The Professionals is a 1966 American revisionist Western film written, directed, and produced by Richard Brooks and starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode, with Jack Palance, Claudia Cardinale and Ralph Bellamy in supporting roles. Based on the 1964 novel A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O'Rourke, it is about four mercenaries who are hired to rescue a kidnapped bride amidst the Mexican Revolution.
The film was a critical and commercial success.
Filming
Richard Brooks originally wanted to shoot the film on-location in Mexico, until he learned the necessary locations were thousands of miles apart. 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 memoir Goal Dust that he and Lee 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.
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.
Critical response
Variety wrote of the film:
<blockquote><p>The Professionals is a well-made actioner, set in 1917 on the Mexican-US border, in which some soldiers of fortune rescue the reportedly kidnapped wife of an American businessman. Exciting explosive sequences, good overall pacing, and acting overcome a sometimes thin script...</p>
<p>Quiet and purposeful, Marvin underplays very well as the leader of the rescue troop.</p></blockquote>
Film critic Roger Ebert, in a 1967 review, notes, "Last year, Richard Brooks' The Professionals was the best-directed film out of Hollywood...
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90% based on reviews from 20 critics.
Award and nominations
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
|-
| rowspan="3"| Academy Awards
| Best Director
| rowspan="2"| Richard Brooks
|
|-
| Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium
|
|-
| Best Cinematography – Color
| Conrad L. Hall
|
|-
| American Cinema Editors Awards
| Best Edited Feature Film
| Peter Zinner
|
|-
| Directors Guild of America Awards
| Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
| Richard Brooks
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Golden Globe Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Motion Picture – Drama
|
|-
| Most Promising Newcomer – Female
| Marie Gomez
|
|-
| colspan="3"| Golden Screen Awards
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Laurel Awards
| colspan="2"| Top Action Drama
|
|-
| Top Action Performance
| Lee Marvin
|
|-
| Turkish Film Critics Association Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Film
|
|-
| Writers Guild of America Awards
| Best Written American Drama
| Richard Brooks
|
|}
See also
- List of American films of 1966