Seven Heaven

We’d like to usher you down this side aisle in the Moviehouse before the curtain opens on the main feature. It looks like someone left a book on this seat, a dog-eared copy of Red Harvest, a 1929 detective novel by Dashiell Hamett, the author who created Sam Spade (in The Maltese Falcon) and Nick and Nora Charles (in The Thin Man). Pulitzer Prize-winning French writer André Gide called Red Harvest “a remarkable achievement, the last word in atrocity, cynicism, and horror.”

Most film scholars and critics believe that Red Harvest was the inspiration for Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s 1961 samurai film “Yojimbo” (pictured below) starring Toshiro Mifune as a wandering ronin who plays both ends against the middle in a village ruled by two rival crime lords,

In turn, “Yojimbo” inspired the 1964 spaghetti western “A Fistful of Dollars” (pictured below), directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his breakout role as a roving gunfighter who plays competing outlaw gangs against each other in a Mexican border town.

“Yojimbo” got the science-fiction treatment in 1984’s “The Warrior and the Sorceress,” written by William Stout, a noted comic book artist and fantasy illustrator, and featuring David Carrading as an errant mercenary named Kain (not to be confused with Caine, the errant Shaolin monk Carradine played on TV’s “Kung Fu”) who finds himself on a desert planet dominated by rival warlords.

The film seldomly gets aired on television because Argentine actress Maria Socas portrays a rebel leader topless through the entire picture (pictured below). When executive producer Roger Corman changed the title from “Kain from Dark Planet” to “The Warrior and the Sorceress,” writer William Stout protested, “But, Roger, there’s no sorceress in the movie!” “That’s okay, Bill,” Corman replied. “The object of the title is to get butts into seats. Once they’ve paid their money and their butts are in those seats, it doesn’t matter if the film’s got a sorceress or not. Plus that title means we can put a scantily clad sorceress on the movie’s poster.”

In 1996, writer-producer-director Walter Hill (“Broken Trail”) crafted a credited remake of “Yojimbo,” transplanting the action to a dusty border town in 1930s Prohibition era Texas, in “Last Man Standing” (pictured below), a rousing shoot-‘em-up featuring Bruce Willis as a mysterious gun-flashing loner. Inevitably, the story closely replicates “A Fistful of Dollars,” and the supporting cast boasts outstanding performances by Bruce Dern, David Patrick Kelly, and, especially, Christopher Walken, as a raspy machine gunner who says, “I don’t want to die in Texas. Chicago, maybe, but not Texas.”

Believe us that there was a purpose for the stops we made down this side aisle as they provided an enlightening introduction to the diverse paths one filmmaker can inspire, particularly when Akira Kurosawa is the font of inspiration. “Seven Samurai” (1954), Kurosawa’s first samurai epic, unleashed Toshiro Mifune in his breakthrough role as the rabid misfit who throws in with a handful of masterless ronin to protect impoverished farmers from marauding bandits in a rural mountain village.

The film was going to be called “Six Samurai,” according to Mifune, who was originally cast as the stone-faced swordsman named Kyuzo, but Kurosawa and his screenwriters came to the conclusion, in Mifune’s words, “six sober samurai were a bore – they needed a character that was more off-the-wall,” and the actor was given creative license to improvise his performance as the temperamental, volatile Kikuchiyo (pictured below).

Without a doubt, Toshiro Mifune achieved more worldwide renown than any other Japanese actor. Aside from acting in seemingly countless Japanese films, including 16 collaborations with director Akira Kurosawa, Mifune became a familiar presence in a number of western productions, including “Grand Prix” (in an international cast featuring James Garner, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, and Antonio Sabato), “Hell in the Pacific” (costarring fellow World War II veteran Lee Marvin), “Red Sun” (deemed by some wits as “Seven Samurai Meets Magnificent Seven” since the western teamed Mifune with “The Magnificent Seven’s” Charles Bronson), “Midway” (as Admiral Yamamoto), “1941” (as the submarine commander),and the miniseries “Shogun” (as Lord Toranaga), starring Richard Chamberlain.

Charles Bronson, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress, and Toshiro Mifune share the
screen in "Red Sun," directed by Terence Young (best known as the director of
the 007 films "Dr. No," "From Russia with Love," and "Thunderball").

Toshiro Mifune took great pains to learn English phonetically, and he was continually disappointed when his voice was dubbed over in his western films, more often than not by voice-over actor Paul Frees (best known as the voice of Boris Badenov on “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show”).  Directed by Steven Spielberg, “1941” stands out as the only American motion picture that utilized the actor’s own voice.

Toshiro Mifune and Christopher Lee consult Steven Spielberg's storyboards for "1941."

In 1960, “Seven Samurai” was famously remade as the Hollywood western “The Magnificent Seven,” starring Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, and Steve McQueen. Former blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein was hired to faithfully adapt the original Japanese script. When executive producer Walter Mirisch took over production, screenwriter Walter Newman (“Cat Ballou”) created the version that largely made it to the screen. When Newman was unable to be on-location, screenwriter William Roberts was hired, in part, to make changes requested by Mexican censors. Roberts subsequently asked the Writers Guild of America for an onscreen credit, prompting Newman to request his name be yanked from the credits. In any event, the opening credits for “The Magnificent Seven” prominently state, “This picture is based on the Japanese film ‘Seven Samurai.’”

Although they had been working actors before being cast in "The Magnificent
Seven," for Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, and James Coburn,
the film transformed them into breakthrough movie stars.

Akira Kurosawa purportedly found “The Magnificent Seven” entertaining but was disappointed. He asserted, “It is no version of ‘Seven Samurai.’” Before his death in 1998, Kurosawa compiled a list of his 100 favorite films, among them director John Ford’s 1946 western “My Darling Clementine,” starring Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp and Victor Mature as Doc Holliday. It’s no secret that Kurosawa’s filmic language was influenced in part by the vistas splashed across the screen in American westerns, “particularly,” according to writer Stephen Garrard, “those of auteur John Ford. In a number of his samurai-based (films)…Kurosawa incorporates stunning western influenced imagery.” Garrard added, “As Kurosawa was influenced by westerns, in turn his work influenced the genre.”

“The Magnificent Seven” was inevitably followed by three sequels, each one a bigger disappointment than its predecessor. His career undeniably backsliding, Yul Brynner reprised his role as world-weary gunslinger Chris in “Return of the Seven” (1966), while Robert Fuller, star of TV westerns “Laramie” and “Wagon Train,” replaced Steve McQueen (pictured above). Also saddling up were veteran sagebrush character actors Warren Oates and Claude Akins. Storied Mexican actor and filmmaker Emilio Fernandez (best known as the slovenly, lecherous General Mapache in Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch”) played the bandit chieftain.

Composer Elmer Bernstein received Oscar nominations for his scores for both
the original "The Magnificent Seven" and "Return of the Seven." The main theme
for "The Magnificent Seven" became so popular that Philip Morris adopted it for
commercials for Marlboro cigarettes, even vending an LP of Marlboro Country
music. The subsequent sequels featured copycat scores credited to Bernstein.

Directed by Burt Kennedy (“Support Your Local Sheriff”), “Return of the Seven” was written by Larry Cohen, who would make a name for himself in the 1970s and ‘80s as the B-movie auteur of such lurid thrillers as “It’s Alive,” “God Told Me To,” “Q: The Winged Serpent,” and “The Stuff.”

A hefty George Kennedy lumbered into the role of Chris in 1969’s “Guns of the Magnificent Seven” (pictured above), directed by TV ham-and-egger Paul Wendkos. The seven included James Whitmore, Bernie Casey (in his film debut), Reni Santoni (most recognizable as Clint Eastwood’s partner in “Dirty Harry”), and Joe Don Baker as a one-armed carnival sharpshooter. The villain was played by Michael Ansara, an all-too familiar face from television (“Broken Arrow,” “Star Trek,” “Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century”).

Lee Van Cleef, a longtime character villain in westerns (his is the first face onscreen in 1952’s “High Noon”) whose flagging career was revitalized with roles in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” starred as Chris in 1972’s “The Magnificent Seven Ride” (pictured above), directed by George McCowan, another TV journeyman. Along for the ride are Luke Askew and Ed Lauter. Look fast for Gary Busey as an outlaw punk. At this point in the franchise, the bargain-basement budget could only accommodate the casting of a workmanlike stunt man (known for “Scarface,” “True Lies,” “The Fast and the Furious,” and “Pearl Harbor”) as the bad guy.

Robert Vaughn played Circuit Judge Orrin Travis
on the shortlived TV series "The Magnificent Seven."

Robert Vaughn, who played the ill-fated gunfighter Lee in “The Magnificent Seven,” made a half dozen appearances on the TV series “The Magnificent Seven” (pictured below) as a circuit judge. Airing for two seasons on CBS from 1998 to 2000, the series featured Michael Biehn (Johnny Ringo in 1993’s “Tombstone,” with Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday) as Chris. Ron Perlman (best known as the screen’s “Hellboy” and as biker Clay Morrow on TV’s “Sons of Anarchy”) costarred as a gunslinger-turned-preacher.

In 1980, Robert Vaughn virtually repeated his role from the original “The Magnificent Seven” in his performance as Gelt, an intergalactic assassin with a price on his head, in “Battle Beyond the Stars,” producer Roger Corman’s version of “The Magnificent Seven” set in outer space. The campy cult favorite stars Richard Thomas (eager to make audiences forget John-Boy from Walton’s Mountain), John Saxon, George Peppard, and Sybil Danning.

Sybil Danning, Robert Vaughn, Darlanne Fluegel, and Richard Thomas
strategize interstellar war plans in "Battle Beyond the Stars."

Sybil Danning, a fan favorite in numerous sci-fi, fantasy, and action B-movies, brought her imposing assets (including incomparable 37 C-cups) to a sword-and-sandal variation on “The Magnificent Seven” called “The Seven Magnificent Gladiators,” starring Lou Ferrigno.

Sybil Danning is dressed to kill in "The Seven Magnificent Gladiators."

As a response to the success of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Conan” pictures, Ferrigno, a bodybuilder who once competed against Arnold and became a TV favorite as “The Incredible Hulk” (and later as himself on “The King of Queens”), went to Italy in the 1980s to star in a string of muscleman sagas, including “Hercules,” “The Adventures of Hercules,” and “Sinbad of the Seven Seas.” Like the immortal Steve Reeves before him, Lou’s voice was inevitably redubbed for these movies. Interestingly the supporting cast of “The Seven Magnificent Gladiators” (pictured below) included two veterans of earlier Italian-made “Hercules” films, Brad Harris and Dan Vadis.

Actually, “The Magnificent Seven” inspired several spaghetti sword-and-sandal epics, starting as early as 1962 with “Gladiators 7,” featuring Richard Harrison, an American actor who spent three decades in Italy as the star of several muscleman epics, spy flicks, and westerns.

Roger Browne, another American émigré who was busily employed in sword-and-sandal cinema (as well as serving as the president of the English Language Dubbers Association), starred in “Seven Rebel Gladiators,“ while the aforementioned Dan Vadis portrayed a character called Roccia (“The Rock”) in a series of Italian productions based on “The Magnificent Seven” in the mid-1960s, namely “The Ten Gladiators,” “Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators,” and “Triumph of the Ten Gladiators.”

After playing out his hand in sword-and-sandal epics and spaghetti westerns, Dan
Vadis became a familiar face in Clint Eastwood's stock company, with roles in "High
Plains Drifter," "The Gauntlet," "Every Which Way But Loose," "Any Which Way You
Can," and "Bronco Billy" (pictured above). "The Seven Magnificent Gladiators" was
his last film. He was found dead in a car in the desert near Lancaster, California, the
apparent victim of a drug overdose. He was 49.

For the American drive-in theater audience, “The Magnificent Seven” was retooled in 1969 as “The Devil’s 8,” with Christopher George as a T-man who recruits a handful of convicts to break up a moonshine ring run by mobster Ralph Meeker. The cast featured teen idol Fabian, Tom Nardini (best known as Jackson Two-Bears in “Cat Ballou”), and Larry Bishop, son of Rat Packer Joey Bishop and a familiar face in biker films of the 1960s and ‘70s. “The Devil’s 8” was the first screenwriting credit for John Milius and Willard Huyck, the latter best known for his work on the script for “American Graffiti.”

John Milius later said “The Devil’s 8” was a deliberate attempt to copy “The Dirty Dozen,” which could arguably be considered a reworking of “The Magnificent Seven.” Milius joked that the movie was called “The Devil’s 8” “because they didn’t have enough money for a full dozen.” (Of course, “The Dirty Dozen” itself inspired a number of sequels and imitations.)

In December 2015, Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions released “The Ridiculous 6” exclusively on Netflix (pictured above). From a script by Sandler and longtime collaborator Tim Herlihy (who was the inspiration for Sandler’s “Saturday Night Live” character “The Herlihy Boy”) and directed by Frank Coraci, who worked with Sandler on “The Wedding Singer,” “The Waterboy,” “Click,” and “Blended,” the goofy take on “The Magnificent Seven” teams Sandler with Terry Crews, Jorge Garcia (best known as Hurley on “Lost”), Taylor Lautner (best known as Jacob Black in “The Twilight Saga” film series), Rob Schneider (in an Adam Sandler movie? – what a surprise!), and Luke Wilson.

Sportscaster Dan Patrick takes a selfie in makeup as Abraham Lincoln
for "The Ridiculous 6."

The eclectic cast of “The Ridiculous 6” features Dan Aykroyd, Steve Buscemi, Whitney Cummings, Will Forte, Harvey Keitel, Jon Lovitz, Nick Nolte, Chris Parnell, Dan Patrick (as Abraham Lincoln), Blake Shelton (as Wyatt Earp), David Spade (as George Custer), Nick Swardson, Danny Trejo, John Turturro, Vanilla Ice (as Mark Twain), and Steve Zahn.

David Spade (as George Custer), Blake Shelton (as Wyatt
Earp), and Vanilla Ice (as Mark Twain) pose on the set of
"The Ridiculous 6."

Little is known about the upcoming remake of “The Magnificent Seven,” reuniting actor Denzel Washington with Antoine Fuqua, the director of “Training Day” and “The Equalizer.”

Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua are pictured on-location
for "Training Day" (2001).

Is it set in the Old West or is it an update? The cast includes Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio.

Postscript:

Calvera (Eli Wallach): "You came back...to a place like this. Why?"