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The Professionals (1966)
In director Richard Brooks' western adventure set
in 1916 (an Old West version of The Dirty Dozen (1967) and
the precursor to The Wild Bunch (1969)):
- the opening credits' introduction of the four main
characters, comprising a mercenary team:
- Lee Marvin as the team leader, a munitions and tactical expert
Henry "Rico" Fardan
- Robert Ryan as horse wrangler/specialist Hans Ehrengard
- Woody Strode as Apache scout/tracker, a bow/arrow expert, and a
crack rifleman Jacob "Jake" Sharp
- Burt Lancaster as explosives/dynamiter Bill Dolworth
- a nine-day "mission of mercy" in the early
20th century described by Texas railroad tycoon/millionaire Joe W.
Grant (Ralph Bellamy) in his private railway car: to have the specialists
(or professionals) rescue "in one bold swift stroke" his
'kidnapped'(?) wife Maria (Claudia Cardinale) from Mexican revolutionaries
led by the guerrilla leader and bandito Captain Jesus Raza (Jack
Palance); their "fortress"
was 100 miles inside a Mexican desert known as the Painted Mountains;
a reward was offered: $10,000 for each man ($1,000 was paid upfront)
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J.W. Grant (Ralph Bellamy)
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Alleged "Kidnapper" Capt. Jesus Raza
(Jack Palance)
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- the group's two deadly encounters with Raza's 'banditos',
including the upside-down stringing up of Dolworth
- as the group relaxed, they wished for a rest, a shave
and a bath - and Dolworth added: "Might as well throw in a woman.
Any size, any age, any color. Any woman"; then he gave a notable
explanation to "Jake" and Ehrengard of his life's work: "I
was born with a powerful passion to create. I can't write, I can't
paint, can't make up a song..." (Ehrengard: "So you explode
things") "Well, that's how the world was born. Biggest
damn explosion you ever saw"; Ehrengard questioned him: "Dynamite
in the hands of a fool means death," but Dolworth explained
his strategy:
"In this case it could mean life. Ours. If we're lucky enough
to get back to this rat-trap, it might be touch-and-go. All you gotta
do is light this fuse. You got 10 seconds to run like hell. And then
dynamite, not faith, will move that mountain into this pass. Peace,
brother"
- the sequence of Raza's attack and take-over of a government
supply train, and his own brutal execution of all the soldiers on-board
who were lined up; "Rico" was particularly upset by the
brutal spectacle; Dolworth explained Rico's bitterness: "Men
on that train are Colorados. Expert marksmen. Also expert at torture.
Couple o' years ago, they burned and looted a town of three thousand
people. When they finished, forty were left. Fardan's wife was one
o' the lucky forty. 'Why're you a revolutionary?' they asked her.
'To rid the world of scum like you,' she said. They stripped her
naked, ran her through the cactus 'til her flesh was - the other
thirty-nine rebels watched her die, and - did nothing. Just watched";
Ehrengard asked: "What were Americans doing in a Mexican revolution,
anyway?" - Dolworth continued: "Maybe there's only one
revolution, since the beginning. The good guys against the bad guys.
The question is: Who are the good guys?"
Raza Leading an Attack on a Government Supply
Train
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- the sequence of the 'professionals' scouting of
Raza's "hacienda" and hideout-camp, including Dolworth's
spotting of topless Raza bandita Chiquita (Marie Gomez) washing
herself: "That is a soldier. Lieutenant Si Si Chiquita.
Now, there's a woman worth a ransom. She never says no"
- the surprise plot-twist character reversal: Maria
appeared to love Mexican outlaw Raza from whom she was rescued as
she stripped down to make love to Raza; Dolworth exclaimed to "Rico": "Amigo,
We've been had! Let's get the hell outta here!" - but it was
already too late
- their exciting, carefully-executed pre-dawn attack
to rescue Maria (nicknamed "Little Red Riding Hood"), with
a strategy explained by "Rico" ("We've gotta make
him think we're the Mexican army...a whole battalion...We can't fight
our way in. Diversion is our only chance"), including (1) dynamiting
a water tower, (2) shooting arrows with grenades attached, (3) stealthily
taking out a machine-gun sentry, and (4) creating a diversion to
distract everyone, while 'kidnapping' Maria
- during their escape, Maria was helping to treat wounded
Ehrengard when Dolworth looked down her cleavage; she asked about
it, and he told her: "Just wondering what makes you worth a
hundred thousand dollars"; she told him to "Go to hell" and
he quipped: "Yes ma'am. I'm on my way"
- Rico was disgusted by the whole set-up - nobody was
who they claimed to be: "From the loyal Ortega to the devoted
goat-keeper, to the faithful wife at the mercy of a brutal kidnapper.
That's one hell of a rigged parlay"; Maria emphatically told
Rico that she was not kidnapped by Raza, and explained her history
with Raza: "Raza and I grew up together. I am born there....We
are lovers long before Mr. Joe Grant buys the place. When my father
lies dying, he says: 'Mr. Joe Grant wants you for his wife. You will
become Dona Grant, a fine lady. That is my wish.' Here, a wish is
a command. But I'm very young and very foolish. I tell Mr. Joe Grant
I cannot marry to him. I love another man. Very romantic, no?"
- Dolworth's dynamiting of the narrow pass, to impede
Raza's pursuit after the group, and to stop Maria's attempted escape
on horseback
- Maria's tempting offers to Dolworth - she first offered
money: "Would you let me go?" and then herself as she opened
her top and bared her breasts to him: "You want me? My price
is high. Freedom," and Dolworth answered: "I might say
yes now and later, no"; after they kissed, she treacherously
reached for his gun, but he had already unholstered it and held it
against her chest; the next day, Dolworth extolled Maria to Rico: "That's
a lot of woman there. Beautiful. Classy. And guts. Hard enough to
kill you, and soft enough to change you"
Maria's Offer to Dolworth In Exchange For Her
Freedom
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"You want me? My price is high. Freedom"
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- Rico responded that Dolworth's only interests in
life were females, money and booze: "So what else is on your
mind besides hundred-proof women, 'n' ninety-proof whiskey, 'n'
fourteen-carat gold?" Dolworth was pleased with Rico's observation: "Amigo,
you just wrote my epitaph!"
- Dolworth volunteered to stay behind and hold off the
relentless pursuit of Raza and his men, to allow the others to make
it to the border; he was able to kill all of Raza's men and wound
Raza in the leg; during a lull in the fighting, Raza spoke about
the Revolucion: (Raza: "You want perfection or nothing.
You're too romantic, compadre. La Revolucion is like a great love
affair. In the beginning, she is a goddess. A holy cause. But every
love affair has a terrible enemy: time. We see her as she is. La
Revolucion is not a goddess but a whore. She was never pure, never
saintly, never perfect. And we run away, find another lover, another
cause. Quick, sordid affairs. Lust, but no love. Passion, but no
compassion. Without love, without a cause, we are nothing!
We stay because we believe. We leave because we are disillusioned.
We come back because we are lost. We die because we are committed")
- Dolworth personally encountered Raza's bandita accomplice
Chiquita who chatted about her love life; after gunning her down
and as she was dying, he greeted her: "Hello, baby"; she
replied, "Long time since I hear 'baby'"; he raised her
into his arms as she asked: "Hey, you ever find that damn gold
mine, eh?" but then pointed her concealed gun at his neck and
squeezed the trigger, but it clicked blank; she noted: "I am
not lucky today" to which he replied: "But you're beautiful";
she reminisced about him being her past lover: "Querido,
baby. We had some fine times together"; he answered: "Terrific";
she requested a kiss ("Give us a kiss"), and he obliged,
and then she expired in his arms
- by the film's conclusion, they had completed their
job of rescuing the kidnapped wife Maria from Raza's bandit camp,
and Dolworth had also captured the wounded bandit leader; and then,
a major twist was fully revealed - Maria actually loved the Mexican
outlaw and was his willing mistress; Grant had "bought" Maria
for an arranged marriage, but she had willingly escaped and returned
to be with Raza in Mexico; Grant was the real 'kidnapper' - not Raza;
when Maria was reunited with Raza, she hugged him and tended to his
wounds
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Rescued "Kidnapped" Maria Hugging Wounded
Jesus Raza
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Dolworth (to Rico): "Turn her loose?"
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Maria Tending to Wounded Raza
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- after his encounter with Raza, Dolworth confessed
to Rico: "I found out what makes a woman worth $100,000," but
agreed she shouldn't be turned loose: "Turn her loose? After
all we've been through together? After all the blood it's cost.
Hell, no! You made a contract to kidnap a wife for Mr. J.W. Grant.
Now, let's collect that ransom"
- when they brought Maria to Grant to get paid for their
services just across the US border, he didn't want the "professionals" to
notice his interactions with 'Mrs. Grant' - and he stated: "I
hereby declare our contract satisfactorily concluded"
and wanted them to hurry off to town for a bath; and then when they
watched as Grant ordered Raza killed, the professionals wouldn't allow
it, led by Dolworth: "You haven't earned the right to kill him"
- it was obvious that Maria didn't want to be with Grant,
and threatened: "I will run away again"; when Grant insisted: "You're
my wife, you belong to me," she asserted that she belonged with
Raza! ("I belong here...with him"); Grant abused Maria,
grabbed her and slapped her across the face - he demanded that she
return home with him
- the professionals decided to abandon their "bad
deal" mission as Rico explained to their employer: "Gentlemen,
you heard our employer. The lady's going home. (to Maria) You don't
think that J.W. Grant was stupid enough to pay that ransom, do ya?...(to
Grant) There was no kidnapping! Right, Mr. Grant? Is that right,
Mr. Grant?" Grant disagreed: "That is none of your business";
Rico told the real kidnapper, Grant, that his wife would go home
with Raza: "Wrong, Mr. Grant. We made a contract to save a lady
from a nasty old kidnapper - who turns out to be you"; they
allowed Maria to ride off with the wounded Raza (in the back of a
buckboard), to return to Mexico
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Rico Assisting Maria to Return Home with Raza
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Dolworth: "We both made a bad deal, Mr. Grant.
You lose a wife and we lose $10,000 dollars apiece."
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Grant (To Rico): "You bastard!" Rico: "Yes,
Sir. In my case an accident of birth. But you, Sir, you're a
self-made man."
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- in the film's curtain closing, Dolworth summarized: "We
both made a bad deal, Mr. Grant. You lose a wife and we lose $10,000
dollars apiece." Grant (To Rico): "You bastard!"
Rico (with a witty reply): "Yes, Sir. In my case an accident
of birth. But you, Sir, you're a self-made man."
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"Rico" (Lee Marvin)
Ehrengard (Robert Ryan)
"Jake" (Woody Strode)
Dolworth (Burt Lancaster)
Dolworth Planting Dynamite Along Escape Route
Dolworth's Explanation of His Life's Work
Dolworth: "Who are the good guys?"
Scouting Raza's Hideout
Dolworth's Spotting of Chiquita
Dolworth Reacted: "Amigo, we've been had!"
Maria - Successfully Captured - And Used As a Bargaining
Chip to Escape
Dolworth Looking at Maria's Cleavage
Dolworth Holding Off Raza's Gang
Wounded Raza with Chiquita
Raza's Revolucion Speech to Dolworth
Chiquita's Kiss with Dolworth Before Dying
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