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Join Telegram ChannelThe cult western with Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Steve McQueen is being rebroadcast this Sunday on Arte. Back to Mexico….
” The old man was right. The farmers won. We lost. We always lose. ” Yul Brynner says disillusionedly to his companion Steve McQueen, before turning his back on the camera and tragically plunging into the frame. This is the end my only friend. “The Magnificent Seven are then only two, with their solitude slung over their shoulders. Bad times for cowboys. This sequence which closes John Sturges' film translates the depressive nature of the whole. The scenario is carried by an incorrigible melancholy. The story sees a band of desperadoes, hired by defenseless villagers to protect them from dangerous bandits. A seemingly banal mission for mercenaries. It is above all a way of breaking the monotony of a vain existence, because without ties. ” We always lose.” These three words could serve as an epitaph for all the lonesome cowboys of the American West. In any case, they announce here the end of an era. Released in 1960 in the United States, The Magnificent Seven are straddling between Rio Bravo (1959) by Howard Hawks – quintessence of the golden age of the western – and For a Fistful of Dollars (1963) by the Italian Sergio Leone, who will shake up the codes of the genre for a long time. It is also the advent of television. It is difficult to find one's place, between an irrepressible desire for change and a sincere respect for the founding myths. The beginning of the sixties marks a turning point. Cinema, like society, gradually changes face. And that's rather fortunate since John Sturges' film has new faces to spare. If the peplumesque Yul Brynner (The 10 Commandments, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba… ) is already a star, this is not really the case for Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn or Eli Wallach. Besides, the divine bald man with the fiery gaze will have a hard time containing the ardor of some of them, ready to do anything to steal the show.
“The set was overflowing with testosterone!”
We are dealing here with a clash between two generations. The Magnificent Seven is branded with a hot iron by this duality above which floats a heavy classicism. A pivotal film therefore. Review The Magnificent Seven Today, thus offers a contrasting vision. If the beautiful composition of Sturges' cinemascope shots and the solid script base are impressive, they tend to repress the energy of the actors who are constantly cut off in their momentum. For example, you only have to see the boredom on Steve McQueen's face, who in the background is moving as best he can to attract attention. At the same time, Bronson and Coburn, charismatic but apathetic, provide the bare minimum and wait for their key sequence to give their all. As for Robert Vaughn, if we sense the madness of his character eaten away by fear, the actor does not have enough latitude to express himself. Oddly, Sturges' camera prefers to fall in love with the Teutonic actor Horst Buchholz, smooth and without roughness. It is to him, in fact, the responsibility of playing the young leading men. Yul Brynner, the initiator of the project, may have seen it as a way to preserve his status as leader. However, more than forty years later, The Magnificent Seven owes its immense popularity (He is with Life is beautiful by Frank Capra, the most widely broadcast film on American television) to the richness of its cast. A cast of reinforced concrete and necessarily electric which earned Neile Adams – the Miss McQueen of the time – this pretty poetic formula: ” The set was overflowing with testosterone! “It is well known that you never put two roosters in the same henhouse. So of course, seven…
What is the Magnificent Seven remake worth?
“I didn’t even know how to ride a horse!”
In the beginning, they were not mercenaries but samurai, lost in the heart of medieval Japan. Directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1953, The Seven Samuraia black and white fresco, made a strong impression around the world. Golden Lion at Venice and an Oscar nomination. When the feature film was released on North American screens, many in the Hollywood industry were already thinking about a possible remake. Yul Brynner was one of the first on the scene: “It's the greatest Western of all time (…) its form, its conception made it an ideal film. » Kurosawa, a self-confessed fan of John Ford, appreciated the praise. It was producer Lou Morheim who, however, took an option on the film rights for the modest sum of $250. Brynner immediately outbid and took the baby. He intended to take charge of the production himself and wanted to entrust Anthony Quinn with the lead role. But very quickly the actor's directorial ambitions faded into the background and Yul would like to play cowboys for the first time in his career. The filmmaker Martin Ritt who had been considered for the role finally gave way to John Sturges, who was still glowing from the success of Settling accounts at OK Corral. He demands to have total control of the project and immediately takes on the role of producer. Another screenwriter arrives to reinforce. Walter Newman, among others, signed the script for The Man with the Golden Arm. Anthony Quinn left on the side of the road claims $650,000 in damages from United Artists. Meanwhile, Sturges goes looking for these mercenaries. They have to act quickly. A strike by the profession threatens future filming. The director tells his assistants: ” When choosing actors, pay attention to the guts, not the head!“Above all, man seeks temperaments. Steve McQueen, 30, hero of the TV series, In the name of the lawis retained. Problem is, his commitments to the small screen prevent him from being absent for too long. He fakes a car accident and gets a sick leave. Robert Vaughn, already involved in the adventure, whispers to the production the name of his old college buddy, James Coburn. Brad Dexter, has just shot with the filmmaker The last train to Gunhill and logically enters the distribution just like Charles Bronson, seen in The Vultures' Prey by the same Sturges, alongside… Steve McQueen. As for Eli Wallach, chosen to play the diabolical Calvera, he is the first to be surprised, “I didn’t even know how to ride a horse!” » Everyone soon flies to Mexico. Once there, the reception is rather cold. The filming of Vera Cruz by Robert Aldrich filmed in the surrounding area left a bitter taste. The population did not really appreciate the “degrading” image of their community on screen. A censor was therefore hired to keep an eye on things. To the point of absurdity. Thus, all the villagers in the film keep immaculate white outfits throughout the adventure despite the fighting. No matter, the image is saved…
“We wanted to steal the spotlight from Yul Brynner!”
On the mercenary side, it's a question of who will have the biggest gun and the best horse. We wanted to steal the spotlight from Yul Brynner ” Robert Vaughn confesses today. Clans are formed. Everyone observes each other, looks at each other out of the corner of their eye. To exist on screen, McQueen has fun playing with his hat to attract attention. He also wages war on his partner Horst Buchholz, whose role he coveted. To calm things down, Yul Brynner takes advantage of the village festival sequence to celebrate his wedding on site. Very quickly, the actors sense the wind changing and think that the final result will not live up to their ambitions. ” We don't have a script, [L’] The story, which is Japanese at its core, won't please Americans, and we have a Mongol from Brooklyn playing a cowboy! » sums up Robert Vaughn. The Mongol in question being Yul Brynner, in reference to his Slavic origins. The film crashes, in fact, during its first screening in the USA. But its European success encourages United Artists to give the product a second chance. Bingo! The film gains in notoriety as its actors grow. Sturges will take charge of definitively installing his protégés three years later with The Great Escape, carried by the trio McQueen – Bronson – Coburn. What can we also say about the film's soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein with its catchy main theme? It earned the film its only Oscar nomination. The Magnificent Seven will soon be available on the big and small screen. Thus Yul Brynner returned in 1966 for an improbable sequel, soberly named The Return of the Seven. In 1969, there emerged The Magnificent Seven Colts Then The Ride of the Magnificent Seven in 1972. Finally a series of the same name was born in 1997 and a remake by Antoine Fuqua in 2016. Only the farmers won. » Not sure finally.
The Magnificent Seven by John Struges, on Arte on Sunday September 8, 2024. Note that the film will be followed by a documentary on Denzel Washington, who played in Antoine Fuqua's version.