THE HELLBENDERS (1967) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0060261/) - This is a pretty good Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Corbucci who also directed DJANGO, THE GREAT SILENCE, and COMPANEROS. Joseph Cotton stars as a confederate officer who wants make the South rise again by taking thousands of dollars from an armored wagon escorted by thirty U.S. goverment soldiers. He does this with his three sons and a woman. They do indeed take the money from the armored wagon and put the money on a stage wagon with all the money hidden in a coffin. They use this coffin and a couple woman to transport the coffin back home, but not with about five difficult stops along the way. The coffin is suppose to contain a confederate officer who is to be buried back home, but of course there is nobody in the coffin.
(http://legolas.mdh.se/~dal98ton/bilder/hellbenders.jpg)
Glad you finally saw this one, actyally I find it better than other Corbucci's films, like Compañeros or even Django. Sacrilege, I know. I found Corbucci to be a far less accomplished filmmaker than other European western directors, such as Sergio Sollima or Giulio Petroni. There's something in the tone of his films that screams at you he's no subtle nor complicated man, just an entertainer.
I still got a kick out of The Great Silence, probably his best film, when I lend my copy to a friend who is starting to like Euro-westerns as well. You should have seen his face when he returned it to me. C'on, man, I told him, I warned you these are not exactly conventional films.
Anyway, about this one...
SPOILERS FOLLOW - BE WARNED
...I like the idea of centering the film on the backtrack rather than in the heist itself, and Joseph Cotten is perfect for the part of the stern die-hard confederate. Some of the stops you mention are not very satisfying, I'll give you that, but others are priceless, like the scene were the family is rescued by Union troops in the nick of time. I also liked the mournful score than accompanies their travel. You can tell from the beginning something is wrong with the picture, that they're somehow doomed not to achieve their goal, and when the end arrives it's sort of cathartic, because you know the tragedy is over.
There is definately something wrong with the cinematography. The cinematography and acting are not very interesting, but all the things that happen in this movie worth a look. The opening credits, four against thirty for the armored stage, the cemetary scene, the hangings, the cavalry rescue from the banditos, the bar room brawl, the finale with the brothers and the crawl to the river are what make the film. The music is passable.
Actually I thought it was the worse of the Sergio Corbucci film Neville. : ) But that's ok. Your in Spain right Neville? Did you see THE HELLBENDERS in English or some other language? Here are the order that I like his films that we mentioned.
1. ) The Great Silence (Probably the best non-Leone Spaghetti Western)
2. ) Django
3. ) Companeros
4. ) The Hellbenders
Yeah, I have to agree the acting, Joseph Cotten aside, is mediocre. Didn't notice anything wrong with the cinematography, you'll have to elaborate on that. And yes, it's an episodic movie, and this works against it. There are interesting scenes, but the rest feels too much like padding. I still prefer it over other Corbucci's films (except The grat silence) because I don't like Corbucci very much. There's something crude and not very serious about the way he films westerns, although here he manages to destile an adequate feeling of tragedy, as I mentioned.
Answering your question, I've seen the film twice, once in Spanish, on TV, and the more recent in English.
Something square about the cinematography. Some of the other poor elements like the acting, dvd transfer (not bad, but could be better), and dubbing probably make it more noticable.
The are some good looking scenes like the cemetary at night, opening river crossing, and a scene where they simply ride over a hill with the music in the background.
It's an above average Spaghetti Western with the same tone as CUT-THROATS NINE.
CUT-THROATS NINE? Never heard of that one. Can you tell me more about that one?
THE HELLBENDERS and CUT-THROATS NINE are both dark films as they both have very uninspiring characters and moments. Both films just end without any redeeming positive conclusion for any of the characters except possible the young couple in THE HELLBENDERS, buy you really don't get that impression. They are not Hollywood endings to say the least. THE GREAT SILENCE is also another of this kind, but done much better due to the atmosphere created by the snowy mountain settings, cinematography, and Klause Kinski. They are all kinda gloomy films. Usually someone gets the "gold" or "revenge" in a Spaghetti Western, but not in these films. By the way CUT-THROATS NINE is a product of Spain.
CUT THROATS NINE (http://www.badmovies.org/bbs/read.php?2,109548,109548#msg-109548)
Checked some internet sites and finally gathered some information on "Cut-throats nine". The director's name does ring a bell, he made some Euro-westerns back in those days, but nothing exceptional. Considering that and the gore I'm not sure I'll ever watch it, doesn't sound like my cup of tea.
Thanks for the information, anyway.
Went back and looked at some of the scenes again from THE HELLBENDERS Neville and the cinematography isn't bad. What I realised is that the color is faded on my copy and makes the film seem flat or something. I have the same problem with all my Italian Hercules films that were made just before the Western genre came to Italy. All of these films both Spaghetti Westerns and Italian sword and sandal films need serious remastered prints and DVD's. It's not like watching a good b/w film when the movie color is faded and sometimes the sound it takes a lot away from a film.