The Magnificent Seven/Trivia


 * All-Star Cast: Quite possibly the coolest in the history of cinema: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, and Horst Buchholz are the Seven, and at least five of them went on to become A-list stars, in part thanks to this movie (Eli Wallach is no-one to sneeze at, either).
 * Horst Bucholz didn't become an A-list star in America, but he did become exceptionally popular in European cinema, meaning poor Brad Dexter was the only member of the main cast who didn't become a big star in some way.
 * Enforced Method Acting: Or something close to it: the locals who portrayed Calvera's gang adopted Eli Wallach as one of their own, taking him riding on horseback every day in full costume and treating him as their boss, for the entire duration of the shoot. Wallach essentially lived the better parts of Calvera's life, and ended up knowing every man in the gang as well as Calvera knew his men.
 * Fake Nationality:
 * Bernardo claims to be of Mexican-Irish descent, although Charles Bronson has Polish-Lithuanian background.
 * Horst Buchholz, who played Chico, was German in real life.
 * Eli Wallach, who played Calvera, is a Polish-American Jew in real life. He also played a Mexican bandit in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
 * Star-Making Role: For Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and Eli Wallach. Robert Vaughn went on to become a huge star in the 60s and has had a long career. James Coburn enjoyed a long career and was still working in films at the time of his death. He might well be the most well known actor of the seven to contemporary audiences. Horst Buchholz had a huge career in Germany.