Saugatuck Red Barn Theatre Movie Night- The Magnificent Seven

Date: Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Start Time: 7:00 pm

Location: Red Barn Theatre

Category: Saugatuck & Douglas Events

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The Red Barn Theater’s film attraction for December 20 is ‘The Magnficent Seven,’ an incredibly popular western remake of the iconic Japanese production of ‘The Seven Samuri.’ Directed by John Sturges, ‘Seven’ starred several actors who would be forever famous just by their association with this film: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Horst Buchholz, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, and Brad Dexter. And Eli Wallach launched his career as a Mexican bandit, a role he would play several times again, most memorably in several spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood.

The story is elegantly simple: seven sometimes reluctant paid gunslingers hire on to rout the bandits who are devastating a small Mexican town. They must prepare the town to repulse an army of 40 bandits who will arrive wanting food.

The Seven stay at the village for weeks, teaching the villagers how to fight, while preparing the town for the bandits' arrival. Eventually, the timid farmers learn that they do indeed have the ability to fight back, while the grizzled gunfighters find some humanity. There's plenty of action, gun fights, McQueen and Coburn's easy confidence, a boatload of great lines ('Do you have an older, grateful sister at home?'), Vaughn dressed like a dandy fop at a costume party. What makes it so compelling is that Sturges and writer William Roberts humanize the gunmen. Tough guys do have regrets and fears; they just do a hell of a better job hiding them than the rest of us.

A great score by Elmer Bernstein embellishes every scene.

Some critics carped because Sturges seemed to take too much time telling the background of each hero, but by the film’s end we find that we actually care about what happens to them.

Join host John Hardy at 7 p.m. in front of The Big Screen at The Red Barn, 3657 63rd St. at Blue Star Hwy., Saugatuck, about a quarter mile east of Exit 41 off of I-196. Suggested donation is $5. Free popcorn from CNJ Popcorn Co. and $1 concessions. Call (269) 857-5300 for more information or email lakeshorearts@comcast.net

Location Details

Red Barn Theatre
63RD & Blue Star Hwy.
Saugatuck Mi 49453

Location Phone: 269-857-5300