The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Regisseur:

John Sturges

Drehbuchautor:

William Roberts (screenplay)

Premierendatum:

23. Oktober 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Abenteuer | Drama

Werbezeile:

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:

Ensemble Cast | Spanking | Grave | Shotgun | Slap In The Face

Filmpreise:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Seven Shanes

Besetzung

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

Alternativ:

Glorreichen Sieben, Die (Österreich) (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

128 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch | Spanisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

2.35 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Altersfreigabe:

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

Drehorte:

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

Firma:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Dies und das:

'James Coburn' 's friend Robert Vaughn recommended him to director John Sturges for the last remaining lead, the role of Britt. Sturges said he needed a Gary Cooper type of actor, and Vaughn said Coburn was the actor he needed.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: When Calvera gives the "adios" command to send the seven out of town, he waves his right hand and starts walking away from a pole. In the very next shot (from behind) he is shown still leaning against the pole.

Dialogzitate:

[Chris and Vin were just shot at, hitting the tip of Chris' cigar]
Vin: You elected?
Chris: Na. I got nominated real good.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Ausschnittsweise enthalten in How the West Was Lost (2008) (TV)

Seven Shanes

I'm sure that Asian Yul Brynner must have been intrigued at the prospect of doing an American western, maybe it was the oriental origin of the story of The Magnificent Seven that intrigued him.

The title refers to seven gunfighters who hire out to a Mexican village which is being systematically looted by a bandit named Calverra, played by Eli Wallach in his career film role. The film really ought to be called Shane Times Seven because each one of the seven is an aspect of Shane, the wandering knight who comes to the area, rights the wrongs in the place and moves on. Of course in this case a few of the seven stay.

The seven are Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, Robert Vaughn, and Horst Bucholtz. What I like about the Magnificent Seven and it's the mark of a great film is that each of the seven establishes his own personality in the film. Of course these are seven great film actors and are given a great script to work with. It's in contrast to the bandits where they are led by an admittedly charismatic leader in Wallach, but if he's killed they all cease to function. The seven also function well as a team because they are professionals.

They're in Mexico for a variety of individual reasons, but all of them realizes they are in a dying profession in America. Very little call for their services, so $20.00 for six weeks work in Mexico has a lot of appeal. It's better than clerking in a grocery store for men of action.

There's so much I love about The Magnificent Seven, it has two finely choreographed gunfights with Wallach's bandits, it has characters with style and grace. Most of all it has Elmer Bernstein's best musical score and that's saying something because Bernstein wrote so many great ones. But that infectious theme set a standard for the writing of western film music, in fact film music in general. If you've never seen The Magnificent Seven, that theme once heard is never forgotten.

Sam Peckinpah's films clearly show the influence that John Sturges's The Magnificent Seven had. But this one establishes the mold.