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The Magnificent Seven (1960)

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

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(screenplay)
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Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Lee
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Jorge Martínez de Hoyos ...
Hilario (as Jorge Martinez de Hoyas)
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Pepe Hern ...
Tomas
Natividad Vacío ...
Villager (as Natividad Vacio)
Mario Navarro ...
Boy with O'Reilly
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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. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Once You've Met Them...You'll Never Forget Them. See more »


Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

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Details

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Release Date:

23 November 1960 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Les 7 mercenaires  »

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Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$4,905,000
See more on IMDbPro »

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Technical Specs

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(Westrex Recording System)

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2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Three members of the seven, James Coburn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz, died less than four months after one another; Coburn on November 18, 2002, Dexter on December 12, 2002, followed by Buchholz on March 3, 2003. See more »

Goofs

The whistle Bernardo gives to the little girl DOES have a fipple, but he turns it down when he blows into it. You can just see it as he finishes making the whistle. See more »

Quotes

Henry: This man needs to be buried. And soon. He's not turning into any nosegay.
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Crazy Credits

And Introducing Horst Buchholz See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Jaws Wired Shut (2002) See more »

Soundtracks

The Magnificent Seven Theme
Written by Elmer Bernstein
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Frequently Asked Questions

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User Reviews

 
Mexican peasants hire an American gunslinger to organize the defense their village against brutal bandit Calvera
15 November 2013 | by See all my reviews

This is the original from known series formed by four "Magnificent Seven" movies . This classic ¨Magnificent seven¨ is well played Yul Brynner as a tough gunslinger named Chris who along with Steve McQueen , and their group set off in rescue some Mexican villagers . One day a bandit called Calvera (Elli Wallach) comes and takes most of crops and foods from a Mexican village , then the oppressed Mexican peasant villagers assemble seven gunfighters to help defend their homes . They set out to look for Chris, the leader of The Seven for help . Chris is decided to take a group and strike a blow against the Mexican bandits . Chris also meets Vin (Steve McQueen) and both of whom reunite a motley group . They find four other men (Robert Vaughn , Brad Dexter , James Coburn , Charles Bronson) and along with the young unexperienced Chico (Horst Buchhold) set out to carry out their mission . As Chris and his buddies , each of whom comes for a different reason , must free a Mexican village attacked by nasty outlaws who are devastating the small location . All of them get a chance to redeem themselves . Later on , the group develops a plan to secure the villagers defend it against enemy attack .

Chris character was compellingly played by Yul Brynner in two occasions and one performed by Lee Van Cleef and George Kennedy . Brynner as a two-fisted pistolero is very good ; in fact , it was Yul Brynner who approached producer Walter Mirisch with the idea of doing a Western adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's classic, The seven Samurais. However , in the sequel ¨The Return of the Magnificent Seven¨ Yul insisted he would only make this film if Steve McQueen was not involved , McQueen felt the plot was too absurd and for this, and other reasons, was not interested anyway . The story is classic and traditional , following its interesting premise in subsequent sequels , including customary misfit band formed by an eclectic gang with diverse characters as well as speciality . The film gets action Western , exciting riding, shootouts , it's fun and entertaining , although nothing new , being a remake from a famous Japanese picture , but displays a slight style . The movie contains some moment of violence and even touching on the relationships between the villagers and the Magnificent . Walter Bernstein did the original adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's film , The seven Samurais , but it wasn't used ; Walter Newman wrote the screenplay that is substantially what you see on screen. Very good support cast, including notorious actors playing The Magnificent , as Robert Vaughn recommended his old schoolmate and friend James Coburn for the role. Although George Peppard was first considered for the role of Vin and Gene Wilder also auditioned. Sterling Hayden and John Ireland were originally supposed to play the knife expert, Britt. There appears several Mexican actors such as Rosenda Monteros , Enrique Lucero , Jorge Martinez Hoyos , Alex Montoya and usual Western players , such as Robert J. Wilke , Val Avery and Whit Bissell . Breathtaking and memorable musical score by Elmer Berstein ; Elmer , whose score for this movie is one of the best-known ever composed, also wrote the soundtrack for the parody of this film, 'Three amigos'. Even the great composer John Williams was a member of the orchestra that recorded Elmer Bernstein's score; he played the piano . Appropriate as well as glowing cinematography by expert cameraman Charles Lang . Being filmed on location in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Tepoztlan , Durango, Churubusco , Mexico . However , the sequel was shot in Almeria , Spain ; is among the many reasons were the difficulties that occurred between the American filmmakers and the Mexican crew and government censors during the shooting of the first film ; even Mexican censors required the peasants to always be wearing clean clothes.

This is a superior and enduringly popular film , this ¨The magnificent seven¨( John Sturges,1960) is equally remake of ¨The seven samurais¨ (Akira Kurosawa) . After that , followed ¨The return of the seven¨(Burt Kennedy,1966), again with Yul Brynner with other surviving members of The Seven as Jordan Christopher , Claude Akins , Robert Fuller , Julian Mateos , Emilio Fernandez , Rodolfo Acosta . It was followed by ¨Guns of the magnificent seven¨ (Paul Wendkos,1969) with George Kennedy as Chris , James Whitmore , Monte Markham , Reni Santoni , Bernie Casey and Joe Don Baker and finally ¨The Magnificent seven ride¨ by George McCowan with Lee Van Cleef as Chris , James B. Sikking , Ralph Waite , William Lucking , and continued with a TV series and a Television movie realized in 1998 , being also produced by Walter Mirish , as usual . The motion picture was stunningly directed directed by John Sturges . This good Western is a Yul Brynner vehicle , if you like his particular performance ,you'll enjoy this one .


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