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.

---

Plot Keywords:

friendship | showdown | arizona territory | reference to tombstone arizona | mercenary | 

---

Taglines:

They were seven - And they fought like seven hundred!

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Western

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

MGM - Former Official Site.

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

23 November 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Siete hombres y un destino

Filming Locations:

State of Morelos, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$4,905,000

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:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Walter Bernstein did the original adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's film (Seven Samurai (1954)) but it wasn't used. Walter Newman wrote the screenplay that is substantially what you see on screen.

---

Goofs

Steve McQueen wears Levi jeans with the famous red tab. These were introduced in the 1930's. Decades after the setting of this movie.

---

Quotes

[Calvera has just captured the Seven]
Calvera: What I don't understand is why a man like you took the job in the first place, hmm? Why, huh?
Chris: I wonder myself.
Calvera: No, come on, come on, tell me why.
Vin: It's like a fellow I once knew in El Paso. One day, he just took all his clothes off and jumped in a mess of cactus. I asked him that same question, "Why?"
Calvera: And?
Vin: He said, "It seemed to be a good idea at the time."

---

Crazy Credits

And Introducing Horst Buchholz

---

Connections

Referenced in Supernatural: The Magnificent Seven (2007)

---

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?!