Tempered Like Steel
This Gary W. Tooze review of the recently-issued Blu-ray disc of Richard Brooks' The Professionals (1966) reminded me in a roundabout way that Lee Marvin had one of the most beautiful-sounding voices of any actor in the history of motion pictures. And I love Burt Lancaster's line about "nothing is harmless in this desert unless it's dead."
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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 25, 2008 at 6:09 PM
comment #1
NDH
says ...
This is actually one of my favorite westerns. Marvin and Lancaster were at the top of their games, and it also features great supporting work from Woody Strode and Robert Ryan. I would say it's somewhat underrated within the genre.
Posted by NDH
at June 25, 2008 8:36 PM
comment #2
Edward
says ...
I agree NDH, but one thing I'll always remember are the tire tracks visible in portions of the film. It's been awhile, but I think they appear towards the end.
Posted by Edward
at June 25, 2008 9:16 PM
comment #3
moviemaniac2002
says ...
LOVE this movie. I found it similar to "Sweet
Smell Of Success" in that almost every exchange of dialogue in it is a keeper. This is a movie that
today's screewriter(with their barely funtional
dialogue) should watch over and over again.
Ralph Bellamy: You hair was darker then..
Marvin: My heart was lighter then.
Marvin: You won't lose your pants. Your life, maybe, but what's that?
Lancaster: Hardly anything at all.
Bellamy: These horses ..you'll just have to make 'em do...
Ryan: I can make 'em go...but I can't make 'em do.
Claudia Cardinale: You go to hell.
Lancaster: Yes, Ma'am. I'm on my way.
Bellamy: Jesus...what a name for the bloodiest
cutthroat in Mexico.
Bandido: (To Marvin) Mister, do I gotta kill you to
prove I like you?
Brilliant, good old fashioned meat 'n potatoes moviemaking...fully formed characters brought to life by charismatic actors...an adventure script where the action sequences actually mean something to the storyline. Anyone who hasn't seen it, buy it or rent it now, cause with Hollywood as it is today, you'll never see anything like it again.
Posted by moviemaniac2002
at June 26, 2008 6:02 AM
comment #4
Jeffrey Easter
says ...
My fave line from this great movie:
Ralph Bellamy: You Bastard!
Lee Marvin: Yes, Sir. In my case an accident of birth. But you, Sir, you're a self-made man.
Laughed so hard at this when I watched it at 2am that I actually woke up neighbors in my apartment.
Posted by Jeffrey Easter
at June 26, 2008 8:01 AM
comment #5
Joe Leydon
says ...
Another great moment: Ralph Bellamy -- who hires Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Woody Stride for a dangerous rescue mission -- asks if Marvin has "any objections to working with a Negro'' (Strode). Marvin waits a few seconds before speaking, but his expression is easy to read: ''What the hell kind of damn fool question is that?'' When Marvin finally does speak, he pointedly ignores Bellamy's query -- there are more important matters to discuss.
Posted by Joe Leydon
at June 26, 2008 9:53 AM
comment #6
Strolzy
says ...
If you think Lee Marvin has one of the great voices then, a gift; there exists a Lee Marvin voice over to a film that, I believe, does not exist. It is scored to an instrumental by the band Godspeed You Black Emperor!. The track is called "The Dead Flag Blues." Take a minute here, this is one of the great The Apocalypse Is Upon Us narrations ever written. Sample dialog, "And we're all so many drunks with the radio on and the curtains drawn....we're all trapped in the belly of this horrible machine and the machine is bleeding to death...the billboards are all leering...mother's clutching babies...the skyline was beautiful on fire...I said 'kiss me you're beautiful, these are truly the last days.'" Words spoken by Lee Fucking Marvin. Download the track. Run time is just under 16 minutes.)
Posted by Strolzy
at June 26, 2008 10:39 AM
comment #7
foxnewsisfake
says ...
On mornings following a night of heavy drinking, I am gifted for a short while with a sonorous hangover baritone. At blessed times such as these, I climb in the shower, and with my voice pitched an octave below subwoofer, I drift away to a wet and misty boomtown and offer up a sublime note-perfect re-creation of Lee Marvin's "Wandering Star." Thirty minutes later, my carriage turns into a pumpkin.
It's a wonder I'm not an alcoholic.
Posted by foxnewsisfake
at June 27, 2008 3:12 PM
comment #8
dd
says ...
At blessed times such as these, I climb in the shower, and with my voice pitched an octave below subwoofer, I drift away to a wet and misty boomtown and offer up a sublime note-perfect re-creation of Lee Marvin's "Wandering Star." Thirty minutes later, my carriage turns into a pumpkin.
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Posted by dd
at May 11, 2010 1:05 AM
comment #9
janee
says ...
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Posted by janee
at May 17, 2011 4:03 AM