The Hunting Party

• Directed by Don Medford
• July 16, 1971

A cattle baron with a long-range rifle hunts the outlaw that kidnapped his wife.

Oliver Reed and Gene Hackman in a Western together?? Both were engaging actors indicating that The Hunting Party could be something quite special. Gene Hackman plays Brandt Ruger, a powerful local cattle baron who is a sadist with a strong sense of entitlement while Oliver Reed is Frank Calder, an outlaw who also possesses a sense of honor and some guiding principles. Neither is saintly but only one is socially acceptable based on circumstances.

Right away Ruger’s character is clearly demonstrated. Not only is he shown raping his wife but that is followed by him abusing a prostitute with a cigar. Generally he treats those around him like garbage but in true human fashion they stick with him.

The film’s title is derived from Ruger and pals being on a hunting trip that involves as much alcohol and Asian hookers as it does the use of the advanced scope equipped hunting rifle. Calder runs afoul of Ruger when he decides to kidnap Ruger’s wife Melissa (Candice Bergen) so he can learn to read.

Not that their time together does Calder any favors as a character. He uses psychology to break Melissa’s will and pull her to him. In the beginning Calder treats Melissa no better than Ruger has. That would have been fine but writers Gilbert Ralston, William W. Norton, and Lou Morheim develop a romance between the two devoid of any analysis of how his initial rape or psychological manipulation broke her. This is a big issue with me as it should be with anyone.

While all that is going on Ruger and his compatriots hunt Calder and his gang like big game. That includes his wife whom he assumes will be made ‘unworthy’ of being his wife by Calder’s men. His people balk at the idea but follow along anyway. I think their lack of character or decency never gets analyzed. Not enough anyway.

This is most certainly a revisionist Western with characters starting out as various shades of terrible. Calder is a violent criminal while Ruger is an abusive and violent individual. What this gets right is that neither is so dysfunctional or so terrible that you are asking how they can lead others or exist in their worlds. Ruger can be charming and superficially nice enough to let a person’s defenses down. Calder has an intelligence of charisma and even loyalty that humanizes him beyond being a brute.

One of the points of this movie is how both sexism and obsession are destructive. Not just to the individual but to anyone involved. Not only are all of Calder’s men taken out along the way Ruger loses people as well. Melissa has a very biased view of Calder intellectually.

We follow the growing relationship between Calder and Melissa as they struggle to survive against Ruger’s growing destructive obsession. I expected some type of happy ending with at least some survivors in some way. Not to reveal too much, but nobody makes it out of this alive and I guess that’s the point.

Before the credits you get all involved pursuing their goals without even understanding why anymore. Ruger must kill Calder and Melissa even when all is lost. Calder and Melissa keep trekking to their destination on foot through forbidding terrain when there is no point. 

I can’t say I was wowed by The Hunting Party, but it was better than I expected. Reed gave a layered performance and Bergen’s turn from angry prisoner to reluctantly attracted in something that should raise questions shows excellent acting ability. Hackman as always was in fine form playing a jerk.

Would I watch The Hunting Party again? Not sure though it was acted well enough and enjoyable enough with the performances that it at least remains favorable in my mind.