By Lee Pfeiffer
On Saturday May 23, actor Robert Vaughn appeared at The Film Society of Lincoln Center's tribute to Steve McQueen, introducing a screening of John Sturges' 1960 classic
The Magnificent Seven. Hundreds of classic movie lovers gave Vaughn an enthusiastic greeting, as he reflected on the making of the film in his introduction. He quipped that he got the gig by default because he's the last remaining member of the legendary "Seven". Vaughn recalled how Sturges cast him after seeing the 27 year-old actor's Oscar-nominated performance in
The Young Philadelphians.Sturges then asked him if he knew a "Gary Cooper-type" to play the part of Britt, the knife-thrower. Vaughn instantly recommended his college buddy James Coburn, who was then destitute and living in New York. Coburn had to borrow the plane fare from his parents to meet with Sturges, but he and Vaughn remained lifelong friends - and Coburn was always grateful that Vaughn jump-started his big screen career. Vaughn said he recently ran into the other major surviving cast member, Eli Wallach, who played the bandit leader Calvera. The two remembered an amusing aspect of the filming: the presence on the set of a well-known Mexican film director who was employed to do translating to the crew and supporting actors. He said the man's career had only been marginally impacted by the fact that, after a Mexican film critic gave a pan review to one of his films, he killed the critic! Vaughn said that, even from an actor's standpoint, that reaction was a bit extreme for a critic. Following the introduction, Vaughn sat next to Neile McQueen, Steve's first wife, to view the movie on the big screen for the first time since 1960. The print was the best I have seen on a theater screen and the appreciative audience applauded at virtually every name on the opening credits. (You know you are in a sophisticated crowd when composer Elmer Bernstein's name gets as much applause as the stars!).
After the movie, I caught up with Vaughn, who is a long-time supporter
and conributor to Cinema Retro. At one point, Chad McQueen, Steve's son, introduced himself to Vaughn, who had not seen him
since he was a young boy. Vaughn chatted with numerous fans and signed
countless autographs, but managed to inform me that his smash hit
British show
Hustle has been renewed for two more years and
that he will be leaving for the UK in July to resume filming the new
season. I then returned to him a prized personal possession that he had
loaned to Cinema Retro for reproduction in a future issue: the original
NBC promotional brochure for
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. which was then under its working title
Solo.He
said he's still amazed at the continued popularity of the show - a fact
evidenced by a fan who asked him to sign his autograph as "Napoleon
Solo"!Â
(Click here to order Robert Vaughn's book, A Fortunate Life from Amazon)