Those Magnificent, 'Magnificent Seven'

Cowboys, horses, hills – action. On the surface, “The Magnificent Seven” (1960) is comfortably straightforward, not too complicated: a comic book in motion, captivating cinematic adventure (with Elmer Bernstein’s music melting away all things realistically problematic). The movie brings us a little Mexican village seeking the help of gunslingers to defend them from bandits (led by the great Eli Wallach). At their wits’ end, 3 villagers venture north to find guns, but find gunmen instead. Chris (Yul Brynner, masterful commander of screen and sound) and Vin (early, very cool Steve McQueen) come together after a great showdown scene, and soon recruit 4 other unlikely legends for 20 dollars each. They’re lightly sketched, but each one is a delight: Harry (Brad Dexter) is convinced there’s some hidden reward in all of this; O’Reilly (Charles Bronson) is a tough fighter facing leaner times; Britt (James Coburn) is a man of few words and quicksilver movements; and Lee (Robert Vaughn) is in many ways the most fascinating depiction of the masculine hero, a sharpshooter on the run, unable to shake off acquired fears (No. 7 eventually appears as headstrong young Chico, played by German Horst Buchholz). Things roll out familiarly, but spectacularly. Charles Lang’s photography gives us a few close-ups of actors’ expressions, but it’s full of mid-length or sweeping tableau shots, scenes with people in them. The opening especially shows memorable, moving direction, the villagers like a still-life Remington in white and wheat as they helplessly watch the thieves rush in and help themselves (for now).

There’s so much more I love about the film that I can’t fit here but most of all, I love its unexpected depth: the sad but redeeming transformation of each hero as they become unexpectedly attached to the village (and the villagers). Adapted from Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” (1945), Sturges’ version almost necessarily does away with the rich cultural backdrop and dialogue of the Japanese original. But the spirit is the same: wandering rōnin, paid fighters in the ‘Wild,’ protecting those who need protection, and perhaps in the process, also saving themselves Xo