Guns of the Magnificent Seven

Dir: Paul Wendkos

1969

***

Paul Wendkos' take on the Magnificent Seven formula is very much the same as the two previous outings but with enough originality to stand on its own two feet. It's certainly more entertaining than the rather lethargic Return of the Seven. Yul Brynner finally hung up his Stetson and passed the character of Chris Adams to George Kennedy. Now, it was a little odd to see Robert Fuller replace Steve McQueen in the first sequel and even stranger to see the German actor Horst Buchholz replaced with Spaniard Julian Mateos but Brynner and Kennedy couldn't look, sound or act more differently from one another. I liked Brynner in the original and disliked him in the return, I have to say though I though Kennedy was more suited to the role in many respects and over all, I think I preferred his version. Guns of the Magnificent Seven sees far more character development than the previous films and I personally think there is more to this version of the seven than before. Apart from the returning Chris Adams the seven are made up of knife thrower Levi Morgan (played by the great James Whitmore who acted as the old man, even though he was only around 46 at the time), horse-thief Keno whom Adams saves from the gallows (played by Monte Markham), Matt Slater, a one armed side-show shooter and ex-confederate soldier with a chip on his shoulder (played by Joe Don Baker), Cassie, a muscular ex-slave with expertise in dynamite (played by Bernie Casey), PJ, a silent wrangler with tuberculosis (Scott Thomas) and Maximiliano (Reni Santoni), a young revolutionary who hires Adam in the first place to help him free his leader Quintero (played by Fernando Rey, who played a priest in Return of the Seven) from the imprisonment of one of President Diaz's more sadistic Federale generals. So instead of the Seven defending a village as they have done previously, this time round they essentially head a prison break. Their plan isn't great and the deaths let the film down but at least if feels a little more original. The rivalry between the ex-slave and the ex-confederate soldier is interesting and it is nice to have a Zapata western that actually features Zapata himself. Zapata is seen as a young boy whose father is captured and eventually freed by the seven, so no seven, no revolution. It really isn't bad at all for a shoe-string Spaghetti Western sequel that is exploiting a well-trodden formula and brand name.