Monday, January 15, 2024

Hawmps! (1976)

Lt. Howard Clemmons (James Hampton) is dispatched from Washington DC to test the viability of camels in the American West.  To his great surprise, Sgt. Tibbs (Christopher Connelly) greets him as a hero upon his arrival at Camp Val Verde.  Tibbs was told that his men would be getting 'Arabians.'  Clemmons can't bring himself to explain that it is Arabian camels, not horses.  Unsurprisingly, the men are most disappointed when camels arrive.  With the help of Hi Jolly (Gino Conforti), a Middle Eastern camel expert, the men learn to ride and handle camels.  However, Colonel Hawkins (Denver Pyle) views the experiment as an embarrassment to his command and is determined to see it canceled.  Clemmons suggests a race between his camels and Sgt. Tucker's (Slim Pickens) horse soldiers.  Hawkins accepts and the race is on.  Can the camels outpace the horses in the western deserts?

This family comedy western is confused on the history.  It proposes that the action takes place during the Presidency of Millard Filmore (1850-53), when Jefferson Davis was Secretary of War (1853-1857), and Abraham Lincoln was just a Congressman (1847-1849).  In fact, the first batch of camels arrived in Texas in May 1856.  Hi Jolly - an Americanized Hadji Ali - was the chief cameleer and is the only historical figure to be included in the movie.  As for the race, there was in fact a test in which a team 18 mules with wagons and a team of 6 camels were sent to deliver supplies.  The camels easily outperformed the mules by a factor of 2.

The movie is very campy and family friendly.  I recall seeing it as a kid and enjoying it.  It is far less enjoyable now, having scantly any story and mostly just a series of excuses for slapstick humor.  Mediocre.  Skip.

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