Synopsis
Rough, tough and ready.
An arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit.
The Professionals
1966 Directed by Richard Brooks
Cast
Burt Lancaster Lee Marvin Robert Ryan Woody Strode Jack Palance Claudia Cardinale Ralph Bellamy Joe De Santis Rafael Bertrand Jorge Martínez de Hoyos Marie Gomez José Chávez Carlos Romero Vaughn Taylor Elizabeth Campbell Don Carlos Leigh Chapman Roberto Contreras Dirk Evans Darwin Lamb Eddie Little Sky John Lopez John McKee Philip L. Parslow Ron Veto
Director
Additional Directing
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Writer
Original Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Additional Photography
Art Direction
Set Decoration
Special Effects
Stunts
Composer
Sound
Makeup
Studio
Country
Original Language
Spoken Languages
Alternative Titles
Los profesionales, De Professionella, Os Profissionais - 1966
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"You BASTARD!"
"Yes, Sir. In my case an accident of birth. But you, Sir...you're a self-made man."My father, who turned 84 (!) last week, was informed a few days later that the small, rural, non-denominational church he's been the pastor of for the last 18 years has decided to move in a new direction, and won't be needing his services any longer. While he understands the move, I know this hurt him. So I was determined to spend this past Sunday with him, buying him breakfast, and doing whatever he'd like to do. He told me "let's watch one of your movies." I went with this wonderful western from 1966, believing he would enjoy it.
In my book, Writer-Director…
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My brothers and I used to watch a lot of these Men-on-a-Mission movies growing up, and we’d always play this silly game where we’d each pick our favorite guy at the beginning and kinda cheer him on throughout the picture. For some reason, we’d rarely go for the marquee star; it’d usually be the loose cannon or the quiet specialist of the group, guys like Donald Sutherland’s Oddball from Kelly’s Heroes or Charles Bronson in, well, take your pick (The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, etc.).
Now, sometimes, there’d be a character so cool it’d lead to such a heated argument about who got to take him we’d actually end up shutting off the movie. Someone like…
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Some unemployed grifters are hired by a rich old tycoon to rescue his kidnapped trophy wife from a bunch of nihilists. Her life was in their hands. The double-barrel of Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin head up this team of old pros as they switch allegiances and plan to relieve their former compadre, Mexican Revolutionary leader Raza, of his illegitimate spoils. The bounty: ten thousand a piece. According to Grant, Raza has put a ransom of 100k on his kidnapped wife's head, but he doesn't intend to pay it when Fardan and team can get her back for the half the price.
A general lack of surprises in the plotting is made up for with a couple of cracking performances…
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"Maybe there's only one revolution, since the beginning, the good guys against the bad guys. Question is, who are the good guys?"
Hallelujah, I'm back at the movies, baby!
The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, NY is running a retrospective of Woody Strode's greatest hits all this month and into the beginning of March, and it was a privilege to visit this wonderful venue for the first time in at least a couple of years for their screening of The Professionals. Adapted and directed by Richard Brooks with impressive cinematography by Conrad L. Hall, the film is a rousing Western set just after the Mexican Revolution (circa 1920) with Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Strode as…
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I must admit that director Richard Brooks is a new one to me. Even though I saw this film probably 30 years ago on television, it's lost none of the grandiose swagger it had back in the sixties. We got a Western with a real story, some big name actors who all bring their A-game, and a femme-fatale who was simply stunning. It had action galore and had Burt Lancaster sharing the limelight with a bona-fide war hero in the shape of Lee Marvin.
A Western set during the Mexican Revolution, this sees four men hired by a wealthy rancher to rescue his kidnapped wife. Having to go South of the Border and encounter a notoriously ruthless bandit played by… -
It wasn't intentional at all, but this ended up being a perfect follow-up to "Ocean's Elven" as another 'cool guys come together to pull off an improbable job' film. "The Professionals" roars out of the gate with confidence, it's fast-paced editing introducing us to our central characters and setting them off on their mission in very short order. The pacing rarely lets up from there. This is one of the few Hollywood Westerns that truly reminds me of Sergio Leone's work; not so much for its shot compositions or epic close-ups, but simply for its massive sense of scale (this movie feels BIG) and the sheer amount of action it crams into 120 minutes.
I was maybe slightly disappointed in…
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Marvin. Lancaster. Strode. Ryan. Cardinale. Bellamy. Palance. That's right, Letterboxd, you'd better show some goddamn respect!
When they cast The Professionals back in 1966, someone obviously had a vision of what I would personally like to see in a film cast. Just look at that list of names. It was what the word 'powerhouse' was invented for.
Ralph Bellamy says that Mexican bandido Jack Palance has stolen his wife, Claudia Cardinale. Can you blame him? So he hires Lee Marvin and a crew of reliables to go and get her back. Marvin is strong, determined and principled. Lancaster is an explosives expert with an eye for the ladies. Strode is a silent crackshot bounty hunter with his speciality being the…
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Pretty macho in general and more macho when it reveals the depth of its characters and story. It does a good job of letting you in on the details until you understand what the story was actually about in the first place. The setting is 1917 revolutionary Mexico somewhere near the border with Texas and New Mexico. The historical flavor feels pretty authentic. It doesn't hold back in portraying atrocities and revenge killings, but gives them sufficient context to make them understandable, such as a pretty graphic looking mass execution. I don't think anyone has ever done such a thing in a Hollywood western before. It puts you into the thick of the Revolution and civil war while also focusing…
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Sublimely entertaining 60’s action-western from director Richard Brooks, with a surprisingly nuanced and progressive posturing to boot. Presented as an old-school rootin’ tootin’, guns-blazin, testosterone-charged actioner; But it’s these complex compadre’s, the anti-violence subtext, and a disarmingly romantic attitude that help separate this one from leering into full-out Chad porn. Impossible to pick an MVP as all are golden; Pro’s all round.
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“Maybe there’s only one revolution, since the beginning. The good guys against the bad guys. The question is, who are the good guys?”
It’s 1966, and just around the corner lie the Bad Guys: Sergio Leone, giving the Western the full Dashiell Hammett–Kurosawa makeover, and beyond those rocks, Sam Peckinpah is waiting with a machine gun and a chest full of steel slugs.
Until then we can sit back and enjoy the Good Guys: Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, and the peerless cleavage of Claudia Cardinale in this unrevised action western. ¿Quién es más macho? It’s sort of a thematic prequel to The Dirty Dozen. It didn’t make my hair any darker, but it made…
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A graveyard of nameless men. A great oater for a chilly night. An unfairly good script with a great cast acting it out and some ace direction rounding out a damn good movie. Merry westmas, folks!
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