There are so many iterations of 'The Magnificent Seven' that whenever one pops up on cable I have to check whether I've seen it before or not. This one turns out to be the actual sequel to the original film, but it ran as "Return of the Seven" on Encore Westerns, so that was another element of confusion. With Yul Brynner in the cast though, at least there was some connection to the earlier film.
I can't say I'm surprised that Brynner didn't want Steve McQueen to appear in this follow up film. McQueen gave the star fits on the set of "The Magnificent Seven" every time he improvised some little mannerism designed to draw attention to himself at the expense of the leading man. By contrast, Robert Fuller was virtually colorless in replacing McQueen's character Vin; you almost didn't consider him to be the second in command.
As for the rest, Warren Oates stood out mainly by virtue of considering himself a ladies' man, an idea I found I had to force myself to acknowledge for the sake of the story but it made me chuckle throughout. But he did prove to be a stand up guy for the heroes, he made it a point to stay strong for the mission after the village elder tried to convince Chris (Brynner) that he should give up the fight.
The only other character of note here was portrayed by Claude Akins in a role not unlike the one he had in the same year's "Incident at Phantom Hill". In that one, Akins decided it was a pretty good idea to attack six Cheyenne Indians all by himself with disastrous results. Here he decided to step in front of Brynner's character when he was about to get shot by the Mexican outlaw Lorca (Emilio Fernandez). Not a good career move if this were real life.
I can't say I'm surprised that Brynner didn't want Steve McQueen to appear in this follow up film. McQueen gave the star fits on the set of "The Magnificent Seven" every time he improvised some little mannerism designed to draw attention to himself at the expense of the leading man. By contrast, Robert Fuller was virtually colorless in replacing McQueen's character Vin; you almost didn't consider him to be the second in command.
As for the rest, Warren Oates stood out mainly by virtue of considering himself a ladies' man, an idea I found I had to force myself to acknowledge for the sake of the story but it made me chuckle throughout. But he did prove to be a stand up guy for the heroes, he made it a point to stay strong for the mission after the village elder tried to convince Chris (Brynner) that he should give up the fight.
The only other character of note here was portrayed by Claude Akins in a role not unlike the one he had in the same year's "Incident at Phantom Hill". In that one, Akins decided it was a pretty good idea to attack six Cheyenne Indians all by himself with disastrous results. Here he decided to step in front of Brynner's character when he was about to get shot by the Mexican outlaw Lorca (Emilio Fernandez). Not a good career move if this were real life.