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In this American western adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, seven gunslingers are hired to protect a small Mexican village from a posse of relentless bandits who steal all their food and goods. The motley ‘seven’ teach the village to shoot guns and defend themselves, but the bandits aren’t so easily vanquished. The bandits eventually run the ‘seven’ out of town, but it doesn’t take long for the cadre to turn around and head straight back into danger — a final confrontation many of them will not survive.
The Magnificent Seven is admirably directed by John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock, The Great Escape), manages to give the entire ensemble enough screen time to make it worth their while. Yul Brynner plays the defacto leader of the group, dressed like a bad-ass in all black. The first to join his posse is Steve McQueen, making one of his earliest big screen appearances. They’re subsequently joined by Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, and Brad Dexter. The actor with the juiciest part, however, is German-born Horst Buccholz, playing a bold, young Mexican eager to demonstrate his worthiness to Brynner and the older men. He eventually ingratiates himself to the group and becomes the seventh member. He’s the only character with a love interest and a defined character arc. So even though his name’s not at the top of the poster, he’s arguably the most important character here.
All of the cast deliver the goods, perhaps none so much as Eli Wallach as the leader of the bandits. Wallach doesn’t have to scream and yell or try too hard to prove how mean he is — he just trots in on a horse like he owns the place. His confrontations with the ‘seven’ and the villagers are often cool and measured, sometimes with a tinge of dark comedy. James Coburn is one of the more reticent characters, but he captures a stoic ‘Eastwood’ vibe before Eastwood was even Eastwooding yet. Charles Bronson may look like one of the meaner men, but he’s given one of the softer subplots, falling in love with the village’s children who idolize him.
The Magnificent Seven is often considered the last of the traditional Hollywood westerns, before spaghetti westerns and violent anti-hero westerns took hold in the 1960s. But it’s not entirely unlike the films that would follow it. In one of the more impactful scenes, the older gunslingers tell young Buchholz’s character about the downside of their lonely occupation. Brynner says, “Home, none. Wife, none. Kids, none. Prospects, zero.” And at the end of the film, when the bandits have been vanquished and the Mexican farmers are finally safe, Brynner turns to McQueen and says, “Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose.” Brynner’s dialogue seems to indicate that, while the camaraderie is fun, a gun-slinging mercenary is not a role model.
The Magnificent Seven has enough character and memorable dialogue to earn several viewings. It’s extraordinarily well-paced, yet still manages to offer a few grace note scenes, like one in which Buccholz plays matador with and old bull. Elmer Bernstein’s rousing score is the icing on the cake — it’s perhaps the most famous western film score of all time, and the most popular in the composer’s filmography.
Oscar Nomination: Best Score (Elmer Bernstein)