The Magnificent Seven

Dir: John Sturges

1960

*****

The Magnificent Seven isn't a perfect film. There are countless examples of over-acting, some scenes are long and unnecessarily drawn out and a few members of the seven don't really get their fair share of screen time. I also believe the seven are let down by their seventh member but despite all that, I still absolutely love John Sturges' classic western. I'm generally not a fan of remakes but there are rare occasions when they can be justified and I think a cowboy western version of Akira Kurosawa's classic Samurai masterpiece was pretty inspired, especially when you know that Kurosawa was heavily influenced by American westerns in the first place. I think it was slightly unfair of producer Lou Morheim not to give Kurosawa a credit in the film, like he would receive for the western remakes of the films of his that came after including TheOutrage (Rashomon) and Last Man Standing (Yojimbo), but he was certainly happy with the finished film, so much so that he gave a rare Samurai sword to John Sturges as a gift of thanks. The famously blacklisted scriptwriter Walter Bernstein was originally hired to produce the first draft (which featured the seven as older men, veterans of the Civil War with Spencer Tracy in mind to be the leader) before Walter Mirisch and Yul Brynner commissioned Walter Newman (you can never have too many Walters) to write the finished article. Newman also went on to write The Great Escape with Sturges but famously fell out with him over the way his script was changed during filming and he pulled his name from the credits of both films. Yul Brynner was part of the production and it was initially his idea to remake Seven Samurai, so he bagged himself the lead role comfortably. With an impending actor’s union strike, the rest of the cast had to be found in a hurry. It was Brynner who chose Steve McQueen to be Vin Tanner, a decision he later regretted on set. McQueen would try and upstage Brynner whenever he could and if you watch closely you'll see that he is always doing something in his scenes with him, like adjusting his hat or playing with his gun in order to distract him. Brynner became so wound up by this that he hired an assistant to count the times McQueen touched his Stetson. McQueen later contacted Brynner on his deathbed to thank him for hiring him and not kicking him off the shoot as he credited the film with being his big break and said that his career was all thanks to him. George Peppard was the first actor considered for the role and he would end up playing a version of Tanner, in full cowboy costume, in the sci-fi space remake Battle Beyond the Stars. Gene Wilder was also said to have auditioned. Brad Dexter, Charles Bronson and Horst Buchholz were then hired before Robert Vaughn made it six. Sturges found it hard in cast the seventh character stating that he needed a Gary Cooper type actor. Vaughn suggested his friend James Coburn and he was eventually cast. Coburn and Vaughn had been close friends for some time and remained so until Coburn's death. Between them they have said that half of each actor's roles came from the other actor suggesting them to a producer or director, although this is the only time the friends stared in a film together. Coburn later stated that any role would have done but he ended up getting the character he enjoyed best in the original. Eli Wallach was cast as the villainous Calvera and he enjoyed many great roles in the genre from then on. What is probably best remembered, apart from the overused story format, is the fantastic theme song from the great composer Elmer Bernstein. Seven Samurai is of course the better and more influential film but The Magnificent Seven is the film that created the remake and showed film makers how it should be done. The lesson has been lost but I do wonder if the classic is more influential in many respects. I love the progression of the story, from the Sengoku period of ancient Japan, to the gen-slinging wild west to outer space (and then ancient Rome in little known film called I sette magnifici gladiatori (The Seven Magnificent Gladiators) - an Italian film starring Lou Ferrigno ) and also the many great films that it has influenced, albeit in parody (Three Amigos easily being the best). It's rare that a remake can have more impact than the original film but The Magnificent Seven gave the genre a real kick and launched the careers of so many great actors and film makers, its reach is undeniable.