The Professionals (1966 film)

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox film The Professionals is a 1966 American Western action film written, produced, and directed by Richard Brooks and starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode, with Jack Palance, Claudia Cardinale and Ralph Bellamy in supporting roles. The script was adapted from the 1964 novel A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O'Rourke.

The film received three Academy Award nominations and an enthusiastic critical reception.

Plot

In the final years of the Mexican Revolution, American rancher J.W. Grant hires four men, who are all experts in their respective fields, to rescue his kidnapped wife, Maria, from Jesus Raza, a former revolutionary leader-turned-bandit. Henry "Rico" Fardan is a weapons specialist, Bill Dolworth is an explosives expert, Hans Ehrengard is the horse wrangler, and Jake Sharp is a traditional Apache scout, skilled with a bow and arrow. Fardan and Dolworth, having both fought under the command of Pancho Villa, have a high regard for Raza as a soldier, but have no qualms about killing him.

After entering Mexico, the professionals witness soldiers on a government train being massacred by Raza's small army. They follow the captured train to the end of the line. After the bandits leave, they take the train before moving on to the camp, where they observe Raza and his followers — including a female soldier, Chiquita (who was once in a relationship with Dolworth). At nightfall, Fardan infiltrates the camp, but is stopped from killing Raza in his quarters after seeing Maria, Grant's kidnapped wife, about to willingly make love to him. Dolworth announces "We've been had."

After bringing Maria back to the train, a shootout starts because it has been retaken by the bandits. Pursued by Raza and his men, the professionals are forced to take refuge in nearby canyon lands. That night, Maria reveals that they haven't rescued Grant's "kidnapped wife" but rather, Raza's lover — that Grant had bought her in an arranged marriage, from which she escaped at the earliest opportunity to return to her true love in Mexico.

The following day, Maria rides off through the narrow canyons to rejoin Raza, but Dolworth sets off explosives he had planted in the canyon walls, which collapse and close off the canyon, preventing her escape. As Raza and his remaining men close in, Dolworth volunteers to stay behind to allow the other professionals to escape with Maria. In the ensuing fight, Raza is wounded and captured, and Dolworth is almost killed by a dying Chiquita, whose pistol has run out of bullets.

Grant and his men meet the professionals (with Raza and Maria) at the US border. Grant tells Fardan that their contract has been satisfactorily concluded. He then orders one of his men to kill the wounded Raza. Before he can fire, Dolworth shoots the guns from his hand. The other professionals step in to protect Maria and Raza. They collect the wounded Raza, laying him on the back of a horse-drawn wagon with Maria at the reins, and send both back to Mexico.

Grant angrily turns to Fardan and says, "You bastard!", to which Fardan retorts: "Yes, sir, in my case an accident of birth. But you, sir, you're a self-made man." The professionals then ride off, following the wagon across the border to Mexico.

Cast

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Production

Writing

The remains of the Mexican hacienda set for the film, at the Valley of Fire State Park, March 2012

The film was adapted for the screen by its director Richard Brooks, who based the screenplay on the novel A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O'Rourke.

Casting

FilmInk argued Claudia Cardinale "often played a smurfette in her movies i.e. the only woman in an all-male environment – this is an excellent example."<ref name="claud">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Filming

The movie, which was shot in Technicolor, was filmed in Death Valley and the Coachella Valley in California, as well as Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.<ref name=Filming>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} ♦ DownloadTemplate:Dead link (Downloadable PDF file)</ref> The rail scenes were filmed on Kaiser Steel's Eagle Mountain Railroad. The steam locomotive seen in the movie currently resides on the Heber Valley Railroad.

During filming, the cast and crew stayed in Las Vegas. Actor Woody Strode wrote in his memoir Goal Dust that he and Lee Marvin got into a lot of pranks, on one occasion shooting an arrow into Vegas Vic, the famous smiling cowboy neon sign outside The Pioneer Club.

Soundtrack

The musical score was composed by Maurice Jarre.

Reception

Box office

By 1976, it was estimated the film had earned $8.8 million in rentals in North America.<ref>"All-time Film Rental Champs", Variety, 7 January 1976 p 44</ref>

It was the ninth most popular movie at the French box office in 1966, after La Grande Vadrouille, Doctor Zhivago, Is Paris Burning?, A Fistful of Dollars, Lost Command, A Man and a Woman, For a Few Dollars More and The Big Restaurant.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Critical response

Variety wrote of the film:

The Professionals is a well-made actioner, set in 1917 on the Mexican-US border, in which some soldiers of fortune rescue the reportedly kidnapped wife of an American businessman. Exciting explosive sequences, good overall pacing, and acting overcome a sometimes thin script...

Quiet and purposeful, Marvin underplays very well as the leader of the rescue troop.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Film critic Roger Ebert, in a 1967 review, notes, "Last year, Richard Brooks' The Professionals was the best-directed film out of Hollywood...<ref name="ebert">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90% based on reviews from 20 critics.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Award and nominations

Award Category Nominee(s) Result
Academy Awards<ref name="Oscars1967">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

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Best Director Richard Brooks Template:Nom
Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium Template:Nom
Best Cinematography – Color Conrad L. Hall Template:Nom
American Cinema Editors Awards Best Edited Feature Film Peter Zinner Template:Nom
Directors Guild of America Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Richard Brooks Template:Nom
Golden Globe Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Best Motion Picture – Drama Template:Nom
Most Promising Newcomer – Female Marie Gomez Template:Nom
Golden Screen Awards Template:Won
Laurel Awards Top Action Drama Template:Won
Top Action Performance Lee Marvin Template:Won
Turkish Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Film Template:Draw
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Written American Drama Richard Brooks Template:Nom

See also

References

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