Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)

A Mexican revolutionary hires an American gunslinger to organize the rescue of their leader from a brutal Army prison.

Director:

Paul Wendkos

Writer:

Herman Hoffman

Stars:

George Kennedy, James Whitmore, Monte Markham

Cast

Complete credited cast:
George Kennedy	...	Chris
James Whitmore	...	Levi
Monte Markham	...	Keno
Reni Santoni	...	Max
Bernie Casey	...	Cassie
Scott Thomas	...	P.J.
Joe Don Baker	...	Slater
Tony Davis	...	Emil
Michael Ansara	...	Col. Diego
Frank Silvera	...	Lobero
Wende Wagner	...	Tina
Sancho Gracia	...	Miguel
Luis Rivera	...	Lt. Prensa
George Rigaud	...	Gabriel (as Jorge Rigaud)
Fernando Rey	...	Quintero

Storyline

A Mexican revolutionary hires an American gunslinger to organize the rescue of their leader from a brutal Army prison.

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Plot Keywords:

sonora mexico | one armed gunfighter | two gun holster | gun holster | double gun holster | 

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Taglines:

The Magnificent Seven are back - and they don't aim to please.

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Genres:

Action | Western

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

1 August 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

Revolveri sedmorice veličastvenih

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Mirisch Production Company, The Mirisch Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Executive Producer Walter Mirisch felt that in the unpredictable market of filmgoers, there was safety in familiar material.

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Goofs

Playing cards in the bar scene where the Seven are gambling with one another have numbers. The playing cards of the Old West did not have the number printed on them, only the symbols.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Col. Diego: Where is the meeting?
Tortured Prisoner: In the church.
Col. Diego: Is Quintero with them?
Tortured Prisoner: Yes.

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Connections

Follows The Magnificent Seven (1960)

User Reviews

The third in the original series of four "Magnificent Seven" movies and shot in marvelous Spanish outdoors

¨Guns of the magnificent seven¨ (Paul Wendkos,1969) with George Kennedy is a thrilling and truly thunderous sequel next to original and considered to be one of the best . Acceptable following co-produced by US/Spain and filmed in Almeria , Andalucía and Hoyo de Manzanares's Western-film town , Madrid , where were shot lots of Paella/Spaghetti Westerns in the 60s and 70s . This is the third in the original series of four "Magnificent Seven" movies , as The magnificent Seven are back and they don't aim to please . This sequel to ¨Magnificent seven¨ is well played George Kennedy as tough gunslinger named Chris who along a misfit group of gunslingers , all of them set off in rescue a Mexican revolutionary . As one day soldiers of the dictator Porfirio Diaz capture a rebel leader called Quintero (Fernando Rey) . His deputy (Reni Santoni) offers a reward to free Quintero and he sets out to look for Chris , the leader of The Seven for help . Chris is decided to take a squad and strike a blow against the Mexican army and free the captured leader of the revolutionaries . To carry out this assignment Chris has to join a misfit bunch of gunfighters . As Chris and his buddies (James Whitmore , Monte Markham , Bernie Casey , Scott Thomas , Joe Don Baker) , each of whom comes for a different reason , must free a Mexican revolutionary imprisoned by nasty Col. Diego (Michael Ansara) . All of them riding to the rescue of yet another bunch of downtrodden evil people and , at the same time , they get a chance to redeem themselves . Later on , the team develops a plan to secure an enemy attack and to pull off their mission against a fort strongly defended .

Chris character was played by Yul Brynner in two occasions and one performed by Lee Van Cleef and George Kennedy . Brynner as a two-fisted Pistolero was 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 . Despite bearing no resemblance to Yul Brynner, including a full head of hair , George Kennedy and subsequently Lee Van Cleef took over the role of Chris Adams , played by Brynner in the first two films . Even Chris Adams' trademark dark clothing is gone , what remains is the steel resolve and affinity for cigars . Here George Kennedy as Chris is pretty well , giving a forceful interpretation . Besides , Monte Markham as well as James Withmore are unexpectedly lithe and other gunslingers are quite well defined . The remaining cast is a great help and they hold the picture together when it looks disintegrate after a promising start as did other follow-ups in the series . Wonderful ensemble cast playing unforgettable , moving roles with nice performers such as Monte Markham , Joe Don Baker , Frank Silvera , Reni Santoni and feature film debut of Bernie Casie . Being a Spanish/US co-production , there appears several actors usual in Spaghetti-Paella Western such as the Spanish Sancho Gracia , Jorge Rigaud and Fernando Rey playing his ordinary role as a good man . Rey is the only actor besides Yul Brynner to appear in two Magnificent Seven films , as he also played a priest in Return of the magnificent seven (1966) . The story is similar to previous entry , including customary outlaw band formed by an eclectic gang with diverse characters as well as speciality , as dynamite or guns . The film gets action Western , exciting riding , shootouts , it's fun and entertaining , although nothing new but displays a slight style . Despite the familiar framework of the screenplay , the interesting dialog is studded with memorably quotable lines and the flick arranges to raise some fresh entertainment from the vintage tale of the septet of Pistoleros . The movie contains some moment of violence and even touching on the relationships between the Mexican villagers and the Magnificent . Colorful as well as sharp cinematography in Panavision and Color DeLuxe by Antonio Macasoli , being filmed on location in Colmenar Viejo , and , of course , Almeria , Spain . As always , breathtaking and memorable musical score by Elmer Bernstein ; 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' . The classic and stirring soundtrack helps highlight the action in the exciting climax . The motion picture was professionally directed by Paul Wendkos , whose works remain undervalued in USA .

This is a decent though inferior sequel to the original and enduringly popular ¨The magnificent seven¨( John Sturges,1960) that is equally remake of ¨The seven samurais¨ (Akira Kurosawa) . After that , followed ¨The return of the seven¨(Burt Kennedy,1966), again with Brynner and and ¨The Magnificent seven ride¨ with Lee Van Cleef by George McCowan and continued with a TV series and a Television movie realized in 1998 . Although this film revisits the village from the first movie, it was shot in Spain , not Mexico and for once doesn't disgrace the original . 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 .