Dysfunction, Drama, and Diarrhea: The Making of ‘The Magnificent Seven’
The set of the 1960s Western was awash in toxic masculinity, fragile egos, and gastrointestinal distress
The Magnificent Seven was made the way so many things in our world are: (Predominantly white) men liked something that someone else had done, went somewhere that wasn’t theirs, fucked around a lot, and eventually made their own version of it, earning praise and a legendary status that was probably only partially deserved.
In this particular case, actor Yul Brynner fell in love with Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and wanted to remake it as a Hollywood Western. He may or may not have acquired the rights and drafted some basic ideas for the new film with fellow actor Anthony Quinn. Whatever did happen there, it didn’t involve the signing of any contracts. Brynner then took the idea to Hollywood producer Walter Mirisch. They definitely got the rights. Quinn lost his subsequent lawsuit. Then the real dysfunction and drama began.
Everything from casting to getting an actual script out of a revolving door of screenwriters to getting an actual script out of a revolving door of screenwriters that didn’t portray the country that was graciously letting them film there as a complete hellhole was a struggle. “There…
