Monte Markham, who in 1967 starred
in the series The Second Hundred Years, is closing in on his first
hundred! A busy actor on film and television since his 1966 debut on Mission:
Impossible, and Debbie Reynolds’ co-star in 1973’s Broadway hit musical, Irene,
he’s still very in-demand. But beginning in 1992, with son Jason Markham and
wife Klaire Markham, Monte founded the independent documentary production
company Perpetual Motion Films, and they have produced hundreds of hours
of documentary television, including the first 10 episodes that premiered the
landmark A&E series, Biography.
At 2022’s Lone Pine Film Festival,
I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing Mr. Markham onstage before the
screening of 1969’s Guns of the Magnificent 7, speaking mostly about that film,
and also about his first Western, 1967’s Hour of the Gun. So much of our talk was punctuated by
laughter, both Monte’s and the audience's, that I left the “laughs” in. I’m particularly happy that Monte shared a great story about the late Joe Don Baker.
Henry Parke: Hello, I'm Henry Parke, Film
Editor for True West Magazine, and we are so lucky to have with us one
of the magnificent people of The Magnificent 7, Monte Markham. To put Guns
of the Magnificent 7 in a historical context, in 1960, director John
Sturges took his crew to Cuernavaca, Mexico, along with Yul Bryner, Steve
McQueen, Eli Wallach, and a script based on Akira Kurasawa's Seven Samurai,
and made The Magnificent 7. It's a wonderful western and it made stars
of James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn. It introduced Horst Buckholtz
and gave Brad Dexter his best-ever film role. In 1966, The Mirisch Company sent
director Burt Kennedy to Spain with a script by Larry Cohen, with Yul Bryner
back as Chris, Robert Fuller in Steve McQueen's role of Vin, and Warren Oates,
Simon Oakland, Fernando Ray, Emiliano Fernandez, and Rudolpho Acosta, to make Return
to the Magnificent 7. It's widely considered to be, well, a movie, but
nobody's best work. Then in 1969, working in Spain with a script by Herman
Hoffman, Paul Wendkos directed what is clearly the best of the three sequels,
and we won’t even discuss the remake, Guns of the Magnificent 7. George
Kennedy, fresh from his Oscar win for Cool Hand Luke, played Chris, and
as his right hand, in what would be the Steve McQueen role, the first of the
new 7 he'll recruit, as you know, is Monte Markham. We're so fortunate
to have him with us tonight. Monte, Guns was early in your film career,
but not your first Western.
Monte Markham: No, the first Western was called The
Law and Tombstone, and I was cast and got down to Mexico, and it was John
Sturges directing. It was the sequel of the Gunfight at the OK Corral.
They hated the name, because it would translate only to The Law and the
Grave Marker in the European market -- that wouldn't have the same cache
that Tombstone means in America. (Note: It was eventually retitled Hour of
the Gun.) And that was just a hell of an experience. I gotta tell you. It
was my first film; I had just come into town. I hadn't done any television,
hadn't done any film, and we were in Torreon, Mexico and it was the first time
anything was shot there. And in the cast was Sam Melville (as Morgan Earp), his
first film; Johnny Voight (as Curly Bill Brocius), his first film; Frank
Converse (as Virgil Earp), his first film. And we were surrounded with some of
the finest character actors in New York and Hollywood. And it was such a great
experience. Jason Robards playing Doc Holliday and Jimmy Garner playing Wyatt
Earp. They became lifelong friends. It was a great time.
Henry Parke: And of course, you played Sherman
McMasters.
Monte Markham: Yep. He was the deputy sheriff
out of Arizona.
Henry Parke: What was John Sturges like to
work with?
Monte Markham: John was a very impressive and a
very reticent man, a man of few words. He loved to party. Jason Robards was
known to be in his booze. He was divorcing Lauren Bacall at the time. And he
spent every night in the whore-house, not whoring necessarily, he just loved
the company and he had a great time, <laugh>, and he drank a lot.
And the next morning, they'd be bringing
him onto set with cucumbers on his eyeballs. It was an interesting time for
all. We were all in the hotel dining room and having dinner. And Jason came in
and said, “Hello everybody.” When he was not drinking, he was just the sweetest
man in the world. "And John, " he said to Sturges, like a hurt boy,
"I said hello to you on the street, and you didn't even acknowledge
it." John looked at him and said, "I never speak to strangers on the
street." Jason was so upset. But it (became) a joke between the two of
them.
When I got the call to do the film,
they said report to Los Angeles. And I had a great wife, a 2-year-old child,
and I was off to Mexico. It was raining, I got a taxi, arrived at LAX, then a
Mustang pulled up and spun around and stopped. Out stepped Lonny Chapman and
Jason Robards and Bill Windom, drunk as coots. Got on board the plane and we
flew to El Paso, Texas, had a brief news conference, and everybody was drinking
the whole time. Bill Windom and Jason were wearing their wardrobe, and we flew
to Mexico, to Torreon, on a DC 3 plane. We got off the plane and I ran down and
said, "Hello." Mr. Sturges was standing there. And I’ll never forget
the look on his face when Windom and Robards just crawled off the plane and
fell down the stairs <laugh>. It was like that the whole shoot. But it
was just very exciting, particularly for a young actor; just great.
Henry Parke: You'd also made a couple of TV
Westerns, episodes of Iron Horse and Here Come the Brides. Did
those, and Hour of the Gun help prepare you for Guns of the
Magnificent 7?
Monte Markham: Nothing really prepares you for
any of that. You are all fans of Westerns, you love it, and we have the great
Cowboy poems, and the writing, and it's all true: there's no greater fun. That’s
when the stables were all working in Sun Valley, and the north section of the
Valley; that's where all stunt men had their horses. And you want to understand
that at that time, everybody had three horses. Jimmy Garner got James Stewart's
horse, that was Henry Fonda's horse. Jimmy Garner had three horses, they were
Buckskins. Jimmy didn't own them; the people running the studios had them. The
stunts were all worked out there, at the barns.
And when I went to Hal (Note: sorry,
I couldn’t decipher the last name), who was a good friend of somebody, and he
introduced me, and we became great buddies. He said, come on out and we'll fix
you up. And instead of having lunch I was trying to learn everything. I would
learn how to jump over the butt of a horse, and mount this way, and mount that
way. It was just wonderful. And Dustin Hoffman was training for Little Big
Man. I remember him standing over in the corner learning how. He was just
in from New York. He was working his butt off. It was great. There's the horse
sequence where we get on and again, it was the American cowboy horses, the ones
that we had down in Mexico, the ones that we didn't have in Spain. They'd
be all over the place; they were agitated all the time.
George (Kennedy) runs up, says
"Mount up," and I ran to the horse to mount, and boom, the horse ran
away. <laugh> Paul (Wendkos), the director, was furious. We kept trying.
And that horse would not wait for me. He said, “How are you doing?” Then, Boom.
“Get away from me!” “Don't jump at me like that!” We had to tie the horse, and
finally it took three different cuts to make it work so I could take off, and it
was a nightmare for him. But it was just a different way of filming everything.
I didn't get to jump on a horse after all that hard work. That's my story, and
I'm sticking to it. But, don't tell me I'm not having a good time. It was just
great. Great.
Henry Parke: Had you seen the original Magnificent
7?
Monte Markham: Several times, as we all have. I
remember Jimmy Coburn, and it was like, my God, who is that? And the various
actors; McQueen! It was great. It was an honor to do the film. I felt very
strongly about it. Madrid was like the hub, and we would drive out every day,
30, 40 miles to the different locations. It was four months and it was great
preparation. Paul Wendkos was the great New York director. John Frankenheimer
and he were competitors all the time. And Paul just never got the role of the
director that he should have. And unfortunately, he died early.
But it was just a great shoot. Joe
Don Baker, just a wonderfully spooky guy. We had a great time. In Madrid at
that time, it was bullfighting season. Up until a certain young man appeared on
the scene, bullfighting had really degenerated into corruption, et cetera. They
would drop sandbags on the bull's back to weaken them. They shaved the horn,
because the bull would think, I got you. Well, I thought I got you, but they
took about an inch off his horn. They were cheating all the time. Then came a
young guy named El Cordobes. Many of you here may remember the name and
remember seeing some of his work, those of you that are into bullfighting. We
had that to go to on Sundays, and it was just wonderful. I hated the picadors,
I hated a lot of it, but it was really spectacular.
Joe Don bought a cape, and he wore
that cape, <laugh> walking down the street. A guy would look at him on
the street as they're passing, like, what? What the hell you lookin' at?
Whatcha looking at? Whatcha looking at? And he had a stunt girl in Spain that
he dated, and she wore like the first mini skirt. This is ‘68, and we'd be in
the Great Plaza Ventas, the magnificent bullring stadium there. And he'd make
his entrance in that cape and have a grand time and look around. Everybody --
whatcha looking at? Whatcha looking at? It was a great time. It was a crazy
time. James Whitmore -- it was an honor to know James. He was one of the finest
men and finest actors I've ever worked with, one of the finest human beings.
The work that he started with actors and theater all over the country that's
resonating to this day.
George Kennedy, he said, “Hell,
what a stroke of luck! Yul Bryner decides he doesn't want to do it, and I’d
just won an Oscar, and here I am.” And he was thrilled to be doing it. He said,
“We're all doing cowboys and Indians, cowboys and Mexicans.” Frank Silvera;
what a gift, what a man. Tragically, shortly after we made the film, he died
installing a damned garbage disposal: electrocuted himself. Bernie Casey is a
great artist. Had an incredible career as a painter. That was his first film.
You aren't necessarily Los Angeles Rams fans, but you remember that was the
winning team, and Bernie was a great wide receiver. So it was a thrilling,
thrilling shoot.
Henry Parke: As long as you talked about most
of the 7, how about Reni Santoni?
Monte Markham: Reni, I didn't know very well.
And he really was pissed off when I jumped off that horse and knocked him down.
I just kicked him down and knocked him down, and he kept going, "You son
of a bitch!" We never really got along. I would point out that Fernando Rey,
the little dove, I don't know how many remember, but he was The
French Connection, another great film. Fernando was a very elegant man and
a very well-known Spanish actor and spoke beautiful English.
Henry Parke: And as far as elegant, evil
people, Michael Ansara as Colonel Diego --
Monte Markham: He was cool, very, very cool.
Married to Barbara Eden at the time, but he had a good time in Spain.
Henry Parke: With all of the location work,
was it a physically difficult shoot to do?
Monte Markham: I'd like to say yes, but it was
just...no. It was great people, great locations. But I will say that for me,
that first day of the shooting, me just being hauled out of the saloon and down
the street. We fought, and guys got shot, and finally it was the end of the
day. And it was this hot hot, day. The guys were sweating like pigs. The next
day it was freezing cold. I remember Jimmy Whitmore, he was working on other
scenes that day. And (to match how they looked the day before) a guy was
spraying (water on everyone) And Jimmy kept saying, "Don't do that. Please
don't do that. If you do that again I'm going to kill you." Each time, “Just
one more time.”
The difference in location shooting
is we had a lot of time off. As my character, Keno. I do some tricks; I do
karate and all that. So there were three guys with me on the train. And one
guy, Ray, they were making a joke. He had a straw hat on. Again, this is 1968,
and he took off his hat, and he had long, I mean really long hair. And they
called him El Indio. He fought bulls dressed as an American Indian chief, and
he was well known. We had been working, working, working. They said his village
is having a fiesta, and they invited me. He's gonna fight a bull, and we'd like
you to join him in the ring, and be his assistant. And I said fine, that's
great. 200 kilometers north of Madrid. They picked me up on Friday night at
about nine o'clock, after shooting, and we drove all night. We got there about
two a.m., went into the hotel. The next morning, they were singing and dancing
in the street. It was like choirs. And in the middle of it is Ray Olo, the big
barrel-chested guy. And so we go down, looked at the bulls. The bulls were not
bulls, they were just big, big bull cattle. And it was for charity; in fact,
the mayor was one of the guys to fight a bull. And Ray was gonna take one. So
we got there. I was tall, blond hair, white shirt, marching with the crowd. They
gave me brandy and we're having a great time. We got to the arena, and it was
like something in Sun Valley in 1938. I stood there in the ring. And the first guy
introduced himself, and then he got on his knees in front of the entrance and
had the cape in his hand. And the bull ran out and ran right over, knocked him
down.
The mayor took on his bull, and he
got hit several times. And he kept saying, "My God, the things we do for
charity!" <Laugh>. So in comes Ray, and Ray had the full regalia on,
and I've never seen the like of it. And the bull came and it was a big one. Big
-- hell, about this high at the shoulder. And Ray had stripped off his vest, he
ran toward the bull, and the bull was running toward him. He was running
straight at the bull, nothing in his hands. And he did a vault over the bull!
I was thrilled. I stood up
applauding, like it was a football game. So then they said, “It’s your time.” I
went out and they gave me a cape, the lavender one with the yellow side. I’d watched
them do it. So I stood like this, the bull's charging me. And I got
mixed up to where I was, and the bull hit me and ran right over me, right
across my chest <laugh>. I said, I must get up. And I did. And I ‘passed’
the bull. And then ‘passed’ him again. And I looked over at Ray, and he said,
"Anytime you're ready. It's my bull." It was great. It was a great
time, but my chest looked like hamburger.
Henry Parke: Do you have any favorite memories
from shooting the film that you haven't mentioned yet?
Monte Markham: That was a big one.
Henry Parke: I should think so.
Monte Markham: Not a favorite, but my wife was
able to join us for 10 days and we were able to travel around, but Franco was
still in power. All around town you would see that everything was stopped and
there'd be a parade of tanks, and Franco coming through town. There'd be a big
event, and Juan Carlos, the son of the ex-King was being groomed. They knew he
would take over and be King, and that's the only time Franco would have let it
happen. But he seemed to be everywhere. More police than I had ever seen
anywhere. We were in the massive -- maybe it was about the size of the Rose
Bowl -- the famous Casa de Toros in Memphis. Before one of the fights, the picadors
come out. But some guy in the crowd, he kept yelling something, and he was
cursing; he was drunk and he was making comments. Everybody was very shocked
and quiet. And then they started laughing, and he was going on, and all of a
sudden a voice went -- (Shouting in Spanish). And that was one of the
policemen. 150,000 people stopped in silence. There were several different
kinds of uniforms. They took him away. It was something. I mean, you were safe
(from crime). You could do anything. If I came back to my room, and I’d left my
money laid out in denominations on the bureau, it was (untouched), because it
was a pure dictatorship. And 50 years later, my wife and I, we went back and
they'd removed Franco from where he was buried. (Note: Franco was originally
buried at the Valley of the Fallen, a memorial built by the forced labor of his
political enemies. In 2019 Franco’s body was exhumed, and was reburied in a
regular cemetery.) So there was a mix of great memory of a great people, and
the rise of really artistic bullfighting with Cordobes, and us being able to
play-act like that and yet have such a great time and love each other. And I
can't describe it more to you, how great the memory is and how great the
opportunity was. You hear it from all the guests, but I truly am one of the
most fortunate people who's ever been able to act. And I thank you all for
that.
Henry Parke: We have a question from an
audience member.
Audience Member: The Magnificent 7 theme
song is pretty iconic. It's like the James Bond theme: everybody knows it. I'm
just curious, when you guys were doing those group riding scenes, did you ever
think about that theme?
Monte Markham: Every moment! <Laugh>
Bernie Casey was a big man, and they needed to have a particular grey, a
beautiful grey, for him to ride. And the first time we were all together, for
those who will remember, we came over the hill. It was early morning, dawn, dew
was on the mountain and a lot of grass. And we all come over, it's George and
me, and then I hear, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" I looked over my shoulder,
and Bernie's horse, that big grey, had just sat down on his butt and was sliding
down the hill. <laugh>
And Bernie, it was all he could do to stay on. We did it twice more, and it still happened. And finally the sheepish wrangler said the horse had a saddle sore. But you always did (think of the theme). You remember in school, if you had a track meet, you’d tie a number on your back. I went to a sporting goods store, and I bought seven numbers. They set up another morning shot. We all came riding into camp. Long shot. So we're up there, we're over the mountain, and I'm passing out the numbers. George put on 1, I put on 2, and we had the music playing, we come over the mountain, they're riding in, riding in, riding in, Paul Wendkos saw it, "Very funny! Cut! Cut! Cut! " But yes, you always knew it; I'd even hum it sometimes.
And that’s a wrap!
I need to get this posted, and get
ready for the interview I’m doing in a few hours with Alexander Nevsky about
his newest Western, The Wide West!
To see my most recent other
writings, check out the left hand sidebar near the top, where you’ll find links
to my most recent articles for INSP, about Westerns at the Drive-in, and
my 4 pieces in the May-June issue of True West, on different aspects of the
miniseries American Primeval. And catch me on Thursday, July 3rd,
on the Rendezvous With a Writer podcast!
Much obliged,
Henry
All Original Contents Copyright
June 2025 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved