The Magnificent Seven …
Casting Brad Dexter / Harry Luck
Brad Dexter as Harry Luck
The Magnificent Seven
Let’s call it Luck … bad luck, because sadly, strangely, unfairly, movies often all boil down to that intangible element called Charisma.
You either got it … or you don’t.
The Magnificent Seven
The proof is in the most famous trivia question of Western Film:
“Who was that Seventh guy anyway?”
Even when people are shown his picture …
most people STILL don’t know his name.
Brad Dexter
Playing Harry Luck.
Oh, Brad Dexter was cast correctly for his part alight – as the cynical member of the Seven who was ‘just in it for the money’.
But most everyone else in the cast was already an established Star (Brynner, McQueen, Wallach) – or moving swiftly up the ladder toward bright daylight (Bronson, Coburn, Bucholz and Vaughn).
Brad simply fell back – and never made it.
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Brad Dexter / Veljko Soso
April 9, 1917 – December 11, 2002
Yet Dexter still had a successful film career that spanned some 50 years and included at least 40 movies.
Luck had nothing to do with it.
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Casting Brendan Fraser as Harry Luck
Let’s see …
…. a guy who can play a cynical scoundrel with some charm and a smile … ?
Possibly unsophisticated … affable, obvious, open … ??
Who is natural for such a role … ???
BANG !!!
Brendan Fraser
Dead on.
“I would act whether or not I was paid.
I would be involved in ensemble groups.
I would have the desire to tell stories.”
~ Brendan Fraser
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Nice. where’d you find all the cool photos?
Howdy Sethsnap … Thanks for your nod.
The ‘photos’? Well, I just find them on the net. Some of them take some time and searching to find.
Then I often fix them up a bit – crop them, touch them up, improve resolution, colour …
Or I outright play around with them and try to come with a nice effect.
Have a good one.