NEVER SO FEW & THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN!

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Captain Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) and his band of skilled O.S.S. operatives are in WWII Burma to train the Kachin natives in modern warfare. But jungle combat, particularly against a Japanese army who is as familiar with the terrain as the Kachin proves to be more grueling than Reynolds had realized. Some respite is found in romantic arms of beautiful Carla, (Gina Lollobrigida) but after Chinese rebels cross the border to loot and murder American soldiers, Reynolds abandons all notions of "military protocol" and seeks requital. For a very hungry actor, McQueen's determination nearly steals the picture in his small role from Sinatra. However, Sinatra grew to like McQueen and after filming was completed, Steve and first wife Neille were flown by Sinatra to New York for a holiday. The year was 1959. Director: John Sturges; Writers: Tom T. Chamales (novel) and Millard Kaufman; The Cast includes: Frank Sinatra as Captain Tom Reynolds; Gina Lollobrigida as Carla Vesari; Peter Lawford as Capt. Grey Travis; Steve McQueen as Corporal Bill Ringa (his comments about New York are hilarious in the Jeep); Richard Johnson as Captain Danny De Mortimer; Paul Henreid as Nikko Regas; Brian Donlevy as General Sloan; a surprising appearance by Dean Jones as Sergeant Jim Norby; and Charles Bronson as Sergeant John Danforth.

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This is a fitting beginning for our 2nd Annual Virtual "Steve McQueen Film Festival" for 2007. We see a tremendous potential in McQueen and how he develops his career forward from here.

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WELCOME TO ALL!

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This 1960 film is a remake of ''The Seven Samurai'', albeit, with the American version (thanks to visionary Walter Mirisch) with this All-Star Cast! We have: Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Eli Wallach and Steve McQueen and James Coburn as hired guns to guard a Mexican village from Banditos that come every now and then to take whatever the town has grown since their last visit. When they are hired, they go to the town and teach the villagers how to defend themselves. "We lost. We always lose." This was how Yul Brynner summarized the fate of men who kill for hire, knowing their lot is to look at life from the outside-in---until they too are killed. Credit this as a direct ancestor of Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven". Director John Sturges reveals the empty sacrifice and unfulfilled yearnings of the characters glorified---or demonized by most Westerns. Following in the footsteps of "The Seven Samurai", these seven Actors display all the virtues of the hero's code: honoring women, showing kindness to children and compassion to the peasants who hire them, modelling at all times the enigmatic self-sufficiency that lies at the heart of a Western romance. And they kill plenty of bad guys. Yul Brynner is riveting and blunt; Steve McQueen (as he always did) made the most of his understated role with those facial expressions and antics--all unscripted. James Coburn, is wippy-legged and steely-eyed, and a convincing Charles Bronson, is the lost soul who comes close to joining the human fold. Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz round out the pantheon. Brynner and McQueen had a well publicized falling out and ended up actually hating each other during this film! Not to be missed: When McQueen and Brynner are sitting atop a hearse and Steve begins playing with his hat and jiggling a handful of bullets in his right hand between re-loads (this was actually meant to get under Brynner's craw and it almost did)! This is a fun film as the group assembles and you will enjoy seeing each when they were young. Only Robert Vaughn survives today. Eli Wallach, interestingly enough was paired with Steve here and in his last film, "The Hunter" in 1980. McQueen loved working with Director John Sturges, who keeps the tension keyed up high and the action moving. Most of you probably don't recall cigarette commercials on TV, but Elmer Bernstein's score for this film was used for Marlborough cigarettes. As McQueen says to Brynner: "Let her buck".

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(Enjoy!)