The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Seven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.

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 | hamlet | corn | remake | 

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Taglines:

They were seven - And they fought like seven hundred!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Composer John Williams was a member of the orchestra that recorded Elmer Bernstein's score; he played the piano.

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Goofs

In some prints, Natividad Vacío who plays Miguel, is listed as playing Tomas, while John A. Alonzo (billed as John Alonso) who plays Tomas, is listed as playing Miguel.

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Quotes

Chris: You heard of anything?
Vin: Just shooing some flies away from a Mexican village, but I can't find out what it pays.
Chris: Twenty dollars.
Vin: A week?
Vin: Six weeks.
Vin: Oh, that's ridiculous. Have you heard of anything?
Chris: Yeah. Shooing away some flies from a Mexican village. Theirs.
Vin: That wouldn't even pay for my bullets.
Villager: We understand. You could make much more in a grocery store. And it would be good, steady work.
Chris: [Sarcastically] Yeah.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

And Introducing Horst Buchholz

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Alternate Versions

The German theatrical release differs from the German VHS video in the scene where the magnificent seven have been taken by surprise and have to put down their weapons on the table. Chico is the last one and stands in enragement. In the theatrical version he then nevertheless unstraps his belt like the others. In the VHS video version Chris jumps at Chico just in that moment when he wants to pull the gun. Chris takes his gun and puts it on desk. Then Chico unstraps his belt.

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Connections

Featured in The Ultimate Film (2004)

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Soundtracks

The Magnificent Seven Theme
Written by Elmer Bernstein

User Reviews

About as good as remakes get

I recently subjected "The Magnificent Seven" to just about the toughest test imaginable--I watched it just a few days after "Seven Samurai." And while I'm not going to pretend it's on par with Kurosawa's astounding masterpiece, I have to tip my hat to Hollywood on this one: it's good, DAMN good, among the best American Westerns.

The focus of the screenplay is more on post-Bogart-pre-Eastwood cool banter than the gradual, taciturn character development of "Seven Samurai," but that doesn't mean that the film doesn't have a heart. Considering it clocks in at barely over two hours (compared to the marathonic three and a half of "Samurai"), it actually does a fantastic and very economical job of fleshing out its memorable cast of characters.

One particularly wonderful scene that stuck in my memory from the first time I saw the film ten years ago is the one where Lee (Robert Vaughn), drunk in the middle of the night, confesses his frailties and fear to two of the farmers. The scene (along with the general story of these down-and-out heroes) was groundbreaking in that it began the deconstruction and deromanticization of the Western hero which would be brought to fruition in Sergio Leone's unparalleled spaghetti Westerns.

The star-studded cast wouldn't hold up doing Shakespeare, but they're ideal in this gunslinging, cool-talking tough-guy adventure. As if a lineup of heroes that included Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn wasn't enough, Eli Wallach steals the show as the Mexican bandit chief, a worthy precursor to his classic role "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." If the screenplay has a major flaw, it's that his character isn't featured more.

The score is, of course, one of the all-time classics. And while not as alive visually as the Japanese film that inspired it or the Italian Westerns it influenced, it's still mighty fine to look at, and the gunfights don't disappoint.

The pieces add up to one of the great entertaining films of all time, which still manages to be moving and morally aware despite its Hollywoodization of Kurosawa's vision.

Details

Official Sites:

MGM - Former Official Site.

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

12 October 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Magnificent Seven

Filming Locations:

State of Morelos, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Mirisch Company, Alpha Productions, Alpha

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1