Seven Men from Now
Encyclopedia
Seven Men from Now is a 1956
Western
film directed by Budd Boetticher
and produced by John Wayne
's Batjac Productions
.
) walks into an encampment in the desert at night during a rainstorm. He encounters two men taking shelter next to a fire and asks to join them. Stride tells the men he's from the town of Silver Springs, which provokes a mysterious reaction from the two men and they discuss a robbery and murder that recently occurred there. The men become suspicious of Stride, and when they begin to realize that his intentions may be nefarious, he guns them down.
The following day Stride is tracking someone through the Arizona wilderness, and comes upon a wagon driven by John Greer (Walter Reed
) and his wife Annie (Gail Russell
) that is stuck in the mud. Stride uses the two horses he confiscated from the men at the encampment to help pull the wagon clear, and Greer and Annie are grateful. They are from Kansas City and admit they are inexperienced at frontier life, and ask Stride to ride with them as they head south to the border town of Flora Vista, then head west to California. Greer says he hopes to find a sales job there and up to now has had to get by taking odd jobs in the area. The mention of Flora Vista gets Stride curious, and he agrees to take them to the border. Along the way, Greer displays his bumbling inexperience with the frontier and Annie shows her growing attraction to Stride with her kindness and stolen looks. They are stopped at the road at one point by a US Army detail, whose commanding officer (Stuart Whitman
) tells them to go back, as Chiricahua Apache have been spotted in the area and he cannot guarantee their safety.
Stride and the Greers soldier on, finding a mining way station and encountering Bill Masters (Lee Marvin
) and Clete (Don Barry), two former nemeses of Stride's. As they all spend the night at the station, Masters tells the Greers that Stride was once the sheriff of Silver Springs, and his wife was killed during the robbery of the Wells Fargo bank. Stride has been tracking and killing the seven men who performed the robbery, and Masters intends to take the $20,000 dollars in gold they stole once Stride has accomplished the task. Annie feels sympathy for Stride, who confesses that he feels guilty about his wife's death because at the time he was no longer sheriff and didn't have another job, so she took one at the bank and was working the day of the incident. Before the wagon heads out of the station, with Masters and Clete tagging along opportunistically, they are nearly attacked by Chiricahua who are driven away by Stride sacrificing one of the horses to the starving Indians.
As they travel, they have a chance meeting with one of the Wells Fargo robbers being chased by Indians. After defending the man from them, Stride, not realizing his identity, is nearly killed by him before Masters shoots him in the back. As the party continues to Flora Vista, Masters makes it clear that he intends to steal Annie from who he sees as the weak-willed Greer, and one night attempts to seduce her in front of Greer and Stride by telling a fictional story about a woman not as attractive as she stolen away from her husband by a tall stranger, ratcheting up the tension between the three. Furious at his impropriety, Stride tells Masters to saddle up and go out into the night, taking Clete with him.
Masters and Clete reach Flora Vista ahead of the wagon, and meet with the Wells Fargo bandits waiting for delivery of their gold. Masters tells their leader, Payte Bodeen (John Larch
), that Stride is heading in their direction to kill all of them and avenge his wife's death. Bodeen dispatches two of the bandits to meet him before he reaches Flora Vista. Meanwhile, Stride leaves Greer and Annie and tells them to continue on without him. Stride rides ahead into a canyon alone and is ambushed by the two bank robbers, but kills them both while getting wounded in the leg and is later knocked unconscious while trying to escape with one of the bandits' horses. Bodeen tells Masters that he paid Greer to deliver the gold from Silver Springs to Flora Vista, and Masters becomes angry at himself for letting this escape him. Greer and Annie come upon the unconscious Stride and help him nurse his wounds. Greer admits to his wife and Stride that he was paid $500 to deliver the Wells Fargo box containing the gold hidden in the wagon, one of the odd jobs he always took. Stride takes the gold away from Greer to draw the rest of the bandits out, and Greer and Annie head into Flora Vista to notify the town sheriff.
Greer arrives in town without the gold, telling Bodeen that Stride has it, and as he walks down the street bravely toward the sheriff's office, Bodeen guns him down. The last two bandits, Bodeen and Clint, head to confront Stride, but are killed by Masters and Clete instead. Masters kills Clete and walks out to the center of the canyon towards the box of gold to face Stride, who kills him before Masters is able to pull his guns.
Stride returns the gold to Wells Fargo and tells Annie that he is going to take a job as a deputy sheriff in Silver Springs. He sends her off on a stagecoach to California before riding off, but Annie tells the driver that she is going to stay.
and Robert Fellows
' production company Batjac purchased the Burt Kennedy
screenplay with the intention of having Wayne star as Stride. However, Wayne was locked into doing The Searchers
for John Ford
, so Wayne suggested casting Randolph Scott instead. Scott insisted on Budd Boetticher as the director. Seven Men from Now started a seven film collaboration between Scott and Boetticher along with Scott's friend and producer Harry Joe Brown
, with five of the films written by Kennedy, including The Tall T
and Ride Lonesome
. Brown, Boetticher and Scott took their collaboration from Batjac and Warner Bros. to Columbia, who produced all of the movies except Westbound
, which was produced back at Warner's.
The movie was shot in the Alabama Hills
and other locations near Lone Pine, California
in the last months of 1955. Gail Russell was cast as the female lead due to her previous work with Wayne in Angel and the Badman
. She had not worked on a movie for nearly five years prior to Seven Men from Now. She struggled with alcoholism throughout most of her life and Boetticher worked very hard to keep her from drinking during the shoot.
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film directed by Budd Boetticher
Budd Boetticher
Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Jr. was a film director during the classical period in Hollywood most famous for the series of low-budget Westerns he made in the late 1950s starring Randolph Scott.Known for their sparse style, dramatic rocky locations near Lone Pine, California, and recurring stories of...
and produced by John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
's Batjac Productions
Batjac Productions
Batjac Productions is an independent film production company founded by John Wayne in the early 1950s as a vehicle for Wayne to produce as well as star in movies. Its first release was Big Jim McLain with Warner Brothers in 1952, and its final film was also with Warner Brothers, McQ, in 1974...
.
Plot summary
Ben Stride (Randolph ScottRandolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
) walks into an encampment in the desert at night during a rainstorm. He encounters two men taking shelter next to a fire and asks to join them. Stride tells the men he's from the town of Silver Springs, which provokes a mysterious reaction from the two men and they discuss a robbery and murder that recently occurred there. The men become suspicious of Stride, and when they begin to realize that his intentions may be nefarious, he guns them down.
The following day Stride is tracking someone through the Arizona wilderness, and comes upon a wagon driven by John Greer (Walter Reed
Walter Reed
Major Walter Reed, M.D., was a U.S. Army physician who in 1900 led the team that postulated and confirmed the theory that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito species, rather than by direct contact...
) and his wife Annie (Gail Russell
Gail Russell
Gail Russell was an American film and television actress.-Career:She was born Elizabeth L. Russell to George and Gladys Russell in Chicago, Illinois, and then moved to the Los Angeles, California, area when she was a teenager. Russell's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of...
) that is stuck in the mud. Stride uses the two horses he confiscated from the men at the encampment to help pull the wagon clear, and Greer and Annie are grateful. They are from Kansas City and admit they are inexperienced at frontier life, and ask Stride to ride with them as they head south to the border town of Flora Vista, then head west to California. Greer says he hopes to find a sales job there and up to now has had to get by taking odd jobs in the area. The mention of Flora Vista gets Stride curious, and he agrees to take them to the border. Along the way, Greer displays his bumbling inexperience with the frontier and Annie shows her growing attraction to Stride with her kindness and stolen looks. They are stopped at the road at one point by a US Army detail, whose commanding officer (Stuart Whitman
Stuart Whitman
Stuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
) tells them to go back, as Chiricahua Apache have been spotted in the area and he cannot guarantee their safety.
Stride and the Greers soldier on, finding a mining way station and encountering Bill Masters (Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
) and Clete (Don Barry), two former nemeses of Stride's. As they all spend the night at the station, Masters tells the Greers that Stride was once the sheriff of Silver Springs, and his wife was killed during the robbery of the Wells Fargo bank. Stride has been tracking and killing the seven men who performed the robbery, and Masters intends to take the $20,000 dollars in gold they stole once Stride has accomplished the task. Annie feels sympathy for Stride, who confesses that he feels guilty about his wife's death because at the time he was no longer sheriff and didn't have another job, so she took one at the bank and was working the day of the incident. Before the wagon heads out of the station, with Masters and Clete tagging along opportunistically, they are nearly attacked by Chiricahua who are driven away by Stride sacrificing one of the horses to the starving Indians.
As they travel, they have a chance meeting with one of the Wells Fargo robbers being chased by Indians. After defending the man from them, Stride, not realizing his identity, is nearly killed by him before Masters shoots him in the back. As the party continues to Flora Vista, Masters makes it clear that he intends to steal Annie from who he sees as the weak-willed Greer, and one night attempts to seduce her in front of Greer and Stride by telling a fictional story about a woman not as attractive as she stolen away from her husband by a tall stranger, ratcheting up the tension between the three. Furious at his impropriety, Stride tells Masters to saddle up and go out into the night, taking Clete with him.
Masters and Clete reach Flora Vista ahead of the wagon, and meet with the Wells Fargo bandits waiting for delivery of their gold. Masters tells their leader, Payte Bodeen (John Larch
John Larch
John Larch was an American film and television actor.After his lead role in the radio serial Captain Starr of Space , John Larch entered films in 1954. He usually appeared in westerns and action films, including Miracle of the White Stallions as General George S. Patton Jr...
), that Stride is heading in their direction to kill all of them and avenge his wife's death. Bodeen dispatches two of the bandits to meet him before he reaches Flora Vista. Meanwhile, Stride leaves Greer and Annie and tells them to continue on without him. Stride rides ahead into a canyon alone and is ambushed by the two bank robbers, but kills them both while getting wounded in the leg and is later knocked unconscious while trying to escape with one of the bandits' horses. Bodeen tells Masters that he paid Greer to deliver the gold from Silver Springs to Flora Vista, and Masters becomes angry at himself for letting this escape him. Greer and Annie come upon the unconscious Stride and help him nurse his wounds. Greer admits to his wife and Stride that he was paid $500 to deliver the Wells Fargo box containing the gold hidden in the wagon, one of the odd jobs he always took. Stride takes the gold away from Greer to draw the rest of the bandits out, and Greer and Annie head into Flora Vista to notify the town sheriff.
Greer arrives in town without the gold, telling Bodeen that Stride has it, and as he walks down the street bravely toward the sheriff's office, Bodeen guns him down. The last two bandits, Bodeen and Clint, head to confront Stride, but are killed by Masters and Clete instead. Masters kills Clete and walks out to the center of the canyon towards the box of gold to face Stride, who kills him before Masters is able to pull his guns.
Stride returns the gold to Wells Fargo and tells Annie that he is going to take a job as a deputy sheriff in Silver Springs. He sends her off on a stagecoach to California before riding off, but Annie tells the driver that she is going to stay.
Development and production
John WayneJohn Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
and Robert Fellows
Robert Fellows
Robert Fellows or Robert M. Fellows was an American film producer who was once a production partner with John Wayne and later Mickey Spillane.-Biography:...
' production company Batjac purchased the Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy was an American screenwriter and director known for mainly directing film Westerns.After World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division, Muskegon, Michigan-born Kennedy found work writing for radio, then used his training as a cavalry officer to secure a job as a fencing trainer and...
screenplay with the intention of having Wayne star as Stride. However, Wayne was locked into doing The Searchers
The Searchers (film)
The Searchers is a 1956 American Western film directed by John Ford, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May, and set during the Texas–Indian Wars...
for John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, so Wayne suggested casting Randolph Scott instead. Scott insisted on Budd Boetticher as the director. Seven Men from Now started a seven film collaboration between Scott and Boetticher along with Scott's friend and producer Harry Joe Brown
Harry Joe Brown
Harry Joe Brown was a movie producer and supervisor who was also a theatre and film director...
, with five of the films written by Kennedy, including The Tall T
The Tall T
The Tall T is a 1957 western film directed by Budd Boetticher. It stars Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Maureen O'Sullivan and Henry Silva. The film was adapted by Burt Kennedy from an Elmore Leonard short story, "The Captives."...
and Ride Lonesome
Ride Lonesome
Ride Lonesome is a a 1959 Eastmancolor film; one of Budd Boetticher's "Ranown" westerns starring Randolph Scott and part of a series of films that began with Seven Men from Now...
. Brown, Boetticher and Scott took their collaboration from Batjac and Warner Bros. to Columbia, who produced all of the movies except Westbound
Westbound (film)
Westbound was the sixth to be released of seven western films starring Randolph Scott and directed by Budd Boetticher. The cast also included Virginia Mayo, Karen Steele, Andrew Duggan and Michael Pate....
, which was produced back at Warner's.
The movie was shot in the Alabama Hills
Alabama Hills
Alabama Hills are a "range of hills" and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine in Inyo County, California....
and other locations near Lone Pine, California
Lone Pine, California
Lone Pine is a census-designated place in Inyo County, California, United States. Lone Pine is located south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3727 feet . The population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the Owens Valley, near the...
in the last months of 1955. Gail Russell was cast as the female lead due to her previous work with Wayne in Angel and the Badman
Angel and the Badman
Angel and the Badman is a 1947 black-and-white Western film, starring John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey and Bruce Cabot which examines the ability of a gunman to renounce violence. This film, which was the first one Wayne produced as well as starred in, was a departure for this genre at the...
. She had not worked on a movie for nearly five years prior to Seven Men from Now. She struggled with alcoholism throughout most of her life and Boetticher worked very hard to keep her from drinking during the shoot.
Reaction
Andrew Sarris, in The American Cinema, praises director Boetticher's work: "Constructed partly as allegorical odysseys and partly as floating poker games in which every character took turns at bluffing about his hand or his draw until the final showdown, Boetticher's Westerns expressed a weary serenity and moral certitude that was contrary to the more neurotic approaches of other directors in this neglected genre of the cinema"Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Randolph Scott Randolph Scott Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few... |
Ben Stride |
| Gail Russell Gail Russell Gail Russell was an American film and television actress.-Career:She was born Elizabeth L. Russell to George and Gladys Russell in Chicago, Illinois, and then moved to the Los Angeles, California, area when she was a teenager. Russell's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of... |
Annie Greer |
| Lee Marvin Lee Marvin Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more... |
Bill Masters |
| Walter Reed Walter Reed (actor) Walter Reed was an American stage, film and television actor. He was born in Fort Ward, Washington. Following a stint as a Broadway actor, Reed broke into films in 1941... |
John Greer |
| John Larch John Larch John Larch was an American film and television actor.After his lead role in the radio serial Captain Starr of Space , John Larch entered films in 1954. He usually appeared in westerns and action films, including Miracle of the White Stallions as General George S. Patton Jr... |
Bodeen |
| Don 'Red' Barry (as Donald Barry) | Clete |