Justin here, and in honor of the special vintage screening at DFF, today we’ll be looking at The Magnificent Seven.
This is sort of an unfortunate movie for a modern day hyper-connected audience with access to almost every movie ever made within a few days. I really wish I could have seen this back in its original context as a Saturday afternoon matinee while being blissfully ignorant of a little movie called Seven Samurai. Magnificent Seven is doomed to live in the shadow of that movie now because everyone knows that it was made as a cowboy analogue to it. While the two movies share the same basic plot and character types and even shots, the two movies are very different and if you want to enjoy Mag Seven, it’s really best to try to forget about Seven Samurai.
I’m not saying that Magnificent 7 is inferior to 7 Samurai, at all. I LOVE both movies. What I’m trying to do is to lower your expectations for Magnificent 7 so that you can appreciate it for what it is a decent western with the finest western cast ever assembled.
The key to The Magnificent Seven is one little scene in the middle of the movie. Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen are on a horse drawn wagon and are about to ride away to do something. Brynner has the reins and McQueen is riding shotgun. Brenner give a dramatic manly speech about bravery or some nonsense, while he’s doing that, McQueen ejects the shotgun shells and shakes them next to his ear. What McQueen is really doing is trying to upstage Brynner and steal his thunder. Legend has it that during the filming of this, Brenner was so annoyed by this upstart McQueen that he hired someone to stand around and tally how many times McQueen played with his hat while Brynner was delivering lines. The tension between Brynner and McQueen for leading man is practically giggle inducing if that’s what you’re watching for.
Additionally though, the smaller parts in this movie are all outstanding. Particularly James Coburn as the knife expert and Charles “Death Wish” Bronson. The bad guy is played by Eli Wallach in what I think is his best role next to Tuco in The Good the Bad and the Ugly.
Did I mention the score? That is to say the most iconic and well-known Western movie score of all time? Hearing Elmer Bernstein's score through the sound system at the theater may be reason enough for some people to attend.
The Magnificent 7 is one of the last movies of its kind, a western in the tradition of John Wayne, Randolph Scott, and Gene Autry. There are good guys and bad guys. The good guys want to selflessly save the Mexican villagers. The bad guys don’t. The good guys have a moral code. The bad guys don’t. This movie in 1960 predates the major turning points towards morally ambiguous and gory westerns, A Fistful of Dollars by 4 years and The Wild Bunch by 9 years. The comparatively few westerns that came out in the following years, mostly from Clint Eastwood are edgier and more world weary. The Magnificent 7 doesn’t pretend to be reality, just entertainment. It’s not my favorite western, but it’s very far from my least favorite. I will drop everything to watch the Magnificent 7 when I catch it channel surfing. It’s compulsively watchable and fun.
The Magnificent 7 is being shown TONIGHT at Starz!
