The Magnificent Seven (1960)

I remember watching "Seven Samurai" by Akira Kurosawa in film studies. It is my favorite film from 1954. The success of this foreign film caused Hollywood to make their own version. On the occasion of the 2016 remake of "The Magnificent Seven", I took time to watch the original version from 1960 for the first time. It has been sitting in my grandparents VHS collection for years and I knew beforehand that it was based on "Seven Samurai". The cinematography, characters and iconic musical score impressed me. I also marvel at how well this story works in both the Warring States Period of Japan and the Wild West Period along the Mexican/US border.

"The Magnificent Seven" is not just based on "Seven Samurai" but practically a recreation of the Japanese film with a change in the location and time period. "West Side Story" did the same with Shakespeare but that movie makes no citation in its credits to its source material, despite copying from "Romeo and Juliet" plot point for plot point. The opening credits of "The Magnificent Seven" on the other hand is honest about its source material and is unapologetic. Furthermore, this narrative was new to western audiences in 1960 unlike "Romeo and Juliet". The setting of the Wild West also creates the needed originality. Of all the characters in this western, Chico moves the story forward the most. The scene when he is drunk and angry at Chris for turning him down is quite memorable. Chico begins to earn the trust of the company after leaving some fish for them as they journey towards the village. Chico's speech upon arriving in the village is yet another important story moment. He is still reckless in ringing the alarm and we question whether insulting the villagers is the right motivational tool but this seems to amuse the other gunmen. It also shows Chico's passion for the job at hand. As Chris says, "Now we're seven." We then find out that Chico has similar roots as those in the village that he is helping to protect. Despite this, I was impressed at how easily he snuck into the raiders' camp. You would think that the Calvera could identify a new face considering he only has forty men but I guess Chico being Mexican was enough to fool them. When it comes to classic movies with an ensemble cast, it can be a challenge for me to tell all the characters apart. "The Magnificent Seven" however did enough to help me through the use of costume as well as the skills and personalities of the gunmen. Vin for example has his shirt open so you can see his gold coin around his neck. All the seven gunmen are entertaining or provide drama in their own way. Bernardo has the three villagers boys and Britt doesn't talk much but has the knife expertise to make up for it. My favorite part of the climax is when Lee storms the one house, kills many bandits and frees the farmers they are holding. He found his courage and earned his honorable death. Calvera's final words are ironic to me. He can't understand why Chris and his men would come back to rescue such a poor village but Calvera fails to see that he himself won't leave the village alone. If the village truly has no worth, why he is sporadically raiding it? Chris knows that if Calvera can't see the hypocrisy of his own question then he doesn't deserve an answer before dying. The opening shots as well as other establishing shots in the film are quite impressive and the filmmakers use the anamorphic Panavision to great effect. The film may not be as epic as say "Lawrence of Arabia" but the cinematography exudes the lawlessness and wilderness of this time and place.

Many of the cast members became big Hollywood names in the 60's thanks in part to this film. The only cast members I was familiar with previous to seeing this movie was Oscar-winner Yul Brenner and James Coburn. The only other film I have seen staring Brenner is "The Ten Commandments" but I knew he was in "Anastasia" and "The King and I" as well. What I didn't know is that all three of those classic movies were released in 1956. From looking at Brenner, he might see out of place in a western but I think his casting is a nod to his Samurai counterpart, Kambei, who is also bald. Coburn's first scene in the movie is awesome. My favorite film role of his however is in a subsequent western, "Maverick". As a side note, Steve McQueen would later be included in other ensemble casts such as "The Great Escape" with fellow member of "The Seven", Charles Bronson. I think the greatest legacy this film will leave besides its story premise is Elmer Bernstein iconic score. I had always wondered where this musical theme came from. The score garnished the only Oscar nomination for "The Magnificent Seven" in 1961. It lost to the beautiful music from "Exodus" but if you were to play both musical scores for someone who hasn't seen either movie, which theme do you think would be more familiar? As proof, the score to "The Magnificent Seven" is #8 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest Hollywood film scores. Bernstein also wrote the score for "The Ten Commandments" but his career was just getting started in 1960 because he would continue to write music for westerns such as "True Grit", "Three Amigos" (a film inspired by "The Magnificent Seven) and "Wild Wild West". By the time of his death, he scored music for over 200 films and TV shows earning fourteen Oscar nominations but sadly only one win. Some other examples of his work post-1960 include "To Kill a Mockingbird" (also on the aforementioned AFI list), the music video of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and "Ghostbusters".

It is hard to tell if the story motif of "Seven Samurai" would have found its way into western culture if not for "The Magnificent Seven". This film itself garnished three sequels and became an influence on future TV shows and movies. Another AFI list the film is on is for the most thrilling movies at #79. It is preserved in the Library of Congress and Kurosawa, it is said, liked "The Magnificent Seven" so much that he gave a sword to director John Sturges. To conclude, the last surviving member of "The Seven" is actor Robert Vaughn, who was Lee in the film (he was also in "The Ten Commandments" but as an extra).

4 Stars