The Professionals

By 1966, westerns were changing. The rise of the spaghetti western had introduced a grittier image of the old west than people had seen in John Wayne's movies. "The Professionals" still has traces of the old-style westerns - namely in the casting of Jack Palance as a Mexican - but leans more towards the new direction that the genre was taking. It was especially surprising to see a Hollywood western wherein two of the white protagonists fought under Pancho Villa's command, since the US was used to seeing Villa not as a principled revolutionary but rather as a wild bandit.

Richard Brooks's movie is not a masterpiece to the degree of "Once Upon a Time in the West", "Little Big Man" or "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (which showed how the conglomerates in the old west had no qualms about crushing anyone who stood up to them), but it's certainly an impressive piece of work: the acting, direction, cinematography, editing and score all added up to some fun. And besides, how can you not admire the sight of Claudia Cardinale?