The Magnificent Seven (1960)

An oppressed Mexican peasant village hires seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

William Roberts (screenplay)

Stars:

Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yul Brynner	...	Chris Larabee Adams
Eli Wallach	...	Calvera
Steve McQueen	...	Vin Tanner
Horst Buchholz	...	Chico
Charles Bronson	...	Bernardo O'Reilly
Robert Vaughn	...	Lee
Brad Dexter	...	Harry Luck
James Coburn	...	Britt
Jorge Martínez de Hoyos	...	Hilario (as Jorge Martinez de Hoyas)
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Old Man
Rosenda Monteros	...	Petra
Rico Alaniz	...	Sotero
Pepe Hern	...	Tomas
Natividad Vacío	...	Villager (as Natividad Vacio)
Mario Navarro	...	Boy with O'Reilly

Storyline

A bandit terrorizes a small Mexican farming village each year. Several of the village elders send three of the farmers into the United States to search for gunmen to defend them. They end up with seven, each of whom comes for a different reason. They must prepare the town to repulse an army of thirty bandits who will arrive wanting food.

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Plot Keywords:

friendship | showdown | remake | cowboy hat | village | 

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Taglines:

Once You've Met Them...You'll Never Forget Them.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

MGM - Former Official Site.

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

23 November 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les 7 mercenaires

Filming Locations:

State of Morelos, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Company, The, Alpha Productions, Alpha

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sterling Hayden was originally supposed to play the knife expert, Britt. Hayden dropped out for unknown reasons, so John Sturges sent out an extensive casting call. Robert Vaughn (Lee) recommended his old schoolmate and friend James Coburn for the role. Vaughn and Coburn helped each other get roles throughout the rest of Coburn's life.

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Goofs

During the final battle we see Bernardo slumping off a roof, onto a clay-tiled awning, and then crouching behind a brick wall. We next see him when he shoots a guy who is about to mount a horse. The guy ends up with blood only on the back of his shirt. If Bernardo shot him in the back we should see either Bernardo, the clay-tiled awning or the short brick wall in the background. If Bernardo shot him from any other angle there should be blood on the front or sides of the guy, not just on the back.

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Quotes

Harry Luck: The odds are too high.
Chris: Much too high.
Harry Luck: Then we go?
Chris: No; we lower the odds.

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Crazy Credits

And Introducing Horst Buchholz

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Connections

Referenced in Cheers: The Magnificent Six (1992)

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Soundtracks

The Magnificent Seven Theme
Written by Elmer Bernstein

User Reviews

Yul Is Cool!

This is considered one of the all-time great westerns: a real classic, and I can't argue. I've seen a number of faster-moving and better westerns but few with a cast this good that's still entertaining. I never get tired of seeing the stars in this movie. How often are actors like Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Eli Wallach boring.....or all in the same movie? Not too often. Throw in Robert Vaughn and Horst Buchholz and you have a memorable cast.

As "cool" as McQueen was in his day, in this film Brynner was the "coolest" guy. Just the intense look on his face with those piercing eyes and deep voice command attention whenever he's on screen. Meanwhile, nobody but nobody played a Mexican villain better than Wallach.

The "good guys" in this classic movie are all professional killers and show their human side by admitting their weaknesses and the emptiness of their profession. No one says it better here than Bronson, who gives a couple of very powerful "sermons" to some young boys.

A solid western and a pretty famous theme song, too! It's also another good example of showing some real tough guys who can be convincing without profanity. Can you imagine the dialog if this film was re-made today?!