Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Magnificent Seven Ride!

Day 249 - 9/6/09 - Movie #247

BEFORE: And the role of Chris Adams is recast AGAIN, this time with Lee Van Cleef. And those Mexican bandits are acting up yet again...

THE PLOT: Marshal Chris Adams turns down a friend's request to help stop a gang of Mexican bandits. When his wife is killed by bank robbers and his friend is killed capturing the last thief, Chris feels obligated to take up his friend's cause.

AFTER: See what I mean? He's already recruited every available gunslinger in Texas for his suicide missions - so now he's forced to raid the local prisons. (Is this "The Magnificent Seven" or "The Dirty Dozen"?)

This has the look and feel of a TV movie, and the presence of TV icons like Ralph Waite (The Waltons), Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart) and Mariette Hartley (umm...those Polaroid ads with James Garner) only reinforces this. And I could have sworn that was Joe Penny as the writer, but I guess I was wrong...and Gary Busey has a small role as a bank robber/rapist.

After 4 forays into Mexican territory, I'm in favor of a laissez-faire policy - let the Mexican government deal with their own bandits, I say. I know I originally blessed TCM for running all four Mag Seven movies, but now I'm wondering if the blessing has become a curse. I still like the way they think, being a collector and a completist, but you've got to draw the line somewhere.

RATING: 3 out of 10 sombreros

No comments:

Post a Comment