Book Review: The Making of "The Magnificent Seven"

In his new book The Making of The Magnificent Seven: Behind the Scenes of the Pivotal Western, author Brian Hannan provides a fascinating look into how the 1959 Western classic reached the silver screen. He also makes a compelling argument that John Sturges' remake of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai should take its place alongside the more critically-acclaimed Westerns made by John Ford and Howard Hawks.

Hannan divides The Making of The Magnificent Seven into three parts: (1) the "movie's long genesis"; (2) the actual production and an analysis of the film; and (3) a brief discussion of its release and enduring appeal. The most engrossing chapters are those that deal with its production history.

"It was Anthony Quinn's idea," writes Hannan in his book's first chapter. That alone is likely a revelation to most of the film's fans. Quinn saw Seven Samurai in 1956 and came up with the idea to remake it as a Western. He mentioned it to Yul Brynner as a possible starring vehicle for the two of them. Over the next three years, The Magnificent Seven's journey to the screen would take many unexpected twists along the way.

Hannan meticulously charts Brynner's rise to stardom and his desire to direct. Originally, the actor was set to direct and star in The Buccaneer (1958). In fact, according to a Variety article (quoted by Hannan), Brynner wanted to pull out of the film as its star and only direct, "but DeMille wouldn't have it." Ironically, Anthony Quinn, who was DeMille's son-in-law at the time, was credited as director (although how much he directed vs. DeMille has been debated).

The Spanish poster emphasizes
the numeral "7."

Brynner's and Quinn's plans for The Magnificent Seven hit a major snag when the two discovered that screenwriter Lou Morheim had already bought the remake rights for $2,500 in 1957. Brynner's production company eventually negotiated a deal with Morheim for the rights (the latter is listed as an associate producer in the credits of The Magnificent Seven). Quinn was still interested in starring in the Western, but his salary and billing demands were too great. He eventually dropped out of the production.

Hannan goes to on to explain how John Sturges became attached as director, how the script was penned by six (or seven!) screenwriters, and how one of cinema's greatest casts was assembled. The author notes that the "final piece of 'casting'...was the recruitment of Elmer Bernstein to write the score." Amazingly, Bernstein was not the first choice as the film's composer. He joined the project after Dimitri Tiomkin, Aaron Copeland, and Alex North were considered and rejected.

Hannan's analysis of The Magnificent Seven focuses largely on Sturges' directorial style and a discussion of the film's themes ("Men in professions which cannot change are forced into inevitable collision with an altered world--that, in a nutshell, is the proposition of The Magnificent Seven").

Hannan says McQueen removes his
hat 9 times--to draw attention.

I don't agree with the author's assessment that The Magnificent Seven marked the end of the Ford/Hawks Western era and "sowed the seeds for the films of Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, and Clint Eastwood." The 1950s Westerns of Anthony Mann, Budd Boetticher, and Delmer Daves had already paved that road. And while it's a stretch to state that "The Magnificent Seven can certainly lay claim to being the most loved Western," there is no doubt that it remains one of the most popular (as evidenced by its frequent TV broadcasts).

The Making of The Magnificent Seven (McFarland & Company, 277 pages) contains numerous photos, extensive footnotes, a bibliography, and an index. Its strongest virtue is the detailed history of the production. For that reason, we strongly recommend it for fans of The Magnificent Seven. It will also be an engrossing read for any film buff interested in the convoluted processes that go into the making of a movie.

McFarland & Company, Inc. provided a review copy of this book.

Seven Things to Know About "The Magnificent Seven"

1. The Magnificent Seven (1960) is a pretty faithful adapatation of Akira Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai (1954)--except that the American Western is 79 minutes shorter! It does have a scene not in the original: the one where Chris (Yul Brynner) and Vin (Steve McQueen) drive the hearse to boot hill.

2. Yul Brynner was the only one of the original cast to appear in a sequel. He reprised the role of Chris for Return of the Seven (1966), which featured Robert Fuller (Laramie) as Vin. In subsequent movies, Chris was played by George Kennedy (Guns of the Magnificent Seven) and Lee Van Cleef (The Magnificent Seven Ride!).

3. Steve McQueen fidgets with his hat frequently during the film--allegedly in an attempt to draw attention to himself. He wasn't a star yet and, in fact, was still headlining the TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive.

4. Brynner was already a star, of course, but four other Seven actors went on to achieve film or television fame: McQueen, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, and Charles Bronson. In fact, McQueen, Coburn, and Bronson reteamed for the 1963 classic The Great Escape. As for the rest of the Seven, Horst Buchholz was already considered a promising newcomer and subsequently appeared in Billy Wilder's One Two Three. That leaves Brad Dexter--who played Harry--as the odd man out. Dexter never came close to stardom, but had a long career as a supporting player; he appeared in several films with best pal Frank Sinatra.

5. In his autobiography, Eli Wallach wrote: “The one regret I had in making The Magnificent Seven was that I never heard Elmer Bernstein’s musical score while making the film. If I had heard that score, I think I would have ridden my horse differently.” Wallach originally wanted to play the Buchholz role--until he read the script and realized that the villainous Calvera was the juiciest part.

6. Elmer Bernstein's music score didn't gain fame until part of it was used in Marlboro cigarette commericials. The Philip Morris Tobacco Company licensed Bernstein's music in 1963 for a Western-themed ad campaign and the rest is history. In fact, it became widely known as the "Marlboro theme." A 1967 album was released called The Music from Marlboro Country, which included musical tracks from The Magnificent Seven and Return of the Seven.

7. Robert Vaughn appeared in two other versions of The Magnificent Seven. He played a mercenary in Battle Beyond the Stars (1977), a low-budget remake that transplanted the premise to an outer space colony harassed by John Saxon's villain. Vaughn's character was "adopted" by the colonists' children (as Bronson's character was by the peasant children in the original). Then, for the 1998-2000 CBS TV series The Magnificent Seven, Vaughn guest-starred as a judge on six episodes.

The Five Best Steve McQueen Performances

McQueen & motorcycle.

1.  The Great Escape (1963). Steve McQueen probably would have become a superstar anyway, but his charismatic performance as "The Cooler King"--along with a terrific, fence-jumping motorcycle chase--hastened his fame. Although this classic POW action film features a fine ensemble cast (featuring James Garner, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough, etc.), McQueen stands out thanks to a distinctive, immensely likable character and the actor's unique brand of offhand humor.

McQueen and Natalie Wood.

2.  Love With the Proper Stranger (1964). This dramedy co-stars Natalie Wood as a sales clerk who seeks out McQueen's musician when she becomes pregnant following a brief fling. He doesn't even remember her--but agrees to help raise the money for an abortion. Wood earned an Oscar nomination for her performance, but McQueen steals the film with his realistic transformation from schmuck to suitor. Career-wise, it opened the door to more dramatic roles for the young actor.

3.  Bullitt (1968). On the one hand, you could argue that San Francisco police detective Frank Bullitt is a one-dimensional character that hardly warranted his own film--and I'd agree. However, it's a moot point because Bullitt is responsible more than any other film for defining the "McQueen cool." Think of Steve McQueen and chances are the first image will be of him wearing the black turtleneck, with shoulder holster, from Bullitt. And, of course, the shots of McQueen driving his dark green Mustang over the streets of San Francisco are so iconic that the film was selected for preservation by the U.S. National Film Registry in 2007.

4.  The Sand Pebbles (1966). 
Steve McQueen received his only Oscar nomination playing a Naval engineer who falls in love with a missionary in war-torn China in 1926. It's a good movie, but I wouldn't rank it among McQueen's best. Still, this is a list of his best performances and New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther noted this was "the most restrained, heartfelt, honest acting he (McQueen) has ever done."

5.  The Magnificent Seven (1960). This popular Western remake of the Akira Kurosawa's classic The Seven Samurai is my favorite McQueen film and features my personal favorite of his performances. As with The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven boasts an incredible ensemble cast peppered with engaging actors (e.g., Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, etc.). McQueen makes every effort possible to steal all his scenes (a documentary once pointed out the numerous times he touches his hat to draw attention to himself). None of that is necessary as McQueen hits all the right notes as Brynner's de facto second-in-command.

Honorable Mentions: Hell Is for Heroes (a highly effective, modestly-budgeted war film with Fess Parker, Bobby Darin, James Coburn, and Bob Newhart); The Reivers (a change-of-pace role as Boon Hoggenbeck, a Faulkner character); and The Getaway.

What are your picks for Steve McQueen's best performances?

My 100 Favorite Films: From 30 to 21

This month’s countdown list features my favorite Hammer horror film and my favorite Disney animated movie. As always, please keep in mind that these films are not what I'd consider the best 100 movies ever made. They are simply one classic fan's favorites. (An underlined title means there's a hyperlink to a full review at the Cafe.)

David Peel, who looks rather pleasant
here, with Yvonne Monlaur.

30. Brides of Dracula – How can Chris Lee be absent in Hammer Films’ best movie—a Dracula entry, no less? It seems downright peculiar, but, regardless, Brides of Dracula is an exciting, intelligent film with surprising depth, a showcase role for Peter Cushing, and a stylish vampire villain. Yvonne Monlaur plays Marianne, a young French woman on her way to a new teaching position in a boarding school. When a coachman abandons her along the way, she accepts an invitation by the elderly Baroness Meinster (the superb Martita Hunt) to spend the night in a nearby castle. She soon meets young, handsome Baron Meinster (David Peel). His mother keeps him in shackles and you can guess why—but Marianne doesn’t. Pretty soon, there’s an outbreak of vampirism at the boarding school and it’s Van Helsing to the rescue. His climatic confrontation with Meinster in a dilapidated windmill sets the stage for the most ingenious ending of all vampire films.

29. Beach Blanket Bingo – I ignored the Beach Party movies for most of my life…but finally realized what I was missing about 15 years ago. Maybe it’s the nostalgia factor, the portrait of an innocent age that never existed except on celluloid. Regardless, I now always enjoy an annual trip to the beach with Frankie, Annette, and the gang. The best of the series is easily Bingo. Donna Loren sings her best song. Frankie tries to make Annette jealous with Deborah Walley, while Annette tries to make Frankie jealous with John Ashley. Bonehead dates a pretty mermaid while Linda Evans’s Sugar Kane calls him Boney. Paul Lynde cracks jokes while South Dakota Slim just acts creepy. And, best of all, there’s Eric Von Zipper, who tells Sugar that he likes her—and when Eric Von Zipper likes someone, they stay liked!



Diane McBain as the "bad girl"
in Parrish.

28. Parrish – Delmer Daves wrote and directed three big screen soaps circa the early sixties, all starring Troy Donahue: A Summer Place, Parrish, and Susan Slade. These films have their detractors, but I don’t even feel obligated to defend them. The first two are exceedingly well made, with engrossing plots, plush scenery, and sumptuous Max Steiner music. Yes, Troy wasn’t a great actor—I get that, but he was a likable, good-looking chap. In Parrish, he and his mother (Claudette Colbert) move to Connecticut to work for tobacco farmer Dean Jagger. While Parrish (Troy) tries to figure out what to do with his life, he romances a sharecropper’s daughter (Connie Stevens), a rich bad girl (Diane McBain), and a richer good girl (Sharon Hugueny). He also has to cope with a villainous tobacco magnate (delightfully overplayed by Karl Malden), who has eyes for Parrish’s mother. It’s such fun that just writing about it puts me in the mood to watch it again.

27. The List of Adrian Messenger – John Huston’s 1963 mystery is best known for its gimmick: several famous stars make cameos in heavy make-up. While trying to spot the stars is undeniably fun, the gimmick disguises the fact that The List of Adrian Messenger is a highly-entertaining, crafty film that starts as a mystery and evolves into a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game. In the opening scenes, author Adrian Messenger provides a list of ten names to his friend Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott), a former MI5 operative, and asks him to quietly find out if the ten people on the list are still alive. Gethryn agrees to undertake the assignment. A few days later, a bomb explodes aboard a plane carrying Adrian as a passenger. Based on a 1959 novel by mystery author and screenwriter Philip MacDonald, The List of Adrian Messenger borrows the killer’s motive from another famous detective novel (no spoilers here!). But the “why” is only part of the fun in The List of Adrian Messenger. It’s the “how” that differentiates it from other mysteries. Among his many skills, the murderer, played delightfully by Kirk Douglas, is also a master of disguises. That provides the opportunity for Douglas to don a number of incredible “looks” designed by make-up master Bud Westmore. Thus, the killer appears as a pointy-chinned priest, a short mousey man, a white-haired elderly villager, and others.

James Stewart learns a little detail
he wishes he hadn't learned.

26. The Flight of the Phoenix – Director Robert Aldrich bookends The Flight of the Phoenix with a wild airplane crash and an exhilarating climax. But it’s the drama in-between that makes the film so fascinating: the friction among the survivors; their audacious plan to reach civilization again; and a brilliant plot twist that comes out of nowhere. Despite the presence of stars James Stewart, Peter Finch, and supporting actor Oscar nominee Ian Bannen, the cast standouts are Hardy Kruger and Richard Attenborough. Kruger creates an unforgettable character as a quiet, bespeckled German who proposes an incredible plan to save the plane crash survivors—he's irritating, childish, determined, and innovative. It’s a well-rounded performance matched by Attenborough’s wonderfully understated turn. As the unassuming man who holds everyone together, Attenborough’s character soothes egos and forges unlikely alliances in the best interests of the group.

25. The Magnificent Seven – At the risk of offending Kurosawa fans, I’ll confide that I prefer this Western remake of The Seven Samurai to the original film. Don’t get me wrong—The Seven Samurai is an impressive cinematic achievement and certainly the more important of the two films. I just don’t find it as entertaining as John Sturges’s crisp, energetic Western. Yul Brynner stars as the down-on-his-luck gunfighter hired by a small, poor Mexican village to defend it from bandits. My favorite part of the film (no surprise to Café regulars) is when Yul recruits the rest of the reluctant heroes—played by the likes of Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, and James Coburn. Toss in Eli Wallach as the despicable outlaw and Horst Buchholz as a young whippersnapper and you’ve got one of the all-time great casts. As an added bonus, Elmer Bernstein provides an incredible music score, capped with the rousing title theme.

24. Enter the Dragon – In the early 1970s, Bruce Lee, frustrated with the lack of decent roles, decided to take the “Clint Eastwood path” to Hollywood stardom. He left the U.S. and returned to Hong Kong to make a couple of inexpensive martial arts films. Two worldwide smashes later, Hollywood came calling—offering the lead in a James Bond-style martial arts adventure. Warner Bros. hedged its bets by casting a well-known American actor (John Saxon) and an African American real-life karate champ (Jim Kelly). Still, Enter the Dragon was clearly tailored for Lee, who plays a martial artist hired to infiltrate a super villain’s island fortress by participating in a fight tournament. A near-perfect action film, Enter the Dragon never takes itself too seriously and showcases Lee’s natural charisma and humor. It’s interesting to ponder Lee’s career arc had he lived longer--would he have alternated polished films like this with his own more personal pictures (e.g., Way of the Dragon)?

The bell tower climax--yes, it was
filmed indoors.

23. Black Narcissus – Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger’s masterpiece follows a group of nuns who are sent to a remote Himalayan village to establish a school and hospital. These new surroundings stir repressed emotions in several of the nuns, ultimately leading to tragedy. Powerful and understated, Black Narcissus is anchored by a brilliant performance by Deborah Kerr and a compelling one from Kathleen Byron (whose acting career petered out all too quickly). Technically, the film is an incredible achievement. Many of the outdoor scenes, to include the stunning tower climax, were filmed inside a studio using “glass shots” and miniatures designed by Alfred Junge. Jack Cardiff’s color cinematography is often touted as the best example of the Technicolor process. Both Junge and Cardiff earned well-deserved Oscars.

22. The Long, Hot Summer – This engrossing trip into William Faulkner's South stars Paul Newman as drifter Ben Quick, the son of a barn burner (which makes one instantly unpopular). Ben arrives in the small hamlet of Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi, where bigger-than-life Will Varner (Orson Welles) owns just about everything. Varner, who recently recovered from a heart attack, is obsessed with getting "some more Varners" in the way of grandchildren. His weak-willed son Jody (Tony Franciosa) isn't making much progress with his pretty, but somewhat flighty wife Eula (Lee Remick). So, Varner is determined that his smart, headstrong daughter Clara (Woodward) get married. And if it's not to her long time, would-be suitor Alan (Richard Anderson)...than it may as well be to that ambitious "big stud horse" Ben Quick. The near-perfect cast brings these colorful characters to life, to include Angela Lansbury as Varner's mistress. The lively exchanges between Newman and Welles are a joy to behold (Varner to Ben: "I've been watching you. I like your push, yes. I like your style. I like your brass. It ain't too dissimilar from the way I operate.") But the heart of the film is the sparkling chemistry between Newman and Woodward; they were married the same year the movie was released. My favorite scene is an exchange between them in a general store, which goes from playful to surprisingly enlightening.

Pongo and Perdy get married with
their owners (in background).

21. 101 Dalmatians – Easily my favorite Disney animated feature, it puzzles me that 101 Dalmatians is rarely mentioned among the Disney “classics” like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, and Pinocchio. Set in London, the well-known plot traces the courtship and marriage of Dalmatians Pongo and Perdy (and their human “pets” Roger and Anita). It’s a happy home until Anita’s wealthy “friend” Cruella De Vil pays a visit and decides that Perdita’s puppies would make “such perfectly beautiful coats.” When Roger and Anita rebuff Cruella’s offer to buy the puppies, her bumbling goons Horace and Jasper kidnap the pups. It’s a well-paced, entertaining story rich with fully developed characters. Even the puppies get memorable personalities, with my favorite of the litter being the plump Rollie who spouts classic lines like: “I’m so hungry I could eat an elephant” and (a few minutes later) “I’m hungry, Mother…I really am.” Anyone who has loved a dog will appreciate the care with which the animators have captured canine traits. Pongo drags Roger mercilessly on walks, shakes off water vigorously when wet, and sticks his butt in the air when getting playful.

Next month, we reach the Top 20 as this countdown nears its conclusion. The next ten movies will include appearances by Gene Tierney (but not Laura), Cary Grant (in a non-Hitchcock role), an eccentric Scotland Yard inspector, and perhaps the longest sword fight on film.

The 5 Best "Let's Form a Team!" Movies

Call it the Robin Hood Syndrome. But ever since I saw The Adventures of Robin Hood as a wee lad, I've been intrigued by movies where the hero forms a team to go battle the bad guys, steal something valuable, or liquidate a witch. It's important to note that the team can't be formed already at the beginning of the film--the fun is with watching the assorted characters join up one by one. Here are the five best films in this made-up genre:

Robin meets Little John.

1. The Adventures of Robin Hood. It's the one that started it all, so it has to be No. 1. Plus, it boasts one of the finest casts ever assembled and features some of the genre's best meets--the scenes where each individual joins the team. We're treated to the fight on the bridge between Flynn's Robin and Alan Hale's Little John, followed by the swordfight between Robin and Eugene Pallette's Friar Tuck. It doesn't get any better!

Yul and Steve, the first two of the Seven.

2. The Magnificent Seven. With apologies to Mr. Kurosawa, I prefer the supporting characters in this Western remake of The Seven Samurai: James Coburn is the quiet, deadly knife-thrower; Robert Vaughn the gunfighter who has lost his nerve; Charles Bronson the tough guy who loves kids; and Horst Bucholtz the young whippersnapper eager to join the team. Throw in Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, and an awesome Elmer Bernstein theme and you have a film that challenges Robin for the top spot. (For the record, Brad Dexter is the seventh team member...but he's the one no one remembers.)

3. The Andromeda Strain. When a satellite returns to Earth with an unknown (alien?) organism, a team of scientists converge on a biological threat containment lab in Nevada, The Wildfire team consists of: Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill), the leader; Ruth Levitt (Kate Reid), the cynic; Mark Hall (James Olson), the passionate physician; and Charlie Dutton (David Wayne), the skeptic who wonders if their goal should be destroying Andromeda. You could say that there’s a fifth member of the team and that’s the Wildfire lab itself. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is a virtual tour of the five-level, underground facility as the team goes through decontamination and immunization procedures.

Savalas, Bronson, and Trini Lopez.

4. The Dirty Dozen. Tough-as-nails Army major Lee Marvin recruits 12 convicts--doing hard time or sentenced for hanging--to go on a suicide mission during World War II. Overall, the cast and characters aren't as memorable as the preceding films, but it's an incredibly entertaining picture with an amusing first half and an exciting finish. The members of the Dozen who stand out include Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, Bronson again, and John Cassavetes.

5. The Five Man Army. A Spaghetti Western (co-written by Dario Argento) in which Peter Graves plays a mysterious man called The Dutchman (he's not Dutch, though) who recruits four other guys to rob a train guarded by most of the Mexican Army. The cast is "B" grade, but the characters and performers mesh quite well, including James Daly as The Colonel, Tetsuro Tamba as a samurai, and Bud Spencer in his typical role of gruff brute. The train robbery itself is worthy of a heist from Graves' TV series Mission: Impossible.

Special Honorable Mention: The Wizard of Oz. This classic would rank in the list above if Dorothy had set out to intentionally form a team. Still, she does form a team, the members bond together, and--when one of their own is captured--the remaining teammates execute a rescue mission. As with Robin Hood, the splendid cast embodies the lovable characters perfectly and the "meet scenes" are the most memorable in this genre.

Other Honorable Mentions: The Asphalt Jungle, Kelly's Heroes.

Three Not So Magnificent "Seven" Sequels

Recently, TCM ran a Magnificent Seven film festival beginning with John Sturges’ classic 1960 Western and was followed by the three sequels released between 1966 and 1972. Let me say upfront that The Magnificent Seven is one of my favorite Westerns…and also one of the finest adaptations of a foreign-language film. The brilliant premise—a poor Mexican village hires seven gunfighters to protect it from a marauding outlaw—was lifted intact from Akira Kurosawa’s stunning (though lengthy) The Seven Samurai. But Sturges and company make The Magnificent Seven memorable on its own merits, with a cast peppered with upcoming stars, a splendid villain played by Eli Wallach, and one of the most instantly-recognizable music scores in cinema history.

How could it all go so wrong in the three sequels? Return of the Seven, penned by the prolific Larry Cohen (e.g., It’s Alive), pretty much rehashes the first film. At least, Yul Brynner lends it some class by reprising his role as Chris Adams, the leader of the Seven. But part of the problem with doing a sequel is that four of the Seven died in the first picture, those played Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, and Brad Dexter (three of these four evolving into big-time film or TV stars). And, instead of Steve McQueen and Horst Buchholz as the remaining two Seven members, we get Robert Fuller (likable, but with little to do) as Vin and Julian Mateos (who?) as Chico. The plot has Chico taken captive by a powerful rancher who is “borrowing” villagers to a build a church to honor his dead sons. That’s kinda interesting, but it never gels. Instead, Chris and Vin recruit some new gunfighters (getting two from a local jail), rescue Chico, and engage into a big shootout. Even the reliable Warren Oates can’t do anything with a watered-down variation of Bronson’s character.

Despite George Kennedy replacing Yul Brynner as Chris, Guns of the Magnificent Seven is a marginal upgrade. Kennedy doesn’t wear Brynner’s all-black outfit (which seems a might hot in the desert anyway), but he does smoke cigars and keep his cohorts in line. His mission is to rescue a revolutionary leader being held prisoner in a well-guarded fortress. Beyond Chris, there’s no attempt to tie in characters from the previous films, so it’s pretty much an all-new Seven circa B-list actors: Monte Markham, a pleasant TV vet is almost too low-key in the McQueen-like role; the always reliable James Whitman is pretty good as a knife-throwing elderly gent (Coburn also favored knives in the original); and Joe Don Baker is over-the-top in a role that makes Vaughn’s intense gunslinger look laid back.

The Magnificent Seven Ride! is pretty much a sequel in name only and not nearly as exciting as the exclamation point would lead you to believe. Lee Van Cleef plays Chris, but you’d never know it was the same character. He’s a marshal now, married to Mariette Hartley, and smokes a pipe instead of a cigar (you know, like the pipe Lee smoked in his other Westerns). The plot begins as a revenge tale, then winds up with Chris deciding to protect a village of women from a nasty bandito. Since he needs some help, he goes to a nearby prison and picks up five convicts to go along with the author-turned-gunfighter who’s writing his biography! It’s a sloppy affair, as evidenced by the lightning speed with which Chris takes up with Stefanie Powers’ young widow after the violent death of his wife.

In summary, the Seven probably should have stayed home after the first film. That said, I will admit that the sequels all excelled in one area: Each of them featured a great musical score. The original one composed by Elmer Bernstein.