THE TRAMPLERS

 

Joseph Cotten appeared in some of the most famous films ever made, such as CITIZEN KANE, THE THIRD MAN, and SHADOW OF A DOUBT. He also was in Mario Bava's BARON BLOOD, THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, Ishiro Honda's LATITUDE ZERO, and he even pops up in HEAVEN'S GATE. Cotten even wound up in a couple Spaghetti Westerns. One of them is a rather notable entry in the genre: Sergio Corbucci's THE HELLBENDERS. The other, THE TRAMPLERS (1965), is much lesser known. (The original Italian title of THE TRAMPLERS is GLI UOMINI DEL PASSO PESANTE.) 

The same production team behind THE HELLBENDERS was responsible for THE TRAMPLERS, except the latter film was directed by producer and co-writer Albert Band. (Many sources credit Mario Sequi as co-director.) THE TRAMPLERS is a much more traditional Western than THE HELLBENDERS--it's not as dark or cynical, and the main plot of a family dispute caused by the rigid head of the clan makes the film feel like something made in 1950s Hollywood. 

The story is set right after the end of the Civil War. Lon Cordeen (Gordon Scott), who fought for the Confederacy, returns home to his family's vast spread in Texas after three years of being away. Lon finds out that his brothers and his father Temple (Joseph Cotten) lord over the nearby town, and act as if the South didn't lose the war. Lon is so disgusted by his family's behavior, he decides to break away and build a life of his own. Lon, with his youngest brother Hoby (Jim Mitchum), sister Bess (Emma Valloni) and her husband Charley (Franco Nero), organizes and begins a cattle drive to raise money. The imperious Temple, however, won't accept the fact that some of his children won't do what he wants them to, and demands that the group be brought back dead or alive. The result is a final showdown between the entire family. 

If THE TRAMPLERS had been made a few years later, when the Euro Western boom was in full swing, it probably would have been a much different film (especially if it had been directed by Sergio Corbucci). The look and feel of the film is very much in the classic American Western tradition--there are no scruffy loners or quirky musical themes here. Gordon Scott, best known for the many sword & sandal films he starred in, actually comes off quite well as a stalwart frontier hero. Jim Mitchum (son of Robert) does well too as youngster Hoby, who grows from kindly innocent to steely-eyed gunslinger. 

Joseph Cotten plays the flamboyantly named Temple Cordeen, who has a resemblance to the character the actor played in THE HELLBENDERS. The difference is that Cordeen has a secure base in which to work from--it's mentioned that the local townsfolk are either afraid of the Cordeen family or in agreement with their political and social beliefs. Behind Cordeen's surface charm & courtesy is an inflexible patriarch who won't take no for an answer. Cotten's Temple isn't a ranting or raving lunatic--he's someone who acts like a Southern gentleman, yet expects his orders to be carried out at all times. (He's also cold-blooded enough to carry out the lynching of a newspaperman at the very beginning of the film.) One wonders how Cotten felt about making Westerns in Italy, but it certainly didn't affect his acting ability. 

Making his Western debut here is Franco Nero (he's billed as Frank Nero). Very soon after working on this film, Nero would get the starring role in DJANGO, and go on to become a cult icon. Nero plays Lon Cordeen's decent upstanding brother-in-law, a far cry from the Euro Western characters he would eventually be known for. (The role of Charley might be the most normal one Nero would play in a Western.) 

THE TRAMPLERS has a much greener and pastoral look than the usual Spaghetti Western (the cattle herd sequences were actually filmed in Argentina). A cattle drive is an unusual plot point in any Euro Western (most characters in that genre are not interested in doing that type of work--or any real work at all). The ending is somewhat surprising as well. There is the obligatory final shootout, but instead of going out in a blaze of glory, Temple Cordeen is shocked into realizing that his actions have destroyed his family. 

I had never seen THE TRAMPLERS, and I had assumed that it wasn't on the same level as THE HELLBENDERS. It's actually a decent Western in its own right, and it has a more traditional feel to it. THE TRAMPLERS certainly deserves to get an official North American home video release.