The Magnificent Seven

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN marks a return to that hazardous dichotomy of the traditional and the anti-romantic, initiated over ten years ago by THE GUNFIGHTER. The split conception remains something of a left-handed compliment to a setting which is perfectly capable in itself of throwing moral values into immediate relief. Here, the validity of the philosophical Western is put in further doubt by the curious casting of Yul Brynner, albeit at his competent best, as the leading gunfighter; and another European, Horst Buchholz as the Mexican Indian whose highly moral decision to stay put and grow roots stands out at the film’s most completely unbelievable contrivance. (Peter J. Beasley)