Seven Men from Now (1956)

A former sheriff blames himself for his wife's death during a Wells Fargo robbery and vows to track down and kill the seven men responsible.

Director:

Budd Boetticher

Writer:

Burt Kennedy (original story and screenplay)

Stars:

Randolph Scott, Gail Russell, Lee Marvin

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Randolph Scott	...	Ben Stride
Gail Russell	...	Annie Greer
Lee Marvin	...	Bill Masters
Walter Reed	...	John Greer
John Larch	...	Payte Bodeen
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Clete (as Donald Barry)
Fred Graham	...	Henchman
John Beradino	...	Clint
John Phillips	...	Jed
Chuck Roberson	...	Mason
Stuart Whitman	...	Cavalry Lt. Collins
Pamela Duncan	...	Señorita Nellie
Steve Mitchell	...	Fowler
Cliff Lyons	...	Henchman
Fred Sherman	...	The Prospector

Storyline

Ex-sheriff Ben Stride tracks the seven men who held up a Wells Fargo office and killed his wife. Stride is tormented by the fact that his own failure to keep his job was the cause of his wife's working in the express office and thus he is partly responsible for her death. Stride encounters a married couple heading west for California and helps them. Along the way they are joined by two n'er-do-wells, Masters and Clete, who know that Stride is after the express-office robbers. They plan to let Stride lead them to the bandits, then make away with the loot themselves. But they aren't the only ones carrying a secret.

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Plot Keywords:

wells fargo | sheriff | outlaw | colt .45 | redemption | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

7 Men from Now

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Batjac Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was rarely seen for decades, occasionally being shown at film festivals, until it was released on DVD as a restored, "Special Collectors Edition" nearly 50 years after its theatrical release.

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Goofs

The man dragged by the horse looks nothing like Randolph Scott.

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Quotes

Jed: You must've rode a long way.
Ben Stride: I walked.
Jed: Ain't you got no horse?
Ben Stride: Did have. Chirichua jumped me about ten mile back.
Jed: They stole 'em?
Ben Stride: They ate him.

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Connections

Referenced in Collateral Damage (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Seven Men From Now"
by 'By' Dunham (as By Dunham) and Henry Vars

User Reviews

Outstanding western, Scott and Marvin are great.

Seven Men is a film much more about three men (Scott, Marvin, and Walter Reed) and a woman (Gail Russel), than about the seven men that have to be killed because in a shootout during a robbery they killed Scott's wife. Greer (Walter Reed) is apparently a weak man, he is described by Marvin as half a man, and Scott in a dialog with Greer's wife Annie (Russell), is doubtful of her love for Greer. Marvin is a man that lives by a Darwinian code, survival of the fittest, but with no morals attached. He is attracted to Annie, but knows that to him she is unreachable. Scott ranks well in Marvin's code, Marvin respects him because he is fit to survive, but Scott does not do well in his own code. The problem is that when in the past he was not reelected sheriff, he was too proud to take a job as a deputy. His wife had to become the provider by taking a job at Wells Fargo, where she was killed. Scott cannot forgive himself for that. Finding a job was also a problem for Greer, that is why he is going on a wagon to California. Lee Marvin is a great villain and Gail Russel quite a presence. This is a western that catches you off guard, a story that might be conventional, but presented in a unique, personal way.