoint of the film, but surprisingly it looks rather lame. It’s still not a bad scene because of its powerful basic idea, but, shit, this could be much better.

But Leone wasn’t better with big action scenes, maybe his only major fault. The river ambush and the cemetery shootout are the weakest scenes in FoD. And the bridge ambush and the finale of DYS don’t work either.
Otherwise Leone was brillant in conceiving and directing action scenes.

And Castellari, well, according to his westerns, viewed as an action director, forget him.
Nothing special when he succeeds, but often his action scenes make only a helples impression to me.
But I will try to see a few of his non-westerns in the near future.

[quote=“Stanton, post:75, topic:578”]But Corbucci wasn’t able to handle big action scenes before The Mercenary.
The small ones, like in the beginning of Johnny Oro or Django, are very, very good, but they are similar to the way Leone did them.

The mass shootouts at the end of Johnny Oro, in Django (3 long scenes) or the train assault in Navajo Joe are all rather stiff and awkward. Especially such a fine film like Django is hurt by these shortcomings. Some of these scenes are wrong by the way they were constructed, some others would probably work if they were cut like later shootouts in The Mercenary and in Companeros.

When Django confronts the clansmen in the muddy street, this should be an absolute highpoint of the film, but surprisingly it looks rather lame. It’s still not a bad scene because of its powerful basic idea, but, shit, this could be much better.

But Leone wasn’t better with big action scenes, maybe his only major fault. The river ambush and the cemetery shootout are the weakest scenes in FoD. And the bridge ambush and the finale of DYS don’t work either.
Otherwise Leone was brillant in conceiving and directing action scenes.

And Castellari, well, according to his westerns, viewed as an action director, forget him.
Nothing special when he succeeds, but often his action scenes make only a helples impression to me.
But I will try to see a few of his non-westerns in the near future.[/quote]

Corbucci didn’t have big budgets to work with on his early movies either. Leone didn’t direct the big action or effects scenes in his movies. Other directors did. Guys like Margheriti and Giancarlo Santi.

[quote=“Stanton, post:75, topic:578”]And Castellari, well, according to his westerns, viewed as an action director, forget him.
Nothing special when he succeeds, but often his action scenes make only a helples impression to me.
But I will try to see a few of his non-westerns in the near future.[/quote]

You didn’t think KEOMA was rather artistic and well done?

HIGH CRIME and THE BIG RACKET are good crime films from him and his post apocalyptic movies are functional as empty headed action films laced with lots of often bloody violence and nothing more.

I seem to be in the minority on this one. The ending of JOHNNY ORO was exciting for me. Much better handled than a number of other euro westerns I’d seen at the time. A lot of vigor, a fast pace, sudden bursts of violence and a plethora of explosions caught my attention. I like that movie quite a bit. It’s not perfect, but a very good time waster.

[quote=“Stanton, post:75, topic:578”]But Leone wasn’t better with big action scenes, maybe his only major fault. The river ambush and the cemetery shootout are the weakest scenes in FoD. And the bridge ambush and the finale of DYS don’t work either.
Otherwise Leone was brillant in conceiving and directing action scenes.[/quote]

I don’t know who shot those scenes in FoD, but the one in the river is excellent in my opinion, from any standpoint; the one in the cemetery … well, it was a very ill conceived scene from the script page, very difficult to resolve, specially taking into consideration that Leone was working with a very minimal budget, extreme stock (film) limitations and that the day for night used, in itself, was a procedure never really used efficiently in ANY movie, western or not, made in Hollywood or not. Given those considerations, I think it is a decently staged, filmed and edited scene.

Yeah I thought it was exciting as well. I didn’t expect the long, high quality action scene at the end.