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The Magnificent Seven (1960)
In director John Sturges' very popular, shoot-em-up
western, with a memorable, Oscar-nominated score by Elmer Bernstein
- it was a westernized, 'updated' remake and adaptation of Akira
Kurosawa's Japanese film epic The Seven Samurai (1954) about
Samurai warrior-swordsmen that defended a 14th century village.
The box-office "feel-good" hit
inspired three sequels (1966, 1969, 1972) and a remake in 2016, and
a late 1990s TV series. The sequels were Return of the Seven
(1966), Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969), and The Magnificent
Seven Ride! (1972).
The ensemble film was mostly a character study of the
seven demythologized gunslingers, all basically drifters who came
together to serve as a vigilante force to protect a terrorized Mexican
town and its oppressed peasant villagers from invading and pillaging
bandits. The "magnificent
seven" group were mostly low-paid, misfit, macho, mercenary
gun-slinging American outlaws.
There was a mixed
bag of motives for each of the gunfighters to accept the job - greed
or fortune seeking (thoughts of a possible treasure), a chance at
employment, to seek sanctuary or protection from the law, moral and
social conscience issues, and just plain adventurism.
- in the film's opening, ruthless gold-toothed, Mexican
bandit leader Calvera (Eli Wallach) with his 40-man bandito gang,
again terrorized and raided the small Mexican town of Ixcatlan
seeking food and supplies; they made annual raids at the end-of-season
harvest-time and regularly intimidated, plundered and oppressed
the poverty-stricken peasant folk; during the marauding attack,
one rural peasant villager objected and ran at Calvera with a machete
and was shot dead
- fed up with the latest raid, the village elder (Vladimir
Sokoloff) (credited as The Old Man) suggested to a three-man delegation
that the village must fight back and purchase or barter for guns
for their defense in the nearest American border town; when one
of the three peasants, Hilario (Jorge Martínez
de Hoyos) pleaded: "Even if we had the guns, we know how to plant and grow, we don't
know how to kill," the Old Man responded: "Then learn, or die!"
- in a border town, the three villagers watched as
the undertaker Chamlee (Whit Bissell) explained how no one
would drive the mortician's valuable hearse carrying the body of
an Indian named Sam to the nearby Boot Hill Cemetery for burial
- everyone was intimidated by racist and bigoted individuals in
town; two gunslingers - black-clad Cajun leader and veteran Chris
Adams (Yul Brynner) from Dodge City, and drifter Vin (Steve McQueen)
as his shot-gun partner quickly volunteered for the job; Vin outdrew
a shooter from an upstairs window in town, but then they faced
a "reception committee" of five men formed at the cemetery; when
the two were threatened and ordered to turn around, a brief shoot-out
broke out and quick-draw Chris shot two of the resistant men in
the arm; six men were quickly selected to carry the coffin into
the graveyard, without any further trouble
- after witnessing the altercation and the impressive
performance of Chris and Vin, the three Mexican peasants from the
town of Ixcatlan approached him and requested that Chris buy weapons
for them to defend their village from Calvera; as a cheaper alternative
to guns and ammunition, Chris advised that they hire a mercenary
group of gunslingers: ("Guns are very expensive and hard to get....Nowadays,
men are cheaper than guns"); the villagers claimed they were too
poor to pay anything more than $20 dollars for 6 weeks' work; without
volunteering himself to fight, Chris reluctantly agreed to help
them recruit a group of "good men" - gunmen
- [Note: Later Chris described the job simply as: "A gold eagle, room
and board. Six weeks gunning for some farmers."]
Six Recruited Men Hired by Chris Adams (Yul Brynner) to Defend Village
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Harry Luck (Brad Dexter)
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Vin Tanner (Steve McQueen)
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Bernardo O'Reilly (Charles Bronson)
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Britt (James Coburn)
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Lee (Robert Vaughn)
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Chico (Horst Buchholz)
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- the first individual to be considered was Chico
(Horst Buchholz), a young, impetuous vulnerable and hot-tempered
man from a peasant family, but was inexperienced
as a gunslinger; he was initially rejected after being tested by
Chris for his lack of speed, who remarked when Chico failed: "The
graveyards are full of boys who were very young and very proud"
- the next to join was Harry Luck (Brad Dexter),
who was skeptically hopeful about what was really being offered
- speculating about some hidden benefits: ("Gold? Cattle? Payroll?")
- in the bar, Vin had just gone broke from gambling
on craps, and couldn't support himself on $20 dollars for 6 weeks
(with room and board), but quickly added himself to the group when
Chris bought him a drink
- out behind a farm owner's house, Bernardo O'Reilly
(Charles Bronson) - who had fallen on hard times and was broke
- was chopping wood for his breakfast, and felt like $20 dollars
was a good deal
- in one of the film's most impressive sequences,
silent but deadly knife-thrower cowboy Britt (James Coburn) was
challenged to two knife-versus-gun, fast-draw face-offs with hot-headed,
haughty gunman Wallace (Robert J. Wilke); during their second deadly
contest, Wallace ended up the loser with a knife in his chest -
unable to draw faster than Britt. Immediately afterwards, Chris
asked to recruit Britt into their team: ("Can l have a
word with you?") and shortly later Britt gave his consent
- the last of the group of six to join was Lee (Robert
Vaughn) who was "on the run" and agreed to participate; Chris told
Vin about him: "He's a good gun. And we aren't heading for a church
social"
- in summary, the various members of the group were identified as they joined the team -
- Harry Luck, a greedy and cynical,
jovial treasure-seeker/gold-hunter
- Vin Tanner, an easy-going gambler/drifter, broke
and restless, but refused to work as a grocery store clerk
- Bernardo O'Reilly,
a brawny, Irish-Mexican wood-worker and war veteran, broke,
a friend of Harry's; "Mexican on one side, Irish on the other,
and me in the middle"
- Britt, an enigmatic loner, a
knife-thrower and cow-puncher
- Lee, a well-dressed, dapper,
destitute and traumatized veteran and fugitive after losing
his nerve during the war and becoming a deserter; suffering from
nightmares and guilt
- the resolute, previously-rejected, young and
hot-headed Chico (Horst Buchholz) from a peasant family - he
followed after the group as they rode toward the village with
the three-man village delegation; Chris was impressed by Chico's
continuing determination ("won't take no for an answer")
and invited him to join the group - making them "The Magnificent
Seven"
- as the group rode into the Mexican village, it was
eerily quiet, without any women and children visible; one of villagers
in the 3-man delegation accused his fellow villagers of being fearful
cowards and the Old Man agreed: "They are afraid of everyone and
everything"; Chico also called the villagers "chickens" - "We're
ready to risk our lives to help you. And you? You hide from us!";
then he challenged them to join the group: "You prove to us that
you're worth fighting for....We'll let you know when to fight and
how to fight"
- Britt and Lee were sent by Chris to apprehend three
of Calvera's gang members nearby who were scouting in an arroyo,
but Chico botched the plan to bring one of them back alive by
killing one of the men; Britt was forced to kill a second man,
and then as the third escaped on horseback, he shot him from a
long distance, but felt like he didn't deserve compliments from Chico: ("That was
the greatest shot I've ever seen") - Britt retorted: "The
worst! I was aiming at the horse"
- during preparations for an upcoming showdown with the outlaws, the 'Seven" trained
the villagers to defend themselves; they taught
them how to properly pull a trigger on a gun or rifle, and had them
build a fortifications-rock wall and an entrapping drop-net
- Chico discovered the reason for the absence of women
when he was being spied upon by one of the local peasant
girls named Petra (Rosenda Monteros) as he was mock bull-fighting;
he learned the females were deliberately hidden away to prevent them
from being raped by the group of seven gunslingers; Chris assured
them that they were defending them, and ordered them brought back
to the village; soon after, Chico and Petra fell in love with each
other although it was frowned upon by her father
The Approach of the Banditos
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Mexican Bandit Leader Calvera (Eli Wallach)
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Beginning of Shoot-Out
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- in one of the more dramatic scenes, Calvera rode
into the village with members of his marauding gang of 40 men (his
approach was signaled by sentries along the way); he was undeterred
by the sole presence of Chris, Britt and Vin who greeted him and
his men in the village square; it was the first of two initial
deadly skirmishes (before the final confrontational shoot-out)
- Chris warned Calvera that the newly-built rock walls were not made to keep them
out, but to keep them inside, but the leader was unphased: ("Did
you hear that? We're trapped! All forty of us! By these three,
or is it four?"); Chris suggested that if Calvera would "ride on"
there wouldn't be any trouble; Calvera offered Chris to share the spoils of the
town ("Suppose I offer you equal shares?...Everything. To
the last grain"), but was soundly rejected; Calvera even insulted
the villagers: "If God didn't want them sheared, he would not have
made them sheep"; the townsfolk and gunslingers opened fire on the banditos, and used
the nets to entrap them; after they fled, shortly later, the bandits
counted up eleven of their gang dead
- after scaring off the marauders, the villagers were
exultant about their newfound courage ("There are other villages...that don't sting
the way we do"), but prematurely believed the threat was over when
other gunfire erupted; Bernardo was told by three young boys that
they had adopted him: ("If you get killed, we avenge you. And we
see to it that there's always fresh flowers on your grave"); Bernardo
became a beloved father figure for the boys
- while awaiting the next move by Calvera, the gunslingers
expressed their envy at the settled family life of the townspeople,
and their bonds with the children; they had no homes, wives, families,
and were always on the move (renting rooms and eating in hash houses
- "Prospects: Zero"); on the positive side, they weren't tied down
and they weren't often insulted
- in a very courageous and impressive move, Chico
disguised himself as a bandito (with crisscrossing gunbelts and
a large sombrero from one of the dead men), and infiltrated the
Mexican camp where he discovered a second attack was imminent because
Calvera's men were desperate, starving, broke and out of food (Calvera:
"There's still plenty of us here to make them pay")
- after suffering a nightmare about losing his nerve
on the battlefield and deserting his post, Lee discussed his fears
with some of the cowardly villagers, who were beginning to
doubt their ability to defend themselves ("We know what fear is.
We live with it all our lives. Only the dead are without fear")
- shortly later, Chico reported
back to the group that Calvera would attack again; some of the
villagers urged the gunslingers to leave
so that the killing would stop: "We're surrounded. Outnumbered
....Go away. All of you. Get on your horses and go. Let Calvera
have the food. Give him what he wants. At least we'll be alive"; Chris
refused to give up because of their "contract" to aid the villagers,
and almost everyone agreed with him; however, they realized that
they had miscalculated Calvera's determination:
"We figured to raise the ante just enough to make Calvera play
someplace else. We figured wrong"
- when Chico boasted to Petra
that he was a true gunslinger who would never desert his nomadic pals,
her loving looks and kiss softened his bravado - and they began
to fall in love
- the gunslingers went to the banditos' camp to confront
them and steal their horses, but found the camp empty; meanwhile, in
a second deadly surprise raid, Calvera and his men
infiltrated into the village with the help of Sotero (Rico Alaniz)
- one of the traitorous and fearful villagers; when the Magnificent
Seven returned, they were surrounded at gunpoint by Calvera's men
- Calvera was ready to bargain and spare the lives of the 'Magnificent
Seven' in exchange for leaving the village, hoping that the gunslingers
would give up their futile and unwinnable fight for the peasants'
plight, and not alert the US Army; he offered to take their gunbelts,
and give them back once they departed: ("You go, then I give you
the guns back. I know you won't use those guns against me. Only
a crazy man makes the same mistake twice")
- when Calvera asked Chris why they took the job in the first place, Vin
cryptically explained why the 'seven' had been motivated to defend
the town without any monetary reward: "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?'...He said, 'It seemed to be a good
idea at the time.'"
- as Bernardo was packing up his things to leave,
he lectured the idolizing children that
had befriended him and told them to not be ashamed of their parents'
cowardice: "Don't you ever say that again about your fathers
because they are not cowards! You think I am brave because I carry
a gun? Well, your fathers are much braver because they carry responsibility,
for you, your brothers, your sisters, and your mothers. And this
responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and
it twists them until finally it buries them under the ground. And
there's nobody says they have to do this. They do it because they
love you, and because they want to. I have never had this kind
of courage. Running a farm, working like a mule every day with
no guarantee anything will ever come of it. This is bravery. That's
why I never even started anything like that. That's why I never
will."
- after being escorted from the village, the gunslingers
were given back their guns; Chico was angered that they had been
sold out by the farmers, until he was reminded by Chris that he
came from a farming family: ("Sure you hate them. Because you come
from a village just like that one. You yourself are a farmer");
Chico blamed men with guns for their plight: "But who made us the
way we are? Hmm? Men with guns. Men like Calvera and men like
you. And now me. So what do you expect us to be?"
Harry's Death in Chris' Arms
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Lee's Death
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Britt's Death
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Bernardo's Death With Three Children
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- except for Harry, most of the gunslingers decided
to return for the film's climactic shoot-out; the first to be fatally
shot was Harry who had a change of heart and came back - he attempted
to save Chris' life and died as he was assured that there were precious
stones buried in the mountains that he had fought for ("Gold.
Sacks of it"); the next to die was Lee (who saved several captive
villagers from their captors but lost his life), and then the
heroic Britt; Bernardo died in the arms of
three children that he had befriended and reminded them to look at
their fathers ("You see? I told you. You see your fathers?")
- during the fight, the villagers were emboldened by the group's
courage against the odds and joined in with brooms, chairs, shovels
and whatever weapons they could find
- during Calvera's death scene after
being shot by Chris, he asked: "You came back - for a place
like this. Why? A man like you. Why?" but he didn't receive an
answer before expiring; the few remaining banditos fled from the village
- afterwards, only
three of the seven had survived (Chico, Chris, and Vin); as the three
gunslingers departed, the village elder wisely
observed that only the village farmers had won, not the gunslingers: "Only
the farmers have won. They remain forever. They are like the land
itself. You helped to rid them of Calvera, the way a strong wind
helps rid them of locusts. You are like the wind - blowing over the
land and passing on. Vaya con dios."
- only Chico decided to turn back and remain in
the village to marry Petra; the
film concluded with Chris' pessimistic words to Vin as they glanced
at the gravesites of their fallen companions: "The
Old Man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose"
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Village Elder (Old Man) (Vladimir Sokoloff)
Worried Undertaker Chamlee (Whit Bissell) in American Border Town
Chris Adams (Yul Brynner)
Chris Adams (Yul Brynner) and Vin Tanner (Steve McQueen)
Riding Atop Hearse
Stand-Off of Five Armed Townsfolk at the Entrance to the Cemetery
Three-Man Village Peasant Delegation Asking Chris to Buy
Guns For Them
Chico Tested by Chris and Rejected - He Was Found To Be Too Slow a Quick-Draw
Knife-Thrower Britt's Face-Off Against Gunman Wallace (Robert
J. Wilke)
Chico Challenging the Villagers to Not Be Cowards
Britt to Chico: "The worst! I was aiming at the horse"
Training the Villagers to Shoot
Petra (Rosenda Monteros) Encountered by Chico
Bernardo Adopted By Three Young Friends
Chico Disguised as a Bandito to Briefly Infiltrate Calvera's Gang
Chico's Boasting Bravado to Petra, Who Was Falling In Love With Him
Calvera's Surprise Infiltration of the Village - Bargaining For the Magnificent
Seven to Leave
Bernardo's Lecture to the Children About Their Parents' Cowardice
Chico's Anger at the Farmers
Climactic Shoot-Out
The Lingering Death of Calvera Asking Chris: "Why? A man like
you. Why?"
The Old Man's Wise Words As the Three Surviving Gunslingers Departed
The Gravesites of the Fallen
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