7 Men from Now

This is one of my favorite westerns. Since it has been out of circulation until recently, few of the new generation have got to see it. Hopefully now that it has been restored on DVD it will receive its just desserts. If at all possible, see the wide-screen version. Budd Boetticher believed that as many shots as possible should be made outside. His movies have few interior scenes. He shot his best westerns in Lone Pine, California, second only to Utah's Mounument Valley for natural beauty that fulfills anyone's fantasy of how the Old West should appear on the big screen. "Seven Men From Now" also contains one of my favorite movie shots highlighting the genius of Boetticher. When Ben Stride (Randy Scott) draws against Bill Masters (Lee Marvin) the viewer never sees Stride draw. His/Her imagination must be used to visualize just how fast Stride's draw is. It's sort of like the old joke used on the Steve Allen Television Show by Don Knotts. He never moves his hands and asks the viewer, "Wanna see it again?"

These were the early days of Lee Marvin's film career when he was still trying to prove himself as a viable actor. In "Seven Men From Now" he succeeds beyond one's wildest expectations. Though he deserved the Oscar for "Cat Ballou" a few years later, he is actually better in "Seven Men From Now" than he was in that award-winning flick. After "Cat Ballou" his acting deteriorated somewhat, though from time to time he turned in an admirable performance especially in the neglected classic "Point Blank." Second only to Lee Marvin, is Randolph Scott who never gave a poor performance. He plays to perfection his role as a revenge seeking, self-pitying Marshall who still believes in fair play and romance. John Wayne was originally slotted for the role, but it is doubtful that even such a great actor as Wayne could have played Ben Stride the way he was meant to be portrayed, the way Randy Scott plays him. The finely honed well-written script is by Burt Kennedy who would go on to make one of the funniest westerns ever, "Support Your Local Sheriff." What a team Boetticher, Kennedy, and Scott made.

Though it is good to see the old cowboy star Don "Red" Barry on the big screen once more, his part as Bill Masters' weak-minded sidekick does not fit him. He is sadly miscast. A character actor such as Strother Martin would have fit the role much better.

This is one of those films not to be missed whether you're a western fan or not. It can be viewed repeatedly and enjoyed more each time.

John Wayne's Batjac productions was the producer of this fine B western and it shows the clout of star power. According to a book I have about those last three B western heroes, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy, Wayne liked the script and wanted to do it himself, but at the time was tied up with The Searchers. He peddled the script which he owned because Burt Kennedy who wrote it was under contract to Batjac and was doing it under Wayne's auspices to a number of people before getting Randolph Scott. When it premiered Wayne cursed himself that he hadn't done it.

If he had it would have become a classic like The Searchers. Wayne was at the height of his career at that point and Randolph Scott was doing good critically acclaimed, but B programmers that filled the second half of double bills at that time.

Hard to see how the Duke would have been better than Randolph Scott. He's a former sheriff out hunting the men who robbed a Wells Fargo express office and killed his wife who was working there. While on the hunt he runs into Walter Reed and Gail Russell who are a homesteader and wife traveling to California. Scott helps them out and rides along with them. Their story and his get enmeshed as the plot unfolds.

Gail Russell was a tragic figure who was a good friend of Wayne's. She had a lot of problems both emotional and with substance abuse. Like the Duke was wont to do, he gave her a part in this hoping for a comeback. Though she was good, it was not to be the case.

Her husband in the film, Walter Reed, got another chance to work with John Wayne this time in The Horse Soldiers as one of the officers on the raid that Wayne was leading. So did Stuart Whitman who has a bit role as a young army lieutenant. Their chemistry in The Comancheros was legendary.

Speaking of The Comancheros, Lee Marvin is memorable here as one of the villains with some highly mixed motives. And he too would get to work with John Wayne in the future.

Seven Men from Now is a fine film which but for a previous commitment could have been an A picture and a John Wayne classic. But Randolph Scott could hardly have been topped for the performance he gave.

I have a story to tell about this one. I had never heard of Bud Boetticher or "7 Men from Now" when I set out with my mom (a cool old lady) to Berkeley to see what was going on (she's from out of town). We found a schedule for the Pacific Film Archive and it said they were showing 2 westerns by Bud Boetticher and that he would be there. Well, I'm a sucker for meeting directors (very few crawl out to bask in the sun, it must be bad for their complexion) especially if they directed lots of b movies. They were showing "Bullfighter and the Lady" (also excellent) and "7 Men From Now." 7 Men is one of the best westerns I have ever seen, Lee Marvin and Randolph Scott are just terrific and the direction is amazing. I thought the kinetic energy combined with the extreme tension in the fights at the end were excellent. Now, after the show Boetticher and his wife showed up and Boetticher had some illuminating words to say. After that he met some of us in the audience, and I happened to mention how much I liked the scene where Gail Russell is in the wagon and puts out the candle and has a brief but oddly touching dialogue with Randolph Scott, who is lying under the wagon. What Boetticher said was "Yes, that's a much better way to do a sex scene, now isn't it?". When I reflected on this statement later, I realized what seemed casual at first was in fact a profound statement on film expression: Boetticher was telling me that what he was showing WAS sex. Maybe, I think he suggested, throbbing bodies and dim lights aren't sex at all. Maybe what so many people in my generation (I'm 25) take as naivete in classic films was....... dare I say it, TASTE AND STYLE???!!! Yes is the answer. And Boetticher's got both of them, hats off to him and everyone else involved in this fine film I hope everyone sees (and I hope I get a chance to see again and again).

While heading to Flora Vista, the coach of John Greer (Walter Reed) and his wife Annie Greer (Gail Russell) gets trapped in the mud and the former sheriff Ben Stride (Randolph Scott) helps the couple that invites him to ride together with them. Then they meet the strangers Bill Masters (Lee Marvin) and his partner Clete (Donald Barry) and Bill tells to the couple that Ben is tracking down the seven men that robbed the Well Fargo office in Silver Springs and killed his wife that worked in the office. Annie gets close to Ben, who feels responsible for the death of his beloved wife. During their journey, they have moments of tension with an attack of Indians and the interest of Bill in Annie, and Ben asks Bill and Clete to leave the couple. When they arrive in the boundary of Flora Vista, John discloses a secret to Ben.

"Seven Men From Now" is a solid western, with story and characters very well developed and outstanding performances. Randolph Scott performs a lonely rider thirsty to revenge the death of his wife, and Lee Marvin performs a great villain, as usual. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "7 Homens Sem Destino" ("7 Men Without Destiny")

Like McCrea, Scott did not become exclusively a Westerner until the mid-forties, but once established he became a Western star of distinction, achieving his best and most interesting roles as his career matured…

Scott was a great gentleman… It was simple for him to do the part because it was indeed the prime quality he brought to his many roles as lawman or lone rider… Scott's best work was the group of seven movies he made with director Budd Boetticher in the fifties…In these he obtained a new stature as the lone figure on a mission of vengeance or similar private quest, becoming a tougher, more forceful character, the archetype of the much-parodied image… As we all know, a man's actions are what make the man, and over and over again, Scott believed in courage… He believed in conspicuous displays of courage… And finally he rounded off this splendid climax to a long career by starring with Joel McCrea in "Ride the High Country."

Boetticher's style was marvelously simple and economical, sticking closely to the same plots, locations and character types in each of his Westerns and stressing movement and action rather than ideas…

Budd Boetticher's "Seven Men From Now" is 78 minutes… And as concise as this great Western is, it has four really well-developed characters traveling through Apache country; beautiful storytelling; takes full advantage of the location; and there are a lot of narrative incidents…

Ben Stride (Scott) represents a man whose wife has been killed and he's going to go out and seek revenge… But his style is ramrod straight and not very interesting… The killers that Stride is after are all opportunists… They are men who had broken the law… Boetticher introduces a sympathetic bad man, Bill Masters (Lee Marvin) who had been put in jail twice by the ex-Sheriff… But you get the sense that Masters wouldn't kill a woman… That's not what he has in mind... But, surely, he wants the $20,000 in gold from the strongbox… Ultimately, he had to test himself up against Ben Stride in the final confrontation: the stronger villain against the stronger hero…

Lee Marvin stole the show… He had all the little tricks, and twitches, and schemes… He is magnetic, especially in one key scene on that stormy night, when he gets inside the covered wagon, asking for a cup of hot black coffee…Tension mounts when he tells John Greer (Walter Reed) that his wife is beautiful… He wanted to get on Stride's nerves… And some tension grew between the three characters…

Annie Greer (Gail Russell) was the object of desire… She was wonderful foil, essential, torn between two men… Obviously her character quite quickly falls for Scott's character… Her husband—who seems weak—turns out to be stronger than we thought... Stride let his own life down because he was too proud… We hear him says: "A man ought to be able to take care of his woman." This is the line that's submitted to a test by the whole action and script and direction of the movie…

One last note: Without sacrificing any of the traditional action elements, there was somehow an extra dimension to the Boetticher Westerns; they had a biting, underplayed quality, the kind of films one would have expected had John Huston (in his prime) suddenly decided to become a director of Westerns