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Masterful Movie

Let's be realistic.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I love this movie. I know that it's not the greatest film ever made, but it's just so much fun. My older brother took me to see this when it came out in 1976. Ever since then, I've thought of this as "F Troop: The Movie." It even stars James Hampton, who was the bugler, Cpl. Dobbs, on "F Troop." It's a shame that Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, and Ken Berry aren't in this film, but Christopher Connelly, Slim Pickens, Jack Elam, and Denver Pyle are always great...And when that band starts playing in the saloon, I laugh every time. This is of those movies like "The Apple Dumpling Gang" and (the original) "That Darn Cat" that entire families can watch together and get a good laugh.

It would be difficult, I suggest, to say enough in praise of the genial and narrative positives of "HAWMPS". Its writers and director managed somehow to make the film engaging, easy to follow, ethical, and logical at the same time in my opinion, not always the expected qualities of a western "send up" . The writers, William Bickley, director Joe Camp and Michael Warren kept the dialog rather swift and on target, without engaging in too many long digressions, extraneous stories, etc. Director Camp also gave the film plenty of well-staged "slapstick" physical moments; but a study of these will reveals that virtually none were wasted--instead they all contributed to the fundamental storyline...The War Department's dispatching of James Hampton, about the only man who would accept the job, to assess the practicality of replacing horses in some jobs in the American West, with camels was. This attempt, which happened in history, is then staged for the audience step-by-hilarious-step. The veteran cavalry troop assigned to this experiment expected fine Arabian mounts; and their new Eastern leader, Hampton, couldn't bring himself to tell them that they were not getting new horses until it was too late. From this point in the story on, everything that happened, I suggest, revealed the Army's leaders' mental shortcomings. Hampton's seriousness about becoming the leader of men he really wanted to be and everyone else's inability to understand their own motives in regards to the camels complete the picture of the picture. The film's makers, I suggest, wasted almost no opportunity where they might reveal character and changing emotions by means of speech as well as action--no small asset to an action film. The cinematography by Don Reddy is always above average, and the original music by Euel Box sustains the moods evoked very well. Production designer Harlan Wright and Art Director Ned Parsons gave the film a dusty, western and believable look everywhere, in my judgment. In the cast, outstanding work was turned in by Jack Elam as Bad Jack Cutter, Slim Pickens as the leader of a rival cavalry troop, James Hampton and Chris Connelly as the leaders of the experiment, Denver Pyle as an artillery-happy commanding officer, Gino Conforti as the camels' imported caretaker and riding instructor, and everyone else concerned. One reason the characters are so memorable, I suggest, is that their motives are rendered so clear throughout the proceedings. I recommend the film for a number of scenes, including the original decision in Washington, the arrival of the camels, the first and second transits of a nearby town, the learning-to-ride sequence, the saloon fight refereed by veteran actor Herb Vigran, and the protracted contest that constitutes the final third of the film. I add my approval also to the way in which all details at the end are wrapped up logically, neatly and amusingly. This film is almost unique, I suggest, in its good-hearted approach to finding comedy in a realistic situation in the American West without demeaning the western genre. I found it to be unexpectedly likable, occasionally touching and enjoyable throughout. Recommended.

I really enjoyed the movie as a kid, and was really looking forward to seeing this again. But why do they not bother to take the time to make decent transfers I'll never know. What a shame to ruin a perfectly good, fun movie. WARNING, POSSIBLE SPOILER!!! As a kid, I was fascinated to learn that they really DID have an experiment (upon which this film is VERY loosely based). They brought in camels with the idea that they would perform better than horses. What ever happened to these animals (once the experiment was concluded) ? Never found that one out. As was mentioned earlier, this film won't ever bee remembered as one of the "greats" of movie-making, but it was made in a time when clean wholesome films were the 'thing'. Something you could feel comfortable taking the whole family to. I was really excited to see it out (finally -after all the shovel-ware they make disks out of) on DVD -until the movie began. I really wish they would make decent transfers.

I remember virtually nothing about this movie that I saw as a child in 76 or 77. But I thought I would share one of my funniest childhood memories that is associated with the film. I was living in Florida and my mother went up north to visit relatives for a week. My father undoubtedly thought that this would make a perfect time for some male bonding and decided to take me to a movie. I chose Hawmps and we came to a theatre that was packed ( I guess it had a solid opening weekend). We had arrived late (my father was perpetaully behind in time) and the movie was already playing. We walked down the rows and most were full, occasionally a row had a just one seat open, but never two. Finally my dad (who wore thick glasses and never could see too well in the dark) said "there's two seats", and pointed to the end of a row. As I made my way down I noticed that only one seat was vacant. I turned to my dad to try to explain but he said "keep going", so as a child I just figured my dad must know what he was doing, so I found a seat and sat down, noticing that beside me was a small boy, about 3 years old. Much to my shock my father proceeded to sit right on the kid! He let out a shreik that was audible throughout the theater and his father jumped up even faster than my embarassed dad did and asked him what he thought he was doing. My father quickly told me to remain in my seat and he'd meet me outside of the theater after the show. I laughed throughout the movie, but not at any of the gags--at the thought of my father nearly skwishing the kid next to me.