estherwalker-34710 Review of Welcome to Hard Times

Welcome to Hard Times (1967)

A bittersweet ironic ending to a very strange extreme anti-hero western.

[6/10 · 7 February 2021]

If you don't want to read about the climax and finale in some detail, better skip this review!..............In the tiny, dusty, mining village of Hard Times, former saloon girl Molly(Janice Rule) is itching for revenge against a drunken psychopathic drifter, played by Aldo Ray, who had raped her and her sister saloon girl, killing the latter, besides shooting anyone who tried to interfere in his unsavory acts, which included burning down the few main buildings, before leaving with a lingering raucous laugh. Yep, clearly, he was an extreme sadistic psychopath who cared not a fig about anyone else(It was a wonder he was still alive or not in jail!). This village had no jail and no sheriff., although lawyer Will Blue(Henry Fonda) was present, as a relative newcomer, who seemed to act like the mayor. Neither he nor anyone else remaining had the guts or foolishness to try to reign in this bully and arsonist. Fonda rather reminds me of an extreme version of the anti-hero played by Jimmy Stewart, in "The Far Country". That fact turns off most reviewers here featured, as denoted by the many 1s, 2s, and 3s ratings. That's quite understandable. But, there's more to the story, and the mean rating by all respondents is nearly 6! ..........Molly develops a love-hate relationship with Blue, they moving in together, while adopting the newly orphaned mid- teen Jimmy. But she was still angry about Blue's apparent cowardice. Both she and Blue were sure the bully would eventually return, hence began planning for that anticipated event.(If I were him, I sure wouldn't return, even assuming that the town was rebuilt). Molly began to plan a multifaceted revenge strategy. She acquired a dagger as her personal weapon. She obtained a shotgun which she gave to Jimmy, encouraging him to practice, which Blue disapproved of, not wanting him to grow up a gun slinger, even though he, himself, carried a gun and was an excellent shot. Also, she continued to work on Blue, trying to convince him to confront the bad man when he returned. And, return, he did, but not until the next year. He was back on his spree of raping, killing and setting fires. She convinced a newcomer to shoot him dead. Unfortunately, he instead killed another emerging from the burning saloon, expecting the bad man. The bad man then emerged and shot the appointed assassin dead, wastefully pumping 5 bullets into him. Meanwhile, Blue was nearby, wearing a six shooter. He drew, but not fast enough, and the bad man winged him in the right shoulder. Before Blue could recover, the bad man again tried to kill him. But, his gun was empty, as Blue saw. Blue then shot him several times, seemingly killing him. To show Molly his trophy, he carried the bad man into their house, and lay him down. Unfortunately, eventually the bad man awoke, and when the terrified Molly tried to stab him with her dagger, he wrestled it from her. Just then, Jimmy burst in, carrying his shot gun, and aimed at the bad man. Unfortunately, for some ? Reason, Blue knocked the rifle off target, and it happened to be aimed at Molly when Jimmy pulled the trigger. She soon died, as it hit her in the abdomen: an irony that about ends the film. Fate often rules! We are supposed to assume that the bad man soon thereafter expired. Of course, a much more satisfying ending would have been if Molly finished him off with her dagger. Apparently, the writer favored irony over poetic justice. .......In summary, 3 persons needlessly died, and one was wounded, in connection with the attempt to kill the bad man, who is subdued only when he ran out of bullets......... It was smart to include a very strange 'traveling saloon' which happened by, with its 4 (unrealistically) very pretty 'lady' entertainers, as a diversion from the adverse recent events. They helped fill in the time, including rebuilding the village, and entertaining the miners, before the bad man returned. The film ends with the joyful marriage of the Chinese traveling entertainer to one of the locals....... It was also nice to see and hear the famous character actor Edgar Buchanan, in a small inconsequential role. Lots of telling facial closeups, especially of Fonda, Ray, and Molly, but also some of the others...........Give it a shaky 6.