The Professionals (1966 film)

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The Professionals
original film poster by Howard Terpning
Directed by	Richard Brooks
Written by	Richard Brooks
Based on	A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O'Rourke
Produced by	Richard Brooks
Starring	Burt Lancaster Lee Marvin Robert Ryan Jack Palance Woody Strode Ralph Bellamy Claudia Cardinale
Cinematography	Conrad L. Hall
Edited by	Peter Zinner
Music by	Maurice Jarre
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Pax Enterprises
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	November 4, 1966 (1966-11-04)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$19.5 million[1]

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

The film received three Oscar 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 as cynical professionals, they have no qualms about killing him now.

After they enter Mexico, they witness soldiers on a government train being massacred by Raza's small army. The professionals follow the captured train to the end of the line. When the bandits leave, they take the train before moving onto the camp where they observe Raza and his followers — including a female soldier, Chiquita (who once was in a relationship with Dolworth). At nightfall Fardan infiltrates the camp but he is stopped from killing Raza in his quarters by Maria, Grant's kidnapped wife. Dolworth concludes, "we've been had."

After bringing Grant's wife back to the train, a shootout starts because it has been retaken by the bandits. The professionals are forced to retreat into the mountains while being relentlessly pursued by Raza and his men. The group evade capture by using explosives to bring down the walls of a gully. Maria reveals they haven't rescued Grant's kidnapped wife but Raza's lover. Grant bought her in an arranged marriage from which she escaped at the earliest opportunity to return to her true love in Mexico.

Dolworth volunteers to stay behind to allow the other professionals to escape with Maria as Raza and his remaining men close in. In the ensuing fight Raza is wounded and captured while Dolworth is almost killed by a dying Chiquita whose gun is empty.

Grant and his own men meet the professionals (with Raza and Maria) at the US border. The wealthy rancher tells Fardan that their contract has been satisfactorily concluded. He then orders one of his men to kill the wounded Raza. But 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, put him on a carriage and, with Maria at the reins, send both back to Mexico.

Grant angrily turns to Fardan and says "You bastard!" to which he retorts: "Yes, sir, in my case an accident of birth. But you, sir, you are a self-made man." The professionals ride behind the fleeing carriage back into Mexico.

Cast[]

Production[]

The remains of the set for the film (Mexican hacienda), Valley of Fire State Park

Writing[]

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.

Filming[]

The movie, which was shot in Technicolor, was filmed in Death Valley, Valley of Fire and around Coachella Valley in California.^[2] 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 memoirs that he and 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

Critical response[]

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On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on reviews from 16 critics.^[5]

Award and nominations[]

The film received three nominations at the 1967 Academy Awards. Writer and director Richard Brooks, for Best Director and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) and cinematographer Conrad Hall, for Best Cinematography. It lost all three to A Man for All Seasons.

The film won two Motion Picture Magazine Laurel Awards in 1967, for Best Action Drama and Best Action Performance for Lee Marvin. In Germany, it was one of only four movies to receive a Golden Screen Award (the others were Doctor Zhivago, Marvelous Angelique and You Only Live Twice) in 1967.

See also[]

• List of American films of 1966

References[]

External links[]

• The Professionals at IMDb
• The Professionals at the TCM Movie Database
• The Professionals at AllMovie