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:

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

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

As Chris and Vin drive the hearse to Boot Hill, they pass a storefront with the name P. Garrett over the door. Pat Garrett was the lawman who killed Billy the Kid.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, when Calvera is complaining about religion, he takes the cup to drink in his left hand. As he sits at the table and finishes complaining, the cup is switches to his right hand.

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Quotes

Calvera: Last month we were in San Juan. Rich town. Sit down. Rich town, much blessed by God. Big church. Not like here - little church, priest comes twice a year. BIG one. You'd think we'd find gold candlesticks. Poor box filled to overflowing. Do you know what we found? Brass candlesticks. Almost nothing in the poor box.
Sidekick: But we took it anyway.
Calvera: I KNOW we took it anyway. I'm trying to show him how little religion some people now have.

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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

Referenced in Death Rides a Horse (1967)

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Soundtracks

The Magnificent Seven Theme
Written by Elmer Bernstein

User Reviews

A brilliant classic, beautifully scored, shot and acted.

A wonderful classic beautifully scored and shot.

There are so many moody looks between characters, and little movements or idiosyncrasies that just make each of the gunmen seem so real. Apparently, there were big egos behind the camera that caused these acts of showmanship, but unlike most films where the egos clash, here they just build the characters up without harming them.

Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen are just wonderful, and James Coburn and Charles Bronson both put in equal performances. There's just nothing about this film that you can fault, the script is kept light when required and the stunning score lifts up and the acting is huge but never too much. This is a must see…again and again.

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