The Tramplers (1965)

Gordon Scott is Lon Cordeen, a former Rebel who returns to Texas after the Civil War to discover an ugly truth.

His father, Temple Cordeen (Joseph Cotton) can’t let go of the past and continues to wage war against the “Yankees” who live in the L Crossing area.

In fact, just as Lon is arriving home, his father and his followers are in the process of lynching a writer named Wickett, who has been determined to expose the condition southern slaves have been living in.

Lon can do nothing to stop the hanging, but Wickett’s daughter Edith vows to bring Temple to justice, through legal means.

Trouble continues when Beth Cordeen falls in love with cowboy Charley Garvey (Franco Nero in his first Western).

Temple considers Charley unworthy of the Cordeen family and sends Lon to scare him off — and kill him if necessary.

Instead, Lon helps the couple get married. And when Lon kills one of his dad’s henchmen, he and younger brother Hoby (James Mitchum) ride off with the newlyweds for a new start.

But Temple, having lost a war, isn’t about to lose two sons without a fight.

Review:

The plot is more traditional than many of the Spaghetti Westerns that would come later, but lots of action, a fun score and offbeat characters help make this an enjoyable film.

In addition to Cotton’s very-much-stuck-in-the-past Southern gentleman, the cast includes James Mitchum, Robert’s oldest son, as a young man sick of his father’s hatred. But after losing an arm, he becomes embittered and might wind up following in the footsteps of most of his other brothers.

The title comes from a comment Lon’s mom makes to him during a buggy ride. She doesn’t want him and his youngest brother (James Mitchum as Hoby) to become “tramplers” like the rest of the men in the family.

If you need another reason to watch, there’s Franco Nero in his very first Western. He’s the man Bess falls for. In Temple Cordeen’s mind, he comes from poor stock — the type of man you can trust in your kitchen, but not your parlor.

Oh, and check out that funky runaway stage Lon Cordeen helps stop in another of the action scenes. Who’s aboard? The woman who’s out to get his father, of course.

Directed by:
Albert Band &
Mario Sequi

Cast:
Gordon Scott … Lon Cordeen
Joseph Cotton … Temple Cordeen
James Mitchum … Hoby Cordeen
Franco Nero … Charley Garvey
Emma Valloni … Bess Cordeen
Ilaria Occhini … Edith Wickett
Claudio Gora … Fred Wickett
Muriel Franklin … Alice Cordeen
Aldo Cecconi … Jim Hennessy
Carla Calo … Mrs. Cordeen
Dario Michaelis … Bert Cordeen
Romano Puppo … Paine Cordeen
Giovanni Scratuglia … Adrian Cordeen
Georges Lycan … Longfellow Wiley
Franco Balducci … Pete Wiley
Silla Bettini … Hogan
Edith Peters … Emma (the maid)

aka:
Showdown
Gli uomini dal passo pesante

Runtime: 105 min.

Memorable lines:

Wickett: “You gonna kill all the Yankees.”
Temple Cordeen: “Only the stubborn ones.”
Wickett: “War’s over, Temple.”
Cordeen: “Not for me, it isn’t.”

Temple Cordeen: “Mark my word, when I’m through, no one within 100 miles will dare spit without Cordeen permission.”

Lon Cordeen: “What will you do now?”
Edith Wickett: “I’ll build me a scaffold like they did, but with the help of the law, the real law.”
Lon: “Well, that’s not as easy as it sounds.”
Edith: “It is if you hate hard enough.”

Lon Cordeen: “You’re a dumb animal, Wiley. I’m gonna keep pounding on you until your brains are so scrambled, every time you see me, you’ll take off my hat and put it back on my head. That’s all you’ll be able to do.”

Hoby Cordeen: “Hate’s splitting my guts, and all this poison inside me is bursting out.”
Lon Cordeen: “Don’t let it, Hobey. It could kill you.”
Hoby: “A man can be dead, and still walk around.”

Temple Cordeen: “Take Hoby with you. He’s got some old woman in his, I’m afraid. I’d like it bred out right now. If there’s any killing to be done, be sure he does his share.”

Mrs. Cordeen: “If Hoby wants to leave, , the sooner the better. And you too, son. I don’t want either of you to turn into tramplers, like the others.”

Hoby Cordeen: “We’re a hard luck family, Lon. Nothing’s going to change that.”
Lon Cordeen: “A man makes his own luck.”
Hoby: “I used to believe that. Now I think different.”

Cal: “Hey, Charlie, you going into town with us tonight.”
Charlie: “No thanks, Cal. I don’t intend to leave any of this (money from the sale of cattle) in Abilene. They’ll take your shirt over there if you don’t watch out.”
Cal: “If she’s blonde and under 30, she can have my britches, too.”

Hoby: “The Cordeen family is like an apple split in two: One half sweet, the other half rotten. I guess it’s time to find out which half I belong to.”

Trivia:

This marked the very first Spaghetti Western for Franco Nero, who appears in the credits as Frank Nero and plays Bess’ husband. A year later, he would become Sergio Corbucci’s “Django” — and a Spaghetti Western star.

Gordon Scott starred as Tarzan six times between 1955 and 1960. This marked one of his final films, and his only Western other than 1965’s “Buffalo Bill: Hero of the Far West.”

This also marked one of two Spaghetti Westerns for James Mitchum, oldest son of Robert. He starred in “Grand Canyon Massacre” in 1964.

Claudio Gora as Fred Wickett in The Tramplers (1965)

Muriel Franklin as Alice Cordeen with Aldo Cecconi as Jim Hennessy in The Tramplers (1965)

Georges Lycan as Longfellow Wiley and Ilaria Occhini as Edith Wickett in The Tramplers (1965)

Franco Nero as Charlie Garvey and Emma Valloni as Bess Cordeen in The Tramplers (1965)