The Professionals is a 1966 Western movie directed by Richard Brooks. A kidnap-rescue adventure set in about 1917, it features a small group of experts heading into Mexico to free the Mexican-born wife of a wealthy Texan from several hundred bandits. The film is based on the novel A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O’Rourke.
Synopsis
The professionals are team leader Henry (Rico) Fardan (Lee Marvin), explosives expert Bill Dolworth (Burt Lancaster), horseman Hans Ehrengard (Robert Ryan) and bow-and-arrow marksman Jake Sharp (Woody Strode). These men are hard and cynical professionals but have a code of honour. The bandits are led by Jesus Raza (Jack Palance), who was actually much respected as a soldier by Fardan and Dolworth, having once fought on the same side under Pancho Villa. Raza has a small army, including the female soldier Chiquita (Marie Gomez). The kidnapped wife is Maria (Claudia Cardinale), whose much older husband is J.W. Grant (Ralph Bellamy). But was she really kidnapped?
Production
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 also 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.
