The Professionals (1966)

A wealthy rancher (Ralph Bellamy) hires a group of men to enter Mexico and retrieve his wife (Claudia Cardinale) who has been kidnapped by a Mexican bandit (Jack Palance). Each member of the team has a specialty: explosives (Burt Lancaster), weapons (Lee Marvin), horses (Robert Ryan) and scouting (Woody Strode). This is a first class, rip roaring western adventure! It's not a great western, you'll never find it listed with the best westerns of John Ford, Anthony Mann or Sergio Leone, it doesn't resonate in that way. But it's an example of what talented people can do when everything falls into place. If I have any reservations, it's that the portrayal of the Mexican bandits tends to be the stereotypical image perpetuated by Hollywood films that equals bandido with buffoon. The direction by Richard Brooks (ELMER GANTRY) is skillful and keeps the enterprise bristling while the expert cast flesh out their parts. The wide screen (Panavision) Oscar nominated cinematography is courtesy of Conrad Hall and Maurice Jarre provides one of his rare good scores. With Joe De Santis, Vaughn Taylor and Marie Gomez.