The Professionals

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Brooks directs. Conrad Hall behind the camera. Maurice Jarre scores. Peter Zinner cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 160 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
• 3Directed by Richard Brooks, shot by Conrad Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Peter Zinner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin and Robert Ryan carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Rough, tough and ready.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0060862 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 8 themes, including "rescue", "plan", "mexico", "kidnapping".

The technical file

Cinematography

Conrad Hall

Original score

Maurice Jarre

Editing

Peter Zinner

Makeup / hair

Robert J. Schiffer

Runtime

117 min · 1h 57m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

The Professionals (1966) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

89% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

75/100

IMDB rating

7.3/10 · 20,590 votes

MPAA

PG-13

US box office

$19,537,346

Also by

Richard Brooks

• 
  Flame and the Flesh

  1954 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

  1958 · ★ 7.6
• 
  In Cold Blood

  1967 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Elmer Gantry

  1960 · ★ 7.3
• 
  The Catered Affair

  1956 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Deadline - U.S.A.

  1952 · ★ 6.9

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Professionals (1966) Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  The Professionals 1966 Trailer HD | Burt Lancaster | Lee Marvin | Robert Ryan

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  The Professionals | Theatrical Trailer | 1966

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  John Landis on THE PROFESSIONALS

  Featurette

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2016-03-30
  ★ 8/10

  4 soldiers of fortune, one kidnapped wife, one explosive mission. The Professionals comes out of Columbia Pictures and it is based around the novel "A Mule for the Marquesa" written by Frank O'Rourke. Written and directed by Richard Brooks it stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Jack Palance and Claudia Cardinale. A Panavision and Technicolor presentation it features cinematography by Conrad L. Hall and Maurice Jarre scores the music. One of the stand out Oaters from the 1960s that is often forgotten in light of what was to come from Sam Peckinpah three years later. Though far more light hearted than "Bloody Sam's Magnum Opus" that was The Wild Bunch, Richard Brook's film has many similarities. Themes of friendship, loyalty, disillusionment and of course the changing of the Old West all get dealt a hand here, with Brooks and his team upping the action stakes in a ball of explosions, gun fights and verbal jousting. Hell! The film is even a touch risqué, with nudity, sex and a wife in distress that is not as saintly as one would expect. Set in 1917 on the Mexican-Texas border, just after the Mexican revolution, The Professionals' only real problem is the thin story. However, Brooks is not interested in going too deep with his plot, he's more concerned with playing it for thrills and back slapping camaraderie. Which works magnificently due to the impressive cast that has assembled for the movie. Marvin plays it restrained as Henry 'Rico' Fardan, the weary leader of the group sent into Mexico to "rescue" Claudia Cardinale's (sultry but some fluctuating accent issues) Mrs. Maria Grant from the clutches of Palance's (excellent) Bandido supreme, Jesus Raza. Lancaster is a whirlwind of testosterone as explosives expert Bill Dolworth, while Ryan and Strode are smooth background characters as the conscientious Hans Ehrengard & muscular tracker and bowman, Jake Sharp, respectively. The only complaint about the characters comes with Ralph Bellamy's Joe Grant, the apparently fraught husband who sets the men off on their mission. He's in the beginning and the end of the pic, but it's just not enough screen time to really grasp his make up and thus the character is rendered as underdeveloped. Hall's photography is exceptional as he shoots on location at Death Valley, Lake Mead and the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. The browns are smooth on the eye and the capturing of the odd rock formations a real treat. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his work, as was Brooks in the Best Direction and Best Screenplay categories. The shoot actually suffered some serious problems such as dust storms and flash floods, thus causing severe delays. But the end result was worth it for the film was a success at the box office. The public promptly lapped it up, yes it's a bit close to the knuckle sometimes, but there's never a dull moment in it. It's basically a ripper of a good time. 8/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Columbia Pictures

  US

Key crew

• Set DecorationFrank Tuttle
• NovelFrank O'Rourke
• ProducerRichard Brooks
• Art DirectionTed Haworth
• Camera OperatorCharles Rosher Jr.
• EditorPeter Zinner
• StuntsBobby Somers
• Makeup ArtistRobert J. Schiffer
• Sound SupervisorCharles J. Rice
• StuntsJack Williams
• StuntsTony Epper
• Special EffectsWillis Cook
• Unit Production ManagerLee Lukather
• Assistant DirectorTom Shaw
• Stunt DoubleBoyd Cabeen
• StuntsJohn McKee
• StuntsRon Veto
• StuntsJohn Epper
• StuntsJohn Hudkins
• Key GripJohn Livesley

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• rescue
• plan
• mexico
• kidnapping
• desert
• mexican bandit
• escape plan
• bazat pe carte

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1966-11-01PG-13

Also known as

International titles

• Los profesionalesES
• De ProfessionellaSE
• Os Profissionais - 1966BR
• מקצועניםIL