Return of the Seven
Encyclopedia
Return of the Seven is the first sequel to the 1960 western
, The Magnificent Seven
. Made in 1966, Yul Brynner
is the sole returning cast member from the first film, portraying Chris Adams.
Robert Fuller
assumes the role of Vin from Steve McQueen
. Various stories say that McQueen was either too busy a star in 1966, that Brynner wanted him back but McQueen hated the script, or that Brynner disliked him and refused to have him in the film.
The film was written by Larry Cohen
and directed by Burt Kennedy
, and features Warren Oates
, Claude Akins
, Jordan Christopher, and Julian Mateos
(as Chico, replacing Horst Buchholz
). Emilio Fernández
is the villain. Fernando Rey
portrays a priest. Rey was in the next film, Guns of the Magnificent Seven
, as a different character.
Since the movie was filmed in Spain, this film may be considered, along with Guns of the Magnificent Seven, as a European or spaghetti western
.
The six men discover that the missing villagers are being used as slave labor to rebuild a desert village and church as a memorial to the dead sons of wealthy rancher Lorca. In a surprise attack, the six force Lorca's men to leave, and, with Chico, prepare for a counterattack. The cowed farmers offer no assistance, but the seven defenders successfully repulse Lorca's initial attack. The rancher then gathers all of the men on his land to rout the seven.
The situation seems bleak until Manuel discovers a supply of dynamite which the seven use in a counteroffensive. They are eventually overrun, but Chris emerges victorious from a shootout with Lorca. The rancher's gang flee, leaving Frank, Luis, and Manuel dead in the fighting. Chico plans to resettle the village on Lorca's fertile land, and Colbee remains to help teach the villagers how to defend themselves against future attacks - and pursue the available women. Chris and Vin once more ride off as the church bell rings seven times.
calling it "unsatisfactory ... plodding, cliche-ridden". However, composer Elmer Bernstein
received an Academy Award nomination for his score.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
. Made in 1966, Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
is the sole returning cast member from the first film, portraying Chris Adams.
Robert Fuller
Robert Fuller (actor)
Robert Fuller is an American former television Western actor and current rancher. In his five decades of television, he's best known for starring roles on the popular 1960s western series Laramie as Jess Harper, and Wagon Train as Cooper Smith, as well as his work for his lead role, Dr...
assumes the role of Vin from Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
. Various stories say that McQueen was either too busy a star in 1966, that Brynner wanted him back but McQueen hated the script, or that Brynner disliked him and refused to have him in the film.
The film was written by Larry Cohen
Larry Cohen
Lawrence G. "Larry" Cohen is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known as a B-Movie auteur of horror and science fiction films - often containing a police procedural element - during 1970s and 1980s...
and directed by Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy was an American screenwriter and director known for mainly directing film Westerns.After World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division, Muskegon, Michigan-born Kennedy found work writing for radio, then used his training as a cavalry officer to secure a job as a fencing trainer and...
, and features Warren Oates
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
, Claude Akins
Claude Akins
Claude Marion Akins was an American actor with a long career on stage, screen and television.Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best remembered as Sheriff Lobo in the 1970s TV series...
, Jordan Christopher, and Julian Mateos
Julián Mateos
Julián Mateos was a Spanish actor and film producer. He appeared in 48 films and television shows between 1960 and 1980. He starred in the film The Robbers, which was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* The Robbers * 10:30 P.M...
(as Chico, replacing Horst Buchholz
Horst Buchholz
Horst Werner Buchholz was a German actor, remembered for his part in The Magnificent Seven and Nine Hours to Rama. He appeared in over sixty films during his acting career from 1952–2002.-Life and work:...
). Emilio Fernández
Emilio Fernández
Emilio "El Indio" Fernández was an actor, screenwriter and director of the cinema of Mexico. He is best known for his work as director of the film Maria Candelaria which won the Grand Prix at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.-Early life:Fernández was born in Mineral del Hondo, Coahuila...
is the villain. Fernando Rey
Fernando Rey
Fernando Casado Arambillet , best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States...
portrays a priest. Rey was in the next film, Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Guns of the Magnificent Seven is a Zapata Western and the second sequel to the 1960 western film, The Magnificent Seven ....
, as a different character.
Since the movie was filmed in Spain, this film may be considered, along with Guns of the Magnificent Seven, as a European or spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
.
Plot
Fifty gunmen force all of the men in a small Mexican village to ride off with them into the desert. Among the captured farmers is Chico, who years before was one of seven men responsible for ridding the village of a tyrannical bandit. Chico's wife, Petra, seeks out the other members of the band of whom only two, Chris and Vin, survive. She begs them to save the village once more. To replace the deceased members of the group, Chris buys the release of Frank and Luis, held in the local jail, and also recruits Colbee, a ladies' man and deadly gunman, and Manuel, a young bullfighter.The six men discover that the missing villagers are being used as slave labor to rebuild a desert village and church as a memorial to the dead sons of wealthy rancher Lorca. In a surprise attack, the six force Lorca's men to leave, and, with Chico, prepare for a counterattack. The cowed farmers offer no assistance, but the seven defenders successfully repulse Lorca's initial attack. The rancher then gathers all of the men on his land to rout the seven.
The situation seems bleak until Manuel discovers a supply of dynamite which the seven use in a counteroffensive. They are eventually overrun, but Chris emerges victorious from a shootout with Lorca. The rancher's gang flee, leaving Frank, Luis, and Manuel dead in the fighting. Chico plans to resettle the village on Lorca's fertile land, and Colbee remains to help teach the villagers how to defend themselves against future attacks - and pursue the available women. Chris and Vin once more ride off as the church bell rings seven times.
Reception
The film was critically panned, with industry journal VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
calling it "unsatisfactory ... plodding, cliche-ridden". However, composer Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
received an Academy Award nomination for his score.
Cast
- Yul BrynnerYul BrynnerYul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
... Chris Adams - Robert FullerRobert Fuller (actor)Robert Fuller is an American former television Western actor and current rancher. In his five decades of television, he's best known for starring roles on the popular 1960s western series Laramie as Jess Harper, and Wagon Train as Cooper Smith, as well as his work for his lead role, Dr...
... Vin - Julián MateosJulián MateosJulián Mateos was a Spanish actor and film producer. He appeared in 48 films and television shows between 1960 and 1980. He starred in the film The Robbers, which was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* The Robbers * 10:30 P.M...
... Chico - Warren OatesWarren OatesWarren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
... Colbee - Claude AkinsClaude AkinsClaude Marion Akins was an American actor with a long career on stage, screen and television.Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best remembered as Sheriff Lobo in the 1970s TV series...
... Frank - Elisa Montés ... Petra, Chico's Wife
- Fernando ReyFernando ReyFernando Casado Arambillet , best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States...
... Priest - Emilio FernándezEmilio FernándezEmilio "El Indio" Fernández was an actor, screenwriter and director of the cinema of Mexico. He is best known for his work as director of the film Maria Candelaria which won the Grand Prix at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.-Early life:Fernández was born in Mineral del Hondo, Coahuila...
... Francisco Lorca - Virgilio TeixeiraVirgilio Teixeira (actor)Virgilio Delgado Teixeira was a Portuguese film, television and stage actor, known for roles in both Portuguese and American films. He was known as a Portuguese "hearthrob" and a leading actor during the 1940s and 1950s....
... Luis Emilio Delgado - Rodolfo Acosta ... Lopez
- Jordan Christopher ... Manuel
- Gracita Sacromonte ... Flamenco Dancer
- Carlos Casaravilla ... First Peon
- Ricardo Palacios ... Jailer
- Felisa Jiminez ... Female Prisoner