The Professionals / Jack Palance

” … Without love, without a cause, we are… *nothing*!
We stay because we believe. We leave because we are disillusioned.
We come back because we are lost. We die because we are committed …”

– Jack Palance as Jesus Raza

The Professionals Palance

Jack Palance Westerns 

Shane 1953 / Arrowhead 1953 / The Lonely Man 1957 / The Professionals 1966 / The Mercenary 1968 / The Desperados 1969/ Companeros 1970 / Monte Walsh 1970 / The McMasters 1970 / Sting of the West 1972 / Chato’s Land 1972 / It Can Be Done Amigo 1972 / The Godchild 1974 / God’s Gun 1976 / The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang 1979 / Welcome to Blood City 1984 / Young Guns 1988 / City Slickers 1991 / City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold 1994 / Buffalo Girls 1995 / Monte Walsh 2003

 

The Professionals ? … Marketing Anomalies …

The Professionals didn’t seem to indulge in a lot of marketing promotion. Possibly (credibly) relying on it’s AllStar cast to carry it.
But some of marketing images are still a bit of a head scratcher.
Like this:

The Professionals Marketing
The Professionals DVD Cover / Poster

This DVD cover/poster headlines “Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance and Ralph Bellamy“. But … ? the image shows Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Marvin, Ryan and Woody Strode.
Palance and Bellamy are Billed, but not pictured. Cardinale and Strode are pictured, but not Billed.
???

This can only be attributed to contractual agreements regarding who would get Billed ahead of who … whom? I guess.

Even stranger: As shown below, Cardinale did not even appear in the original photo, but she was cleverly inserted later – between Lancaster and Marvin.
YET … she is not even identified on the Bill !! ??

Why bother?

The Professionals Black and White
The Professionals – The original image

Here’s another:

The Professionals Marketing 2
The Professionals

Again, we have actors Billed (Lancaster, Palance, Bellamy) – but not pictured.
And actors pictured (Cardinale, Strode), but not Billed.

I know it’s hot out there in the desert, but …

How hot is it? Check this:

The Professionals Marketing Claudia
The Professionals

Whew … it’s sweaty out here in the desert.
Who are those slobs in the background?
(Foreign marketers had no problem showing where their interest lies.)

The Professionals / 1966 cont’d …

The Professionals …

The Professionals / Laurel Award
The Professionals / Laurel Award

The Professionals Banner

Three 1966 Academy Award Nominations:

Best Director: Richard Brooks

Best Adapted Screenplay: Richard Brooks

Best Cinematography: Conrad Hall

The film won two Motion Picture Magazine Laurel Awards in 1967, for Best Action Drama and Best Action Performance for Lee Marvin.
In Germany, it was one of only four movies to receive a Golden Screen award (the others were Doctor ZhivagoMerveilleuse Angélique and You Only Live Twice) in 1967.

The Professionals Banner

The Professionals Lee Marvin
The Professionals / Lee Marvin

The Professionals … 1966

“Maybe there’s only one revolution, since the beginning, the good guys against the bad guys. Question is, who are the good guys?”
– Burt Lancaster / The Professionals 

The Professionals … 

Truly.

Lee Marvin moves into full blown stardom – becoming a legitimate box office titan – in one of the greatest Westerns ever made (My Favorite) starring along side Western Film Greats Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Claudia Cardinale, Ralph Belamy … What a cast!

Following Cat Ballou (Oscar) this is one of 4 Westerns remaining in Marvin’s Western filmography: Monte Walsh / 1970 (with Jack Palance); Paint Your Wagon / 1969 (with Clint Eastwood); Emperor of the North / 1973 (with Charles Bronson).

A true Western Star.

The Professionals posters
The Professionals posters