Joseph Cotten is Jonas, a Confederate officer obsessed with the idea of helping the South rise again south of the border.

So while Lee has surrendered back East, Jonas and his three sons rob an Army payroll and kill the Union soldiers guarding it because their unit — the Hellbenders — has never given up the fight.

And Jonas has come up with a clever ploy for getting the stolen loot to Mexico. He’s got a wagon. He’s got a coffin in the wagon. He’s got a pretty young woman sitting in the passenger’s seat.

The ruse: The coffin carries the remains of a Confederate officer, who’s being taken home to be buried. The woman dressed in black is his mother-in-law.

The truth: The coffin contains the stolen loot; the woman in the passenger seat is a bar-room floozy and drunk.

And when that woman, Kitty, gets out of control, she’s killed by Jeff, one of the brothers.

So another brother — the kinder and gentler Ben (Julian Mateos) is sent to town to found a replacement. He recruits Claire (Norma Bengell), a female card sharp.

But Claire’s a whole lot smarter than her predecessor. And uncomfortable with the role she’s been cast in and some of her traveling partners.

As for Jonas, he’ll will face a lot more obstacles on that trek to Mexico.

Joseph Cotton as Jonas, warning of a long trek ahead, in The Hellbenders (1967)

Julian Mateos as Ben, one of Jonas’ three sons in The Hellbenders (1967)

The Review:

The first Sergio Corbucci film with a really imaginative plot is probably also the most under-rated or his movies.

It helps that he has a strong cast at his disposal, with folks like Aldo Sambrell and Jose Nieto in bit roles. It helps that he has an Ennio Morricone score. Little touches help, too, like the symbol for The Hellbenders — the scorpion.

But what works best is the slow unraveling of Jonas’ plan and the desperation he shows as obstacle after obstacle make his far-fetched dream of a Confederate resurrection seem like just that.

Maria Martin as Kitty, the supposedly grieving mother-in-law, in The Hellbenders (1967)

Norma Bengell as Claire dons black and begins her role as a grieving widow in The Hellbenders (1967)

Directed by:
Sergio Corbucci

Cast:
Joseph Cotten … Jonas
Norma Bengell … Claire
Juilian Mateos … Ben
Angel Aranda … Nat
Gino Pernice … Jeff
Maria Martin … Kitty
Al Mulock … The Begger
Aldo Sambrell … Pedro
Jose Nieto … Sheriff
Claudio Gora … Rev. Pierce
Julio Pena … Sgt. Tolt
Enio Girolami … Lt. Sublett

Also with: Claudio Gora, Enio Girolami, Claudio Scarchilli, Benito Stefanelli, Gene Collins, Alvaro de Luna, Ivan Scratuglia, Rafael Vaquero, Simon Arriaga, José Canalejas, Gonzolo Esquiroz, Hector Quiroga, Rocco Lerro, Martin Diaz

aka:
The Cruel Ones
I Crudeli

Score: Ennio Morricone
(as Leo Nichols)

Runtime: 90 min.

Angel Aranda as Nat plays grave robber in The Hellbenders (1967)

Gino Pernice as Jeff about to cross brother Ben in The Hellbenders (1967)

Memorable lines:

Claire: “Then this Allen, he really existed.”
Jonas: “We got his name off a cross in Nashville cemetery.”
Claire: “I feel like busting right out and laughing my head off.”
Jonas: “That wouldn’t be very fitting for the part you’re playing in this little drama, daughter.”

Nat: “First we’re attacked by bandits. Then we’re saved by damned Yankees.”

Jonas: “You’ve got to respect the dead.”
Beggar: “Hell, I don’t even respect the living.”

Beggar: “That fella in the coffin, he’s better off than me. He’s got a roof over him. And anybody kicks him gets a sore foot.”

Jose Nieto as a suspicious sheriff in The Hellbenders (1967)

Aldo Sambrell as Pedro, the leader of Mexican bandits, in The Hellbenders (1967)

Trivia:

Norma Bengell started her film career in 1959, was still appearing in TV roles in the early 21st century and also directed a pair of films. She starred as a prostitute in “Keeper of Promises,” a 1962 Brazilian film nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign film. The same year, she appeared fully nude in “Os Cafajestes,” supposedly the first mainstream actress from her country to do so.

Julian Mateos is perhaps better known for key roles in U.S.-European collaborations like “Four Rode Out” (1970), in which he played the Mexican bandit Sue Lyon’s fell for and as Chico in “Return of the Seven,” the second of the four “Magnificent Seven” films. He died of lung cancer in Spain in 1996 at age 58.