Naman Tucker

"Oh shoot!"

- Naman Tucker Sergeant Naman Tucker is one of the main antagonists of Joe Camp's 1976 comedy-slapstick film Hawmps?, alongside Bad Jack Cutter.

He was portrayed by the late Slim Pickens.

Role
When Clemmons and Tibbs later discuss the project at the saloon, they are accosted by Tucker, who is outraged his troopers did not receive the Arabian horses. A drunken Clemmons slides under the table as the two sergeants fight. The next day, the camels arrive, but the troops ride their horses back to the fort in disgust, leaving Clemmons to deal with the camels. Hi Jolly, an Arab camel trainer, reports to Clemmons and as they herd camels through town, horses stampede in fright, ladies scream and dogs bark in fear. A wagon overturns, and a barrel splits open covering Hawkins’s daughter, Jennifer, in molasses. Hawkins berates Clemmons for the damage and plans to cancel the project, but Clemmons declares that the orders came from Jefferson Davis, the Secretary of War. That night, Jennifer sneaks into Clemmons’s room, pours a small crock of molasses over his head, and declares them even before inviting him to afternoon tea. The next day, Hi Jolly gives his first lesson in camel care as Tucker rides up and insults Tibbs’s men. Clemmons warns Tucker that if he insults the camel corps again, Clemmons will put him on report and transfer him into the camel project. To the cheers of Tibbs’s men, Tucker apologizes and rides away.

That night, the men bet Tucker he cannot lasso a camel. When Tucker lands the rope around the camel’s neck, the beast runs in panic, dragging Tucker behind. The next morning, the camel returns, still dragging Tucker, bleeding and bruised.

Sometime later, Hi Jolly is injured in a barroom brawl and cannot ride. Before the race, Jennifer gives Clemmons a thick book on camels and kisses him. Hawkins fires a cannon and the race is on. Tucker’s horses outpace Clemmons’s camels, but within a few days, Clemmons’ men catch up. However, Clemmons learns from Corporal Leroy that Tucker and his men are captured by an outlaw, Bad Jack Cutter, at Dagger’s Point. Clemmons insists on rescuing Tucker and his men. Along the way, Clemmons and Tibbs capture two other outlaws, steal their clothes and horses, then ride into town in disguise to meet Cutter, agreeing to join his gang. Later, they find Tucker and his men in jail and try to pull out the window bars using a horse. When the horse fails, a camel demolishes the entire jail. Tucker and his men run, leaving Tibbs and Clemmons to face the outlaws alone. A gunfight ensues but Clemmons’ men ride in on camelback, rescuing their leaders, and ride off before the outlaws can get to their horses.

Later, Clemmons’ troop races past Tucker and his men’s exhausted horses outside Dos Rios. As Clemmons celebrates his victory, a telegram arrives from Washington, D.C., reporting that Congress has approved construction of the trans-continental railroad and the camel project is therefore unnecessary. Clemmons is ordered to turn the camels loose, but Tibbs and the men protest, concerned that the camels will perish in the American desert.