The Professionals (Columbia Pictures) (1968)

Burt Lancaster Some five years ago Burt Lancaster and writer-director Richard Brooks teamed up and brought “Elmer Gantry” to the screen. Lancaster walked off with an Academy Award “Oscar” for best actor and Brooks won an “Oscar” for best screenplay. Now, Lancaster and Brooks are reunited once again, this time on a high-adventure tale, “The Professionals,” in which Burt stars at the ...... Theatre in Panavision and Technicolor with Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale also starred. The Columbia Pictures release was directed by Brooks from his own screenplay. Lancaster plays a soldier-of-fortune, one of four who go into Mexico to rescue a girl captured by a Mexican bandit. Lancaster came to Hollywood nearly 20 years ago, scored heavily as a box-office favorite in Mark Hellinger’s film version of “The Killers,’ the Ernest Hemingway story, and has been a top drawer star ever since. Through the years he has displayed a great versatility in theme and performance in such hits as “From Here to Eternity,” “Come Back Little Sheba,” “The Rose Tattoo,” “Trapeze,” “Bird Man of Alcatraz” and “Judgement at Nuremberg.” For his performance in “From Here to Eternity,’ Lancaster won the New York Film Critics Award for best actor and he was nominated also for best actor in the Academy Awards derby. His work in “Bird Man of Alcatraz” won him a second New York Film Critics Award. Before he arrived in Hollywood, Lancaster had been a circus acrobat, road gang worker, floorwalker, salesman, boiler stoker, singing waiter, a G.I. for three years, a Broadway actor for three weeks. With that background, he promptly cracked Hollywood’s six figure salary circle. Dust Trouble Housewives who talk about dust might try to film a sandstorm. Cameraman Conrad Hall, in filming a blinding desert storm for the Theatre action drama, “The Professionals,” on the wasteland sand dunes of Death Valley had to cover his two large motion picture cameras with plastic covers but the sand and dust managed to penetrate his Panavision and Technicolor equipment. As a result, after each “take,” a camera mechanic had to dust off and clean most of the working mechanisms of the cameras. “The Professionals,” a Columbia Pictures release stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale. (Mat IA; Still No. 7-29) Burt Lancaster plays one of "The Professionals" hired to rescue a tempestuous beauty from a Mexican bandit. Also starred in the Columbia Pictures release are Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale as Maria. Richard Brooks wrote the screenplay and directed the adventure drama in Panavision and color by Technicolor. Page 10 (Mat 3A) "The Professionals," Jack Palance’s scrambled nose and jutting jaw clearly put the face of villainy on the star. It was no wonder, then, that he was picked to portray the top badman role in “The Professionals,” now at the Theatre. A Columbia Pictures release, written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks, “The Professionals” also stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale as Maria; it was filmed in Panavision and Technicolor. Palance’s talent and versatility brought him recognition and coveted star status early in his acting career. “Sudden Fear” won him an Oscar nomination in what was only his second film appearance. A year later, on the basis of only 12 lines of dialogue in a “cameo” role in “Shane,” he was nominated for another Academy Award. On television, he won the Emmy as the best actor of the year for his portrayal of a has-been boxer in “Requiem for a Heavyweight.” Palance was struck with the sudden ambition to become an actor while enrolled at Stanford University to study journalism after the war. He joined the Drama Club, appeared in 10 consecutive plays and then headed for New York. In “The Professionals,” Palance plays a Mexican bandit, fighting not only the Federal troops but a band of four soldiers of fortune, “The Professionals,” who invade Mexico to rescue a beautiful girl he is holding. “The Professionals” has music composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre. Marie Gomez Gomez, Marie actress in “The Professionals,” Spanish-born now at the Theatre, considers herself lucky to be included in a cast which stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph ae lamy and Claudia Cardinale, Panavision and Technicolor. On the other hand, director Brooks who also wrote the screenplay, feels he was very fortunate in casting Marie as a sexy Mexican bandit. Marie was born in Barcelona and received her early schooling there. She moved to Paris with her parents when she was 11 years of age, studied in Parisian schools and became adept with the French language, and then traveled to Haiti where her father was with the Spanish embassy. After she completed her schooling, in Paris, she started working as a model for Dior— in hats and jewelry, American photographers took note of the Spanish beauty, and she moved to New York where, in addition to modeling, she studied drama with Lee Strasberg. Producer Leonard Sillman, searching for new talent for his “New Faces of 1962,” placed her in the show. and the tempestuous beauty they invade Mexico to rescue from a bandit leader, are, left to right: Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale as Maria, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode. Also starred in the Columbia Pictures release, in Panavision and color for (Mat IE; Still No. 64-12) Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale as Maria are among the stars of “The Professionals,’ in Panavision and color by Technicolor. Also starred are Lee Marvin, Jack Palance, Robert Ryan and Ralph Bellamy. Richard Brooks wrote the screenplay and directed the Columbia release. Raza Palance Some dozen Mexican actors during Death Valley production of “The Professionals,” Columbia Pictures release at the..... Theatre, called Jack Palance by the proper noun and verb “raza” for two reasons. First, Jack was playing the role of Capitan Raza, a Mexican guerrilla, and secondly, they were calling him “raza” because it is a noun meaning “race” — that is, the Mexican race. In essence, this latter meaning has great significance to Mexicans and Latins. A more literal translation when applied to an individual means “a common, down-to-earth man,” and also “a man who has nerve, who is a man’s man and has the fortitude and abilities to lead other men.” The definitions all applied to Palance, the extras felt. “The Professionals” also stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale as Maria. Burt ey who won the Academy Award as best actor for his performance in “Elmer Gantry,” and Lee Marvin, who won his for his performance in “Cat Ballou,” are among the stars of “The Professionals,” now at the Theatre in Panavision and color by Technicolor. Other stars are Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale. “The Professionals” was written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks, Academy Award winner for his “Elmer Gantry” screenplay. Music for the Columbia Pictures release was composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre who won Awards for his “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Dr. Zhivago” scores. 60 ue sete Je by Technicolor, are Jack Palance as the guerrilla and Ralph Bellamy as Miss Cardinale's wealthy, aging husband. Richard Brooks directed the film, from his own screenplay. Maurice Jarre composed and conducted the music "The Professionals." ¢ ardinale Claudia Cardinale, the most popular actress of international stature to emerge from Europe in the past five years, tries to avoid Hollywood because, she says, “I do not want to become a cliche.” Now and again, however, Hollywood offers her a role she finds too tempting to turn down. Such a role is that of Maria, the proud, lusty, high-born Mexican beauty abducted by Mexican bandits in “The Professionals,” at the..... Theatre with Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance and Ralph Bellamy. Written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks in Panavision and color by Technicolor, “The Professionals” is a Columbia Pictures release. “It is such a wonderful part, so full of animal magnetism, yet so real,’ Claudia says. “I am ruthless with power and wealth. But I always want more. Not like me at all. But I understand the character well.” “The thing I like about the picture is its truth. It takes place in Mexico, in wastelands, and we shoot it in that exact kind of scenery. There’s no prettying up of anything. Not even me. I have sex appeal, of course, but no artificial glamor.” It was this fear of being overglamorized and exploited that kept Miss Cardinale from coming to Hollywood for years. “I always wondered why the American films looked so artificial. Then, one time, I found out. I was invited to the Oscar awards, and flew over and couldn’t take my eyes off the women in the audience. They all looked as though they’d come out of the same mold. All sprayed and painted. Like they belonged to another world.” Inasmuch as that world was obviously not of Claudia’s choosing, she went right back to Italy the next day. And it was three years before the film studios could get her to budge. By this time, happily for her, she had become sufficiently successful that she was able to insist that they leave her alone. Sex appeal, yes; but artificial glamor, no! “The Professionals,” with music composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre, is based on a novel by Frank O’Rourke. M aurice 2 Ja arre Maurice ce two-time Academy Award-winner, composed and conducted the music for “The Professionals,” the Columbia Pictures’ release now at the Theatre. Written for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks, “The Professionals” stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale as Maria. It was filmed in Panavision and color by Technicolor. Jarre received the coveted Oscar for the musical scores of “Dr, Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” O96! ee 6 After several changes of pace, notably as the bumbling baseball player in “Ship of Fools” and as the Academy Award-winning alcoholic gunslinger in “Cat Ballou,” Lee Marvin is back in his element, covered with dust and dressed to kill, pistols dangling from each hip and a Bowie knife stuck in his belt. In “The Professionals,” the Columbia Pictures’ release at the Tene Theatre, which also stars Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale as Maria, Marvin plays one of a band of soldiers of fortune who invade Mexico to rescue a captured girl from a Mexican bandit. “The Professionals” was written for the screen and directed by Rich.-. ard Brooks in Panavision and color by Technicolor. A former Marine, Marvin saw action in the South Pacific and was wounded during the battle for Saipan. It was while he was convalescing in the hospital, watching movies, that he first thought seriously about becoming a professional actor. Under the G.I. Bill of Rights, Marvin enrolled in The American Theater Wing in New York City and learned the rudiments of his craft. Following some appearances in summer stock and a number of television shows, he made his Broadway debut in “Billy Budd,” in which he had a small role as a sailor. In “The Professionals,’ Marvin plays a hard-bitten Army veteran with a special preference for the machine gun, which was just then coming into use. Frank O’Rourke wrote the novel on which the film is based. emy Award for his performance as the bumbling alcoholic exgunslinger of “Cat Ballou,” plays an entirely different kind of gunfighter in “The Professionals,” now at the Theatre in Panavision and color by Technicolor. He appears as a hardbitten, ruthless U. S. Army veteran, expert in all small arms and grimly determined to succeed in what he considers an impossible mission. Also starred in “The Professional” are Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy and Claudia Cardinale as Maria, the tempestuous beauty around whom the violent action of the film revolves. “The Professionals” was directed by Richard Brooks from his own screenplay, based on a novel by Frank O’Rourke. Lancaster also plays a “professional,” an expert with dynamite. Ryan is expert with horses and Woody Strode, a master at tracking and in the use of a bow. These four comprise the team which invades Mexico to rescue Claudia Cardinale from her captor, (Mat Cardinale stars as the tempestuous, IC; Still No. 36-4) Claudia sensual Maria in ''The Professionals." Also starred are Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance and Ralph Bellamy. Richard Brooks directed the Columbia Pictures release, in Panavision and color by Technicolor, from his own screenplay.