The Magnificent Seven was based on Akira Kurasawa's original screenplay for his version of the Japanese legend of The Seven Samurai, Shichinin No Samurai. The action is set in a small Mexican village plagued by a bandit called Calvera [Eli Wallach] and his band of cut-throats. The villagers hire ...seven of the toughest hombres on that side of the Rio Grande.. for protection. The Seven, led by Chris Adams [Yul Brynner], train the townspeople to fight alongside them and although the Seven are eventually captured by Calvera, the bandit makes the fatal error of allowing them to escape. The Seven return to the village and in the final battle, Calvera is killed as are four of the Seven, leaving only two survivors, Chris and Vin [Steve McQueen]. ...Perhaps the ultimate testimony to the excellence of 'The Magnificent Seven' is the sword that Akira Kurosawa presented to director John Sturges after seeing the film...Sturges assembled a flawless cast and skillfully put them through their paces... When considering actors to play the Seven alongside Brynner, such as Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Charles Bronson, it is surprising to think that at the time the film was made Yul Brynner was the only well known name in the cast.
The previous vendor worked for Yul Brynner in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, until Brynner left for London to open The King and I in the summer of 1979. She remembers Brynner wearing this particular hat in both The Magnificent Seven, 1960 and Westworld, 1973 apparently ...it was a permanent part of his everyday wardrobe. I have fond memories of his "King and I" dresser steaming the hat each evening (and also ironing all his paper currency)...