Hawmps! (1976)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Joe Camp

Writers:

William Bickley (writer)
Joe Camp (writer)

Release Date:

20 May 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy | Western

Plot:

A cavalry outpost in the Wild West of 19th Century USA is in need of horses. The captain of the outpost...

Plot Keywords:

Camel | Cavalry | Wild West | Desert | Outlaw

Cast

James Hampton	...	Howard Clemmons
Christopher Connelly	...	Uriah Tibbs
Slim Pickens	...	Naman Tucker
Denver Pyle	...	Col. Seymour Hawkins
Gino Conforti	...	Hi Jolly (as Gene Conforti)
Mimi Maynard	...	Jennifer Hawkins
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jesse Davis	...	Mariachi Singer
Dick Drake	...	Drake
Jack Elam	...	Bad Jack Cutter
Roy Gunsberg
Catherine Hearne
Frank Inn	...	Cook
Rex Janssen
Henry Kendrick	...	Col. Zachary
Richard Lundin
Perry Martin
Cynthia Smith
Charles Starkey
Don Starr
Larry Strawbridge
Larry Swartz	...	Cpl. LeRoy
Mike Travis	...	Logan
Tiny Wells	...	Higgins

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:G

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Dunes, Imperial County, California, USA

Trivia:

Loosely based on actual historical events. In the late 1850's, the U.S. Army experimented with the use of camels in the southwestern territories, the present states of Arizona and New Mexico. Hi Jolly (Hadji or Haci Ali, 1828 - 1902) was a Syrian camel expert and driver hired by the army to help with the experiment. Unfortunately, the project was deterred by the Civil War and never resumed afterward. Hi Jolly became something of a local legend, eventually becoming a U.S. citizen and living out his remaining days in Arizona.

Quotes:

Bad Jack Cutter: I'm ready! I'm loose! I'm walking death and destruction!

Cute movie, horrible transfer

Cute movie. I remember it from those days, when I was 11 and growing up in the US. Good family movie, safe for kids, and even has a bit of history in it to justify watching it, as this situation really happened in the US Cavalry (if not the actual people and events portrayed).

Now for the bad news: As others have already noted, the picture and sound are worse than terrible. Looks like they got an old 16mm copy, a school projector, and a portable screen, and used a digital camcorder to record it while it played. Then they slapped it on a DVD and called it digital.

Although the entire image is out of focus, the left side of the screen is even more so than the right. There is also some black banding that stutters down from the top of the frame periodically.

And, judging from the sound quality, it appears that the sound was also recorded directly from the same projector, perhaps using a cheap electret condenser mic. Mounted on a piece of plywood. Or maybe stuck in a drawer.

A company with this lousy of a work ethic should not be supported. Do not buy or rent this movie unless and until it gets a completely new version re-issued from the negatives. If we stop supporting these hacks, they will not be able to stay in business without increasing the quality of their titles. If you must see it, most larger metro US libraries will probably have it. The important thing is DON'T SPEND ANY MONEY ON THIS VERSION! Don't get me wrong; the movie itself is fine, and gets a 7 from me on its own. It's the terrible quality of the transfer that knocks it down to a 2.