The Professionals (1966)
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93% of critics liked it
(15 reviews) -
78% of users liked it
(3,733 ratings)
Grant (Ralph Bellamy) is a wealthy rancher who hires four mercenaries to retrieve his wife, Maria (Claudia Cardinale), from the clutches of the desperado Raza (Jack Palance) in this Western adventure set in 1917. Dolworth (Burt Lancaster) is a munitions expert who joins gunslinger Fardan (Lee… More Grant (Ralph Bellamy) is a wealthy rancher who hires four mercenaries to retrieve his wife, Maria (Claudia Cardinale), from the clutches of the desperado Raza (Jack Palance) in this Western adventure set in 1917. Dolworth (Burt Lancaster) is a munitions expert who joins gunslinger Fardan (Lee Marvin), horse trainer Hans Ehrengard (Robert Ryan), and longbow master Jake (Woody Strode) when the men are offered 10,000 dollars apiece for the safe return of Grant's kidnapped wife. The cadre travels 100 miles into Mexico to retrieve the woman, whom they later discover wants to remain with Raza, but they decide to nab Maria anyway to make good on the money. Soon Fardan, Hans, and Jake are chased across the border by the enraged Raza and his equally deadly female accomplice Chiquita (Marie Gomez), while Dolworth stays behind to fight off Raza's Mexican banditos. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Direction (Richard Brooks), Best Screenplay (Brooks again), and Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall). ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Directed By
- Richard Brooks I
- Written By
- Richard Brooks
- Genres
- Western, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Classics
- In Theaters
- Nov 2, 1966 Wide
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Exciting explosive sequences, good overall pacing and acting overcome a sometimes thin script.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Underrated all-star western.
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, Time Out
It was comprehensively eclipsed by Peckinpah's ostensibly similar The Wild Bunch.
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James Plath, Movie Metropolis
The Professionals may not rank as one of the all-time classic Westerns, but it's a respectable--and beautifully filmed--entry in the genre.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's one of Brooks's more eloquent and witty films.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Burt Lancaster
as Bill Dolworth
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Lee Marvin
as Rico (Henry Fardan)
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Robert Ryan
as Hans Ehrengard
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Jack Palance
as Capt. Jesus Raza
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Claudia Cardinale
as Maria Grant
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Ralph Bellamy
as J.W. Grant
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Woody Strode
as Jake Sharp
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Joe De Santis
as Pasual Ortega
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Rafael Bertrand
as Fierro
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Jorge Martinez De Hoyos
as Eduardo Padillia
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Marie Gomez
as Chiquita
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Jose Chavez
as Revolutionary
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Carlos Romero
as Revolutionary
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Vaughan Taylor
as Banker
- David Cadiente
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Elizabeth Campbell
as Mexican Girl
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Don Carlos
as Bandit
- Roberto Contreras
- Foster Hood
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Darwin Lamb
as Hooper
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Edward Little Sky
as The Prisoner
- Henry O'Brien
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Leigh Chapman
as Lady
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Jorge Marchegiant
as Eduardo Padilla
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Dirk Evans
as Man at Door
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John R. McKee
as Sheriff
