By Sabrina Cognata
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is considerably one of the greatest western flicks of all time. They certainly don’t make them like this anymore. I’m talking about both the movie and the actors. Gosh, the case of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is an array of masculinity forgotten in Hollywood, traded in for the beaming femininity of current heartthrobs Jonathan Rhys Meyer, Orlando Bloom and Jude Law. Too bad all of those guys cry a lot and worry about their fashion sense and have absolutely no idea how to be manly—maybe it’s the fact that all of them are British, but that is an argument for another day.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is the story of a small town in Mexico terrorized by Calvera (Eli Wallach) a terrible bandito and the wild pack that runs with him. Three town members happen to view Chris (Yul Brenner) and Vin (Steve McQueen) manage a wild crowd with ease. Chris gives hope to the town members. They approach him and ask for his help offering him the only the only thing they have left, a golden object along with food and board. Initially, Chris says he isn’t interested, but after listening to their situation he laments and eventually agrees to help and enlists a group of able-bodied men to help him in his quest to save this town from Calvera.
Immediately, Chris acquires the best and the brightest men in town. He talks Vin into helping him along with Harry Luck (Brad Dexter), Bernardo O’Reilly (Charles Bronson), Lee (Robert Vaughn), and Britt (James Coburn). While Vin assembles his team, there’s a young local boy, Chico (Horsct Buchholz) that continues to badger Vin for a place on the team. On their way to Mexico, the group sees Chico fishing by a river and they finally ask him to join them.
The seven venture together as a team to train the townspeople to fight against Calvera and his men. While preparing, they relocate the women, hidden on the outskirts of town and put them to work cooking, cleaning and basically being women in a society deprived of females. One particular girl takes a fancy to Chico and goes out of her way to persuade him into liking her. Chico, however, is particularly enamored with the idea of being a hero and delusions of his own grandeur. Meanwhile, Bernardo being half-Irish/half-Mexican begins to feel a particular kinship with the people and children of the town, going out of his way to take up for them and even persuades the other six men into sharing their fancy meals with everyone in camp.
My favorite character is naturally Vin. Maybe it’s because I love Steve McQueen because he personifies sexy, cool and manly, but probably, it’s because of the cadence with which he portrays Vin. He has down all the nuances one would assume a cowboy should have, more than just speaking, but really moving around as though riding horses on a ranch is all he ever knew. His timing and delivery are incredible.
When Calvera finally shows up, the men are ready for battle and they drive him and his cavalry out of town. Chico decides to infiltrate his camp and hears that Calvera’s men have not eaten in three days and plan to return with a vengeance. Upon hearing this news from Chico, the men in town decide that fighting is useless and refuse to fight against Calvera anymore. Once Calvera returns he makes a deal with Chris, allowing the seven hired men to leave without their guns, which will be returned to them once they reach the outskirts of town. Chris agrees and once they leave he decides to attack Calvera on principle and in the name of freedom for all. Harry says he doesn’t want anything to do with it, and decides to leave.
The six return and begin attacking Calvera with the might of seven hundred men. Harry returns and is killed along with Lee, Britt, and Bernardo. Together the seven manage to dismantle Calvera’s army of men, even killing Calvera in the wake of the massacre and freeing the people from their impoverishment.