‘The Magnificent Seven” may not be the greatest Western ever made. But there’s something about the story that attracts filmmakers.
The 1960 movie is itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese classic “Seven Samurai.” Its success inspired three sequels, a parody (the 1986 Steve Martin comedy “Three Amigos!”), a short-lived television series and a not-bad 2016 big-screen remake that starred Denzel Washington.
The 1960 version remains the most popular, at least in the U.S. It will be shown this weekend in Hoquiam as part of the 7th Street Theatre’s Silver Screen Classics series.
The film has its flaws, including one serious piece of miscasting. Those are overcome, however, by a compelling plot, outstanding action sequences and star-making performances by actors on the way up — not to mention a rousing musical theme that is almost as famous as the movie itself.
Terrorized by bandits led by the gregarious but vicious Calvera (played by Eli Wallach), a group of Mexican farmers leave their village to seek assistance from veteran gunslinger Chris Adams (Yul Brynner).
Agreeing to help the villagers for a small stipend, plus room and board, Chris recruits a handful of reinforcements. They include the action-loving drifter, Vin (Steve McQueen); the destitute mercenary, Bernardo (Charles Bronson); the laconic knife-throwing expert, Britt (James Coburn); Lee, a wanted man who has lost his nerve (Robert Vaughn); and the gambler, Harry (Brad Dexter), who believes there are riches to be obtained beyond the meager wages the farmers are offering.
Horst Buchholz plays Chico, an eager but callow Mexican native who is eventually allowed to join the troupe.
The seven men teach the villagers how to defend themselves and repel the next bandit raid. But Calvera proves more resourceful than anticipated, setting up another confrontation.
Under the direction of action-adventure specialist John Sturges, the film’s opening hour is terrific — particularly a tension-filled sequence in which Chris and Vin run the gauntlet of armed bigots to ensure the burial of an Indian. The pace slackens in a midsection that contains too much hollow philosophizing, but the film regains its footing in time for a slam-bang if somewhat bittersweet climax.
Even in the less politically correct 1960s, Sturges was criticized for not casting Latinos in the key roles of Calvera and Chico.
Wallach’s performance as the philosophical bandit chief is one of the film’s highlights. German actor Buchholz, though, isn’t even remotely credible as a Mexican and compounds the difficulty by overplaying several scenes.
Nevertheless, this film helped make Buchholz a star — as it did in varying degrees for McQueen, Bronson, and even the underutilized Coburn and Vaughn.
Nearing the end of his career as a big-screen headliner, Brynner provides the production with a solid authority figure.
He evidently needed all his acting skills to generate his character’s on-screen rapport with the temperamental McQueen, whom he accused of blatant scene-stealing. (Ironically, Brynner supposedly recommended McQueen for the role.) Those who suspect the older actor of paranoia should check out how often McQueen fiddles with his hat or shakes ammunition cartridges when Brynner is speaking.
Despite the generally fine acting and Sturges’ sure-footed direction, “The Magnificent Seven” received only one Academy Award nomination. Not surprisingly, that went to Elmer Bernstein for his iconic musical score.
An incredibly versatile composer who provided memorable music for such diverse films as “The Ten Commandments,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Ghostbusters” and even “Airplane,” Bernstein didn’t have the greatest luck on Oscar night. He batted only 1-for-14 in Oscar nominations — and this wasn’t the one. He lost in 1960 to Ernest Gold’s theme from “Exodus” and didn’t claim a statuette until eight years later, when he finally won for his work on “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”
His theme for “The Magnificent Seven,” however, lived on in several forms — most notably in a long-running series of TV cigarette commercials in the late 1960s.
Most of the sequels and even the television series retained at least a variation of Bernstein’s score. But Antoine Fuqua, who directed the 2016 revival, inexplicably relegated it to a cameo appearance over the closing credits.
He forgot a lesson that should be heeded by the next person who attempts to remake “The Magnificent Seven”: The story is very good, but it’s only the music that’s magnificent.
“The Magnificent Seven” is playing Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the 7th Street Theatre, 313 Seventh St., Hoquiam. Tickets are $6.
