The Magnificent Seven (1960)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

William Roberts (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

23 October 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

They were seven - And they fought like seven hundred!

Plot:

An oppressed Mexican peasant village assembles seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.

Plot Keywords:

Village | Bandit | Showdown | Remake | Farmer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 11

4:00 PM

TCM

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Yul Brynner	...	Chris Adams
Eli Wallach	...	Calvera
Steve McQueen	...	Vin
Charles Bronson	...	Bernardo O'Reilly
Robert Vaughn	...	Lee
Brad Dexter	...	Harry Luck
James Coburn	...	Britt
Horst Buchholz	...	Chico
Jorge Martínez de Hoyos	...	Hilario (as Jorge Martinez de Hoyas)
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Old man
Rosenda Monteros	...	Petra
Rico Alaniz	...	Sotero
Pepe Hern
Natividad Vacío	...	Miguel (as Natividad Vacio)
Mario Navarro	...	Boy with O'Reilly
Danny Bravo
John A. Alonzo	...	Tomas (as John Alonso)
Enrique Lucero	...	Villager
Alex Montoya
Robert J. Wilke	...	Wallace (as Robert Wilke)
Val Avery	...	Henry (corset salesman)
Whit Bissell	...	Chamlee (undertaker)
Bing Russell	...	Robert, (Henry's traveling companion)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henry Amargo	...	Villager (uncredited)
José Chávez	...	Rafael (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Roberto Contreras	...	Villager (uncredited)
Valentin de Vargas	...	Calvera henchman (uncredited)
Larry Duran	...	Calvera henchman (uncredited)
Joseph Ruskin	...	Flynn (uncredited)

Directed by
John Sturges

Writing credits
Akira Kurosawa		(screenplay "Shichinin no samurai") uncredited &
Shinobu Hashimoto		(screenplay "Shichinin no samurai") uncredited &
Hideo Oguni		(screenplay "Shichinin no samurai") uncredited
William Roberts		(screenplay)
Walter Bernstein		uncredited and
Walter Newman		uncredited

Produced by
Walter Mirisch	....	executive producer
Lou Morheim	....	associate producer
John Sturges	....	producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Charles Lang		(director of photography) (as Charles Lang Jr.)

Film Editing by
Ferris Webster

Art Direction by
Edward Fitzgerald

Set Decoration by
Rafael Suárez		(as Rafael Suarez)

Makeup Department
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist (as Emile Lavigne)
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup artist (as Daniel Striepke)

Production Management
Francisco Day	....	production manager (as Chico Day)
Allen K. Wood	....	production supervisor
Hubert Fröhlich	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jaime Contreras	....	assistant director
Robert E. Relyea	....	assistant director
Emilio Fernández	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Sam Gordon	....	property

Sound Department
Del Harris	....	sound effects editor
Rafael Ruiz Esparza	....	sound (as Rafael Esparza)
Jack Solomon	....	sound

Special Effects by
Milt Rice	....	special effects

Stunts
Larry Duran	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Gatlin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Loren Janes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Don Stott	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Other crew
Thom Conroy	....	dialogue director
John Franco	....	continuity
'Chema' Hernandez	....	head wrangler (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Mirisch Corporation, The
• Alpha Productions (as A Mirisch-Alpha Production)

Distributors

• United Artists (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1961) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1961) (France) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1980) (USA) (VHS) (reissue)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1989) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1993) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vidéo (1997) (France) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2000) (France) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2001) (UK) (DVD) (special edition)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (France) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (special edition)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (????) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Les sept mercenaires (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Die glorreichen Sieben (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Los siete magníficos (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Siete hombres y un destino (Chile) (Mexico) [es]
7 rohkeata miestä (Finland) [fi]
7 vågade livet (Sweden) [sv]
A hét mesterlövész (Hungary) [hu]
I magnifici sette (Italy) [it]
Kai oi 7 isan yperohoi (Greece) [el]
Kai oi 7 itan yperohoi (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Koya no shichinin (Japan) [ja]
Os sete Magníficos (Portugal) [pt]
Sedam velicanstvenih (Serbia) [sr]
Sedm statecnych (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
Seitsemän rohkeata miestä (Finland) [fi]
Sete Homens E um Destino (Brazil) [pt]
Siedmiu wspanialych (Poland) [pl]
Syv mænd sejrer (Denmark) [da]
Yedi silahsörler (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Australia:PG | Australia:PG (TV rating) (2005) | Netherlands:6 (DVD rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #19668) | West Germany:12 (f) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Churubusco Studios, Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

Despite some credit listings, Natividad Vacío plays Miguel, not Tomas, and John A. Alonzo (billed as John Alonso) plays Tomas, not Miguel.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just before the first confrontation with Calvera, Chris removes the loop holding his six-gun in his holster twice.

Quotes:

Vin: You know - I've been in some towns where the girls weren't all that pretty. In fact I've been in some towns where they're downright ugly. But it's the first time I've been in a town where there are no girls at all, 'cept little ones. You know if we're not careful we could have quite a social life here.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in How the West Was Lost (2008) (TV)

Well done remake of Kurosawa's classic.

SEVEN is one of the better Westerns to come out for the aging genre. Also, for any genre, it has much better characterization; from the cowboys, to the farmers, and even the outlaws themselves, everyone gets their own fair share of camera time to make MAGNIFICENT SEVEN a classic in its own right.

Outlaws steal from a small Mexican farming town every once in awhile. Since the authorities do nothing, the farmers enlist the aid of seven gunmen to solve their problem.

Compared to THE SEVEN SAMURAI, I would have to say MAGNIFICENT is less dark and reflective. An outlaw such as Calvera is hard to hate seeing him as a character on screen. Also, a better motive to explain why the outlaws continue their attack on the village is shown here, as opposed to Kurosawa's classic, where the raiders relentlessly never gave up, not once thinking (or admitting) the village is well fortified and they were not going to win. The scene and spirit of the old west, combined with the philosophies of the far east, have made a fine movie.