The Professionals (film)
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| The Professionals | |
|---|---|
 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Richard Brooks |
| Produced by | Richard Brooks |
| Written by | Richard Brooks Frank O'Rourke (novel A Mule for the Marquesa) |
| Starring | Lee Marvin Burt Lancaster Robert Ryan Woody Strode |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 2, 1966 U.S. release |
| Running time | 117 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Professionals is a 1966 Western movie directed by Richard Brooks. A kidnap-rescue adventure, it features a small group of experts heading into Mexico to free the wife of a wealthy Texan from several hundred bandits.
The professionals are team leader Lee Marvin, explosives expert Burt Lancaster, horseman Robert Ryan and bow-and-arrow marksman Woody Strode. The bandits are led by Jack Palance and the kidnapped wife is Claudia Cardinale, whose husband is played by Ralph Bellamy.
The film was written and directed by Richard Brooks, who was nominated for Academy Awards for directing and writing. The cinematography, by Conrad Hall, was nominated for an Oscar.
It was filmed partly in Death Valley and Valley of Fire, showing the latter prominently.
The railway scenes were filmed on Kaiser Steel's Eagle Mountain Railroad. The steam locomotive seen in the movie currently resides on the Heber Valley Railroad.
The Professionals was based on the novel A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O'Rourke.
At the beginning of the movie, while hiring the team, Bellamy's character repeatedly refers to himself as "a self-made man," a common phrase of the time to indicate his wealth had not come from inheritance. A memorable exchange from the movie occurs between Bellamy and Marvin near the end. Bellamy calls Marvin a bastard. Marvin shoots back, "Yes, sir, in my case an accident of birth. But you, sir, you are a self-made man."
Other quotations:
Marvin: "So what's on your mind, besides 90-proof whiskey, 100-proof women, and 14-caret gold?" Lancaster: "You just wrote my epitaph."
Cardinale: "Go to hell!" Lancaster: "Yes, ma'am. I'm on my way."
Lancaster (to Ryan): "You light this fuse and dynamite -- not faith -- will move that mountain into this pass. Peace, brother!"
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