In 1960, a film opened that altered the course of the motion picture, as it brought changes not only to the Western, but the action-adventure genre as a whole. When John Sturges remade Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai as a Western, he thought he was making an ordinary film. After all, Sturges had filled his resume with Westerns such as Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and The Law and Jake Wade. Call it what you want, but when his 1960 work, The Magnificent Seven, had put Sturges on the map to stay, he would later say, “I could have directed the phone book.”
Why? Why was Sturges suddenly so popular? He had been turning out quality work, yet with this one particular movie, he became someone to reckon with in Hollywood. What is it about The Magnificent Seven that strikes our fancy? Is it the fact good triumphs in the end? No, as that is the case in so many Westerns, not to mention the vast majority of the motion pictures from that era. Is it that the bad guy, as Calvera is characterized, is charismatic? It could be, but this is not the first time this has happened in the cinema. Look at every film Claude Rains has been the villain. You never can quite figure out if you want to see him shot or would rather invite him to dinner. Or maybe . . . just maybe . . . it has something to do with the fact this is the first film where the hero is a team rather than an individual. It is quite easy to find a character we can think of, “Gee, I wish I were that guy.”
And it was an interesting list of characters to want to be. Even the baddie, Calvera, was admirable in a way. To take a look at the eight main characters is to take a peek at one of the most fascinating, yet varied, cast lists of any western:
Calvera is much like Don Vito Corleone of The Godfather, in that what he is doing to the villagers he actually doesn’t consider stealing. Rather, he looks at it as tribute. Therefore, he is upset when the Seven first confront him. Evidently, Calvera is a former revolutionary, the way his men ride into the village in formation, breaking off, knowing what to do when they first loot the village. In his conversation with Sotero, he bemoans the changing times, stating, “Now I ride with a price on my head.” So he has led this band for other purposes in the past, but is unable to stop his deeds, thus his outlawry. His true tragedy when he cannot understand why the Seven came back.
To this day, Eli Wallach does not see Calvera as a villain, but as a man trying to make a living. With this portrayal, Wallach single-handedly changed the fact of cinematic Mexican banditry.
Chris is best summed up by Yul Brenner, who said, “There are only two clean things about him—His gun and his soul.” Chris is a gunfighter with a conscience, as best summed up in three scenes. The first is when he helps to bury Old Sam, and his only payment is a half-full bottle of whiskey, which is shared with Vin. The second is when Chris realizes the village is offering him everything they have, while the third is when the Seven are considering leaving Ixcatlan. However, Chris gave his word, and plans on keeping it, no matter the cost.
While this is a remake of a samurai film, Chris is more a tie to the knights of Camelot. Note the way he walks when going to the hearse. It’s a proud, almost defiant walk. People have said Brenner was still playing the King of Siam, but this is actually more of Chris daring someone to stop him, which of course, no one does. While a knight wore a suit of armor, Chris wears black from head to toe.
Vin is a lover of excitement, but a mature one. Like Chris, he sees a lot of himself in Chico. Vin is Peck’s Bad Boy all grown up, but there is still a touch of orneriness about him. He is confident about what he does, but is not at all cocky about it. He has every right to be due to his abilities, but he knows the moment cockiness enters the picture, he’s dead. He does, however, possess a cracker barrel philosophy. Interestingly, he wears chaps, the mark of a cowboy, but does not come across as ever being one.
Harry Luck is probably the most beloved opportunist in the history of the cinema. “A dollar bill always looks as big as a bedspread,” is his motto, and Harry spends the entire picture proving it. As he refuses to believe there is no pot of gold at the end of this particular rainbow, this makes his happy-go-lucky lifestyle that much more endearing. Even though Harry has ridden on, he is the one who rides into a hail of bullets to attempt to save Chris. It is a suicide attempt, and Harry knows it, being a professional. But he does so anyway, as he’s not the selfish man he wants us to believe, dying while attempting to save a friend. Still, as he lies dying, he has to ask Chris, if there really was more to it. Harry just had to be a scoundrel at the end.
Bernardo O’Reilly, along with Harry, has the privilege of sharing his last name with the audience. Bernardo is like a chocolate covered caramel in that he is hard on the outside and soft on the inside. When he sees the children of Ixcatlan, he is glad to be there. He took the job as he had no money, and twenty dollars was a lot to him. He’s enamored with the children of the village, and they with him. His death is the most necessary, as three of these children revere him to the point he’s taken the place of their fathers. While he likes being around the boys, he in no way wishes to replace those men, whom he admires. Bernardo attempts to tell the children his life is not a happy one, and the life their fathers have chosen is honorable, yet not an easy life. It is only by his death that Bernardo is able to make this plain.
Britt is the best, according to Chris. Money means nothing to him, so he is there to compete, primarily with himself. Like Doc Holliday, Britt gets his thrills attempting to find the man faster than him. While he does not go out and search for them, he is constantly challenged by them, and has to defend his honor.
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| James Coburn and Steve McQueen |
When the Seven are captured and taken to the clearing, Chico and Chris have their conversation interrupted by a spin and a click. Britt is mad, as one can tell by the look on his face. When he states, “Nobody throws me my own guns and says run. Nobody.” we realize not only is he going back, but that Calvera is dead. Britt does not care if anyone is returning with him or not. He is a man of honor, and it has been tainted as far as he is concerned. He has to reclaim it, and for that to happen, Calvera has to die. In that one moment, he takes over from Chris.
When Britt dies, this too is a death that is necessary, and no one understands it more than Britt. The lesson here is no matter who you are, what you do, or where you are, there will always be someone better than you. Even if it is only for one split second. The man who killed Britt got him with a fleeing shot, but with that one shot, he was the best. In a face-to-face showdown with Britt, he would never have cleared his holster. But in that fleeting moment, he was unsurpassed.
Like Britt, Lee is also similar to Doc Holliday in that he is looking for a faster gun. However, this quest is for a different purpose. He has lost his nerve, and is looking for someone to put him out of his misery. He will not kill himself, having that much dignity. When Lee dies, it could be considered a mercy killing. Everyone knew he had lost his nerve. Lee considered himself a coward, which in actuality he was not. A coward does not take on three men by himself. Yet while Lee had overcome his fear, it was only momentarily. He took them with two objectives in mind. He wanted to free the farmers, yes, but he was also attempting to die in the process. When he was killed, Lee found the peace he craved.
Chico is the one who definitely changed the most in the short time at the village. He started as a young gun that at first emulated the others, wanting desperately to be as much like them as possible. Yet when he returned to his roots, he discovered that Thomas Wolfe was incorrect in that one can go home again. In assisting in the fight against Calvera, Chico gets the wanderlust out of his veins, and at the same time, finds the woman with whom he wants to settle down. Therefore, while the village finds freedom, Chico emerges as the big winner.
Sir Christopher Frayling found fault with Chico’s staying at the village with Petra, stating it was unlikely. I cannot fathom why. Many gunmen of the Old West did marry. In this case, Chico finally realized what the others have told him about their lives is true. Thus, why should he go with them for a life of unhappiness, when he could have it in Ixcatlan? Chico is impetuous, yes, but he is not stupid.
At the picture’s end, Chris states, “Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose.” This is the one part of the film with which I take exception. Each member achieved their personal goals, therefore all won. True, neither Chris nor Vin have achieved the happiness of the villagers, but they have accomplished personal greatness, as these wanderers will continue to help others in need. That is not the mark of a loser, but of a knight. And both Chris and Vin share many of the same traits of the warriors of Camelot.
As stated earlier, The Magnificent Seven is by no means original. As a matter of fact, it states in the credits it is based on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Therefore, this is the first lesson taught by this film. Quit bemoaning the fact that others take things from us and improve on them, as they are not the only ones to do so. Americans have been remaking foreign films for decades. Sometimes they improve on them, and other times, they would have done just as well to have left the movie alone.
At the same time, this is a highly influential motion picture. We have seen this film copied innumerable times. There have been three sequels and a television series. Some of the movie titles are amazing. 1961’s The Last Sunset had The Magnificent Two as a title for consideration. Others have been The Seven Magnificent Gladiators and The Invincible Six, neither one which managed to catch the public eye. When it comes to film styles, it is safe to say The Magnificent Seven set the tone for the likes of Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone.
Yet the most influential arena for the film is easily its score. When Elmer Bernstein was asked to score the picture, he was best known for The Man With the Golden Arm and The Ten Commandments. Yet it was actually The Magnificent Seven that made him well known, also doing so for many of the film’s stars. The score has actually been called the eighth cast member, as it is not only remembered so well to this day, but basically became a celebrity. Bernstein saw to it that even when there was not much happening onscreen, such as men riding slowly on horseback, the music still pulsated, making the film at times more exciting than it is. To this day, the main theme is played at political conventions, and until cigarette commercials were taken off the air, it was the theme for Marlboro. Whenever something is ‘magnificent’, according to the advertiser, we hear Bernstein’s theme. The title is also influential in that every time some group does something of note, they are “The Remarkable Four”, “The Terrific Five”, or “The Outstanding Nine”. We actually did have a “Magnificent Seven” gymnastic squad several years ago.
We cannot forget the influence this film had on the careers of those who were involved in it. In addition to Bernstein becoming the dean of Western film music, this picture boosted the careers of the actors who were in it. Within the course of the next few years, Steve McQueen (Vin) went from television to one of the biggest stars in motion pictures. James Coburn (Britt) by the end of the decade was super-agent Derek Flint, and had appeared in some of the decade’s best films. Charles Bronson (Bernardo) saw his parts improve after this film, and by the end of the decade, was a star in European films. Robert Vaughn (Lee) had become a worldwide idol as Napoleon Solo, the Man from U.N.C.L.E. Brad Dexter (Harry) turned to producing, while Horst Buchholz (Chico) returned to European films. Of the two already established, Eli Wallach (Calvera) and Yul Brenner (Chris) continued their careers both on the stage and in films.
Earlier, I asked why this film was so popular. “Why?” is the question Calvera asks as he lay dying. It is the one, lone, unanswerable question. It is a question with no complete answer, yet oh, so many attempts. The Magnificent Seven is the second-most aired film on television because we benefit from seeing all the people we grew up with. It continues in popularity as we like seeing the ‘little people’ like the farmers strike back at the end. We enjoy seeing Britt with his knife fight at the railroad yard. We must. People would come up to Coburn until the end of his life, and simple ask him to say, “You lost.” It could be we enjoy hearing Vin state, “We deal
in lead, friend.” Or maybe we want to hear Britt coolly state, “Nobody throws me my own guns and says run. Nobody.” Maybe we take pleasure in seeing Harry constantly try to find out why Calvera is always coming back to the village, or Lee defeat his demons at the end, even if only temporarily. It could be we like to hear Bernardo take up for the farmers, pointing out to their sons what brave men their fathers are. Or possibly we just like all of it put together. The recipe is there, as are the ingredients. And they make such a great smorgasbord.
When it comes to that spin and the click, we are hooked. And we should be. The Magnificent Seven is a tale of heroism and teamwork. At the same time, it is a tale of hero worship, love, and manliness.
Several decades later, John Sturges, when talking about his films, stated, “I thought we were making movies, not history.” How little he knew.
