Chris Adams (character)

Chris Adams
Portrayed by	Yul Brynner George Kennedy Lee Van Cleef
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Gunman
Title	U.S. Marshal

Chris Adams is a fictional character in the 1960 western film The Magnificent Seven, originally played by Yul Brynner, whose portrayal of Chris Adams resembles Takashi Shimura's representation of Kambei.

Chris Adams, a Cajun, is the laconic leader of a band of seven gunmen. He always wears black, smokes cigars, and shoots sharp. He is a man of principle, incorruptible and sturdy.

Chris, and to a lesser extent the others of the Seven, are examples of the "western hero" who is resolute, "single minded", "independent", "strong", "loyal", and "honorable" as well as having various other positive characteristics. "The key lesson that Chris teaches is the distinction between law and ethics, laid out in 1924 by the British jurist Lord Moulton, who distinguished between the realms of law and of ethics. Law requires obedience to the enforceable, while ethics requires 'obedience to the unenforceable'". Hence, Chris and the other members of the Seven "help the locals focus on the survival skills they will need" and their "leadership is necessary", even though it is essentially transient. They are "desperate for money, but equally in need of self-esteem, of belonging and a sense of worth." Chris is not as cruel as Calvera, but like Calvera represents a way of life that is antithetical to humane civilization. Nevertheless, Chris and Calvera are morally equivalent and Calvera is in some ways preferable or at least, seems to be the more powerful and inescapable of the two. As a result, Chris has been called "a black-clad Shane".

The robot portrayed by Yul Brynner in the 1973 science fiction Western thriller film Westworld is visually based on Bryner's portrayal of Adams.

Sam Chisolm is Adams' counterpart in the 2016 remake. He's played by Denzel Washington.

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