The Professionals is a 1966 western film starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, and Claudia Cardinale, along with Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy, and Woody Strode in supporting roles. In the film, a wealthy Texan hires four men to rescue his wife, who was kidnapped by a notorious Mexican bandit.
Watch the trailer below:
“The Professionals (1966) Trailer” by theparallaxreview
Adapted from the novel A Mule for the Marquesa by Frank O’Rourke, the film was a huge success, receiving three nominations at the 1967 Academy Awards and winning two Motion Picture Magazine Laurel Awards in 1967, among many other notable achievements.
The Professionals was partially filmed in Nevada. The entire film took 87 days to shoot, and most of that (nine weeks of the total shooting schedule) took place at Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada’s oldest and largest state park. Filming sites at Valley of Fire State Park as well as specific camera angles were carefully selected, with camera and lighting platforms carved out of the mountainside (source). Fire Canyon stands in for rural Mexico, and part of the movie set still exists at White Domes.
Other parts of the movie were also filmed at Lake Mead and in Las Vegas.
For more incredible details about the behind-the-scenes filming of The Professionals, read Beyond the Frame: The Professionals by David E. Williams.