The beginning of The Magnificent Seven, sets the tone for the rest of the movie. A funeral director refuses to bury an Indian, because the townspeople are against it. Chris Larabee Adams, played by Yul Brynner, steps in. He says he’ll take the Indian up to be buried. He takes the hearse to the cemetery, with Vin Tanner, played by Steve McQueen, riding shotgun. They are followed by the townsfolk, and met by a few at the cemetery, with guns. Adams shoots two of the men, and gets out and asks for six men, to bury the body. After this, Adams is sought out by men from a Mexican village, that is being harassed by a gang of bandits; led by Calvera, played by Eli Wallach. Adams decides to help out the villagers, with the help of six men, Vin Tanner, Chico, Bernardo O’Reilly, Lee, Harry Luck and Britt. Adams and his men train the villagers in firearms and wait for the bandits return. Eli Wallach and company return and are greeted by Adams, his men and very angry villagers. The bandits are beaten, but the villagers and Adams know they will be back. Unfortunately the villagers allow the bandits to come back, and Yul Brynner and company are taken by surprise. Calvera lets them leave, thinking that they won’t return, but like most screen villains, underestimates the good guys. They come back, and the villagers have a change of heart. There is a good old fashioned western shoot ‘em up, ending in Calvera and his gang dying, as well as four of The Magnificent seven, with Adams, Tanner and Chico surviving. After the three survivors bury their comrades, Adams and Tanner head back to the states and Chico stays back with Petra, the village woman that he loves.
All of the principles involved are good, but Yul Brynner stands out as Chris Larabbee Adams, the good guy wearing the black hat. He had other good movies, The King and I and Anastasia among them, but fits well into this western, as the calm cool gunfighter, who fights the good fight.
There are other good performances as well. Eli Wallach is good as Calvera. He does his best at menacing the villagers and keeping Yul Brynner’s character on his toes. Steve McQueen does well as Vin Tanner, Adams right hand man. Charles Bronson is good as Bernardo O’Reilly bonding with the children and disciplining them, when they call the adults cowards. He has a good scene when he dies defending the children. James Cogburn is good as a gunfighter/knife fighter. He is good in a scene in a gunfight/knife fight, where he reluctantly kills a man over a dispute involving knife and bullet targets. Brad Dexter who plays Harry Luck, has a good scene where he comes back to the village after saying no to Adams. He comes in guns blazing, getting a few bandits, before being fatally wounded.
It can be difficult for a director to remake an excellent film. John Sturges has done this, taking The Seven Samurai and changing the locale to the west. He gets the best out of Yul Brynner and Eli Wallach. There is a scene at the end, that sums up the life of a gunfighter. When the survivors are leaving, Chico looks back and sees Petra, he doesn’t say anything; he just looks at Adams and Tanner for approval. They give looks of approval, and he joins her, giving him a better life than Adams and Tanner. This could have been just another run of the mill western, but because of John Sturges, it isn’t.
Many westerns were made in Hollywood. The Magnificent Seven was done when they were a Hollywood staple. The great theme by Elmer Bernstein, is one of the many reasons, along with the acting and directing, that this film is often hailed as one of the great westerns. It definitely deserves a place in the discussion.