HARD TIMES – We Are Movie Geeks

Happy BRONSON-CENTENNIAL! Here Are Charles Bronson’s Ten Best Movies

“It’s like killing roaches – you have to kill ’em all. Otherwise, what’s the use?”

HAPPY BRONSON-CENTENNIAL! Charles Bronson was born in Ehrenfield, PA. 100 years ago today. Charles Bronson was the unlikeliest of movie stars. Of all the leading men in the history of Hollywood, Charles Bronson had the least range as an actor. He rarely emoted or even changed his expression, and when he did speak, his voice was a reedy whisper. But Charles Bronson could coast on presence, charisma, and silent brooding menace like no one’s business and he wound up the world’s most bankable movie star throughout most of the 1970’s. Bronson did not rise quickly in the Hollywood ranks. His film debut was in 1951 and he spent the next two decades as a solid character actor with a rugged face, muscular physique and everyman ethnicity that kept him busy in supporting roles as indians, convicts, cowboys, boxers, and gangsters. It wasn’t until he was in his late 40’s, after the international success of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST in 1968 (American audiences wouldn’t embrace him until DEATH WISH became a hit five years later) that he became a worldwide megastar. A man of few words onscreen and off, Bronson was never a critic’s darling and he had no illusions about his own stardom. “I don’t make movies for critics”, he once said, “since they don’t pay to see them anyhow”. Charles Bronson appeared in 93 films in his five decades as an actor, and here what I think are his ten best (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE DIRTY DOZEN and THE GREAT ESCAPE should make the cut, but in those films Bronson is part of large ensemble casts so I’ve excluded them here).

those films Bronson is part of large ensemble casts so I’ve excluded them here).

10. DEATH WISH 3

The wonderfully preposterous DEATH WISH 3 (1985) sends Charles Bronson to a New York City portrayed as a vast burned-out wasteland with tenements occupied by terrified old people and the entire city dominated by gangs of unwashed thugs (and not a cop in sight). I’ve seen DEATH WISH 3 ma ny times over the years and it becomes funnier as it ages. The action is overblown to comic proportions and I lose count of all the people who are shot, blown up, stabbed, beaten, pushed off of rooftops, and generally maimed during the course of the film. DEATH WISH 3 plays like Charles Bronson’s 90-minute shooting gallery. Thugs pop up from behind cars, buildings, and storefronts, all to be mowed down in a sea of gunfire and the last half hour is pure madness. Bronson, usually a silent killer in his films, makes all kinds of humorous quips before letting loose the carnage and DEATH WISH 3, the last of six movies Bronson made for British director Michael Winner, is the best of the four DEATH WISH sequels.

9. RIDER ON THE RAIN

In the 1970 French noir RIDER ON THE RAIN from director René Clément, Charles Bronson played Harry Dobbs, an undercover US Army Colonel in France trying to track down an escaped sex maniac. Marlene Jobert played a rape victim who manages to kill her attacker and, in a panic, disposes of the corpse. What follows is a tense cat-and-mouse scenario between these two full of humor and style. Wearing a mischievous smile throughout RIDER ON THE RAIN, Bronson manages an odd suggestion of sadism and romance, a mysterious figure that enhances the mystery. A suspenser in the Hitchcock mold, RIDER ON THE RAIN won the Golden Globe award in 1970 as Best Foreign Film and was an breakthrough film in Charles Bronson’s career – it was a enormous success all over the world (except the U.S.) and was his first hit where he carried the lead after gaining fame in the ensemble action films. In the French language version of RIDER ON THE RAIN, Bronson’s voice is dubbed while in the English version, everyone’s voice except Bronson’s is dubbed. I prefer the English version. Note the American RIDER ON THE RAIN movie poster with a shirtless Bronson manhandling Ms Jobert. It’s one of my very favorite Bronson posters even though there’s no scene in the movie remotely like it. Artist Basil Gogos, best known for his many covers of ‘Famous Monsters of Filmland’ magazine, did this painting. I had Gogos autograph my poster and he recalled that Bronson refused to sign off on the image until he went back in and added more veins in his muscles.

8. MURPHY’S LAW

MURPHY’S LAW (1986) was from Bronson’s ‘crotchety old man’ late period where in every film he seemed tired, impatient, and pissed off like he did not want to be there, an attitude that worked perfectly for Bronson’s Jack Murphy. A washed-up, alcoholic cop who rubs everyone the wrong way and vice versa, Murphy’s framed for the murder of his ex-wife, so goes on the run accompanied by a foulmouthed punkette handcuffed to his wrist. The body count is high, Bronson throws off more pre-kill one-liners than usual (As a female villain falls to her death, she screams “Go to hell!”, so Bronson politely replies “Ladies first!”), and MURPHY’S LAW is a hugely entertaining 80’s actioner. But what really elevates MURPHY’S LAW are the supporting performances by a diverse trio of actresses. Angel Tompkins, a sexy blonde starlet who had a run of leads in mid-70’s Drive-In classics like THE TEACHER (1974), is Murphy’s stripper ex-wife. Kathleen Wilhoite as his surly teenage captive spends the entire film spitting out such vulgar insults as “You snot-licking donkey fart.” and “Suck a doorknob, you homo!” but an odd friendship develops between her and Bronson that’s nice to watch. Best is Carrie Snodgress, a severe, husky-voiced actress who’d been nominated for an Oscar in 1970 for DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE but whose career never took off. Her vengeful, psychopathic villainess in MURPHY’S LAW is one scary psycho and she’s the perfect foil for Bronson, whose own Murphy’s law in this case is simply “Don’t fuck with Jack Murphy!” MURPHY’S LAW was Charles Bronson’s last really great movie.

7. THE VALACHI PAPERS

Charles Bronson aged 40 years in the 1972 gangster film THE VALACHI PAPERS as Joe Valachi, the real-life stoolie who spilled his guts about the inner workings of the mafia and whose tale had been told in a popular book by Peter Maas. Presented in flashback and book-ended by Valachi’s time in prison, THE VALACHI PAPERS details his story as told to a U.S. Federal Agent about his work in the New York underworld from the 1920’s to the 60’s starting as a low-level hood and moving quickly to top soldier. Though over two hours in length, THE VALACHI PAPERS brutally barrels through Valachi’s life, barely pausing when comrades and family members die violently and hits a lot of shocking notes, including a memorably bloody barber chair cutdown and a nasty castration. THE VALACHI PAPERS was discounted as an inferior THE GODFATHER knockoff when that film became such a huge hit, but THE VALACHI PAPERS was actually filmed in Italy concurrently with Coppola’s film and released in Europe earlier. While not as stylish or well-written as THE GODFATHER, it does have similar scope and period detail. Director Terence Young, best known for helming three of the Connery 007 films, had just directed Bronson in COLD SWEAT and RED SUN and gets from his star an atypically complex performance. Poorly received in 1972, and somewhat forgotten in the wake of THE GODFATHER, THE VALACHI PAPERS is an epic crime saga worth seeking out and the DVD released a couple of years ago restores footage shorn from its initial U.S. release.

6. DEATH WISH

In the 1974 revenge fantasy DEATH WISH, Charles Bronson played Paul Kersey, which would become his most identifiable role. Bronson was hugely popular in Europe and other parts of the world at this time thanks to the success of films such as ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and RIDER ON THE RAIN, but those had failed to find big audiences in the U.S. A box-office smash, DEATH WISH finally cemented Bronson’s status as a major star in Hollywood as well, but it was a part he almost didn’t get. In Brian Garfield’s 1972 source novel, the character was more a wimpy everyman, a bleeding heart liberal whose descent into vigilante behavior was more a contrast to his passive disposition before his wife and daughter are attacked (Bronson did not want wife Jill Ireland, almost always cast in his films then, to film the brutal rape scene so Hope Lange was given the part). Garfield was strongly against casting Bronson and claims Dustin Hoffman was his first choice but it’s doubtful Hoffman even read the script, as he would have just finished STRAW DOGS with its similar themes. Jack Lemmon was at one point attached to the project but dropped out then Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, and Frank Sinatra all turned down the evolving role. Enter Bronson, who made DEATH WISH more a rousing action film that advocated vigilante philosophy than theessay on crime and punishment it was originally conceived. Kersey was the role that honed Bronson’s big-screen persona as a steely instrument of violence and Bronson was accused by some of spending the rest of his career remaking DEATH WISH in one way or another. DEATH WISH did indeed spawn four diverse sequels over the next twenty years, all entertaining in their own way, and remains an influential film.

5. THE WHITE BUFFALO

THE WHITE BUFFALO, a weird, offbeat western/monster hybrid from 1977 produced by Italian mogul Dino De Laurentiis (a year after his lame KING KONG remake) used real historical figures to riff on ‘Moby Dick’. In the 1870’s, Bronson’s aging gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok is haunted by dreams of his own death by a mammoth albino buffalo so he teams up with Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) and heads to the Cheyenne Black Hills to battle the white beast. Hired for his box office appeal, Bronson turned out to be an inspired choice as the haunted Wild Bill Hickock. It’s one of his most eccentric roles and he looks cool in his tinted prescription glasses. But it’s the buffalo itself that makes THE WHITE BUFFALO so memorable. Carlo Rambaldi, who’d created the barely-used 50-foot robot ape for KING KONG, created a full-size mechanical puppet that’s mostly shown in quick cuts, often obscured by shadows and fog and critics in 1977 were quick to make fun of it (Variety described it as looking “like a hung-over carnival prize”). It’s not very realistic, but the wild-eyed creation is surreal and scary, snorting and bellowing like some hellish fairy-tale demon and it totally works. J. Lee Thompson directed nine (!) Charles Bronson movies from ST. IVES in 1976 to KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS in 1989. These were mostly entertaining, if by-the-numbers, action jalopies but THE WHITE BUFFALO was the most artful of these movies and Thompson filled it with dark symbolism, occult references, and a real sense of dread. I wrote about THE WHITE BUFFALO in my ‘NOT available on DVD’ column several months ago and since then it has been officially released but as a MGM ‘Burn on Demand’ DVD-R.

4. THE MECHANIC

In THE MECHANIC (1972) Charles Bronson played Bishop, a secluded hit man targeting various underworld figures who decides to take on an apprentice (Jan-Michael Vincent), which leads to a deadly relationship between teacher and pupil. THE MECHANIC is filled with action, intrigue, and surprises and contains perhaps Bronson’s most definitive performance. He’s perfect as the coldly efficient ‘mechanic’ whose philosophy is “Murder is only killing without a license”. Bishop is a man detached from the outside world in a way Bronson himself was detached from the motion picture business. Bronson didn’t care for movies and never watched them, not even the ones he starred in. He was known for showing up at premieres with his wife but spent the duration of the film smoking cigarettes in the lobby. Bishop, even more so than Paul Kersey in the DEATH WISH films, is perhaps Bronson’s most iconic role.

3. VIOLENT CITY

In the 1970 crime thriller VIOLENT CITY, produced in Italy with some New Orleans exteriors, spaghetti-Western vet Sergio Sollima, working from a script by future art-house helmer Lina Wertmüller, directed Charles Bronson just as he was exiting his career as a character actor and phasing into his role as a megastar. VIOLENT CITY finds Bronson a vengeance-minded hit-man after a former flame (Jill Ireland at her sexiest) and her mob boss boyfriend (Telly Savalas) who’d conspired to send him to prison. Sollima directs one stylish action scene after another and maintains a tough, no-nonsense tone that’s perfectly accompanied by Ennio Morricone’s angry electric score. The wordless opening car chase is a gem, the finale with Bronson on a rooftop with a sniper rifle is exciting, and some elements, such as a prison plagued by huge spiders, are just weird. Bronson spent much of his career starring in these gritty urban westerns and VIOLENT CITY is the best. Jill Ireland was never a great actress but she was Bronson’s off-screen wife and contractually mandated to co-star in no less than 15 of his hit films (the last, ASSASSINATION, was filmed shortly before her death from cancer in 1990). VIOLENT CITY was not released in the U.S. until 1974, after the success of DEATH WISH, and then it was shorn 20 minutes and retitled THE FAMILY. Some of the original reviews mentioned Ms Ireland’s nude scenes but Anchor Bay’s restored eurocut DVD reveals that these scenes were the work of an obvious body double. Jill Ireland penned two autobiographies and one of them, ‘Life Wish’ was filmed as a TV movie in 1991 starring Jill Clayburgh with Lance Henrickson as Bronson!

2. HARD TIMES

No one could touch Charles Bronson in terms of global popularity throughout the 1970’s and HARD TIMES was his best film from that decade. Walter Hill, in his 1976 directorial debut, made a remarkably earthy and entertaining film about illegal bare-knuckle fighting in Depression-era New Orleans. HARD TIMES, whose succinct tag line read “New Orleans 1933, in those days words didn’t buy much”, perfectly exploits Bronson’s granite presence and is a concise, almost mythical celebration of men who only communicate with their fists. The fight scenes, which seem authentic rather over-choreographed, are expertly staged and framed by Hill, especially the films centerpiece; an underground cage match between Bronson and a grinning goon named ‘Skinhead’ played by Robert ‘Mr. Clean’ Tessier. Supporting vets Strother Martin, James Coburn, and Ben Johnson all act up a storm but it’s Bronson, whose expression never changes, that commands all the attention. Bronson’s Chaney is a man of few words and no past and it’s perhaps his most fitting role. Acclaimed in 1976, HARD TIMES is the perfect Charles Bronson movie for people who claim not to like Charles Bronson movies and even critics who had previously overlooked Bronson’s abilities were impressed.

1. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST

In a class by itself, Sergio Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) was an emotional, operatic Western that fully deserves to be called a masterpiece. It’s a grand overview of the themes and ideas that inspired the Italian filmmaker to write and direct films in the distinctly American genre and after the worldwide mega-success of his “Man With No Name” trilogy A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, and THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, Leone could have cast anyone he wanted in the role of ‘Harmonica’, the hero of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. Charles Bronson had been Leone’s second choice (after Henry Fonda) four years earlier for the lead in A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS but Bronson was unimpressed with the script and, unable to see Leone’s vision, turned it down (Clint Eastwood on the other hand, saw it as a free trip to Europe during summer hiatus between seasons of ‘Rawhide’ and it launched his movie career). In 1968, Bronson was 47 years old and, despite success in action films such as THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE DIRTY DOZEN, probably thought his best years as an actor were behind him, but Leone again offered him a lead and the rest is history. The 165-minute ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST was a smash in Europe and the rest of the world and made Bronson a sensation in every country except his own. The film is beautiful to watch, masterfully paced and carefully plotted, yet Paramount though it lacked the violence, humor, and fast pace of THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY and cut 40 minutes from it before dumping it in American theatres where it bombed. It was finally restored here in 1985 and played at revival theatres, which is where I saw it and it’s been my favorite film since.

Charles Bronson made a lot of great movies (and a few duds) in his career and BREAKHEART PASS, RED SUN, TELEFON, BREAKOUT, and MR. MAJESTYK are some that I hated to cross off of this list. Bronson has been my favorite movie star since I was 7 years old and saw THE DIRTY DOZEN the first time it played on network television in 1968. I’ve been collecting Charles Bronson movie memorabilia now for 25 years and have suitcases stuffed with clippings, posters, stills, pressbooks, and lobby cards from his films (there’s a ton of it out there and it tends to go cheap). Charles Bronson died in August of 2003 after ending his career with a string of forgettable made-for-TV movies, but his legacy live on. A lot of casual film fans under age 30 are unaware just how popular he was in his prime but I’ve noticed that younger movie geeks are taking an interest in him and I feel that he’s a star whose cult is ascending.

Much of this article was posted in June of 2009 as Top Ten Tuesday – The Best of Charles Bronson.

WAMG Interview: Charles Bronson Scholar Paul Talbot – Author of BRONSON’S LOOSE AGAIN!

Bronson’s Loose Again!: On the Set with Charles Bronson is author Paul Talbot’s all-new companion volume to his acclaimed Bronson’s Loose!: The Making of the ‘Death Wish’ Films. His new book reveals more information on the Death Wish series and also details the complex histories behind eighteen other Charles Bronson movies. Documented herein are fascinating tales behind some of the finest Bronson films of the mid-1970s (including HARD TIMES and FROM NOON TILL THREE); his big-budget independent epics LOVE AND BULLETS and CABO BLANCO; his lesser-known, underrated dramas BORDERLINE and ACT OF VENGEANCE; his notorious sleaze/action Cannon Films classics of the 80s (including 10 TO MIDNIGHT, MURPHY’S LAW and KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUNJECTS); the numerous unmade projects he was attached to; and his TV movies of the 90s (including THE SEA WOLF). Exhaustively researched, the book features over three dozen exclusive, candid interviews including those with directors Frank D. Gilroy and Jerrold Freedman; producers Menahem Golan and Lance Hool; writers David Engelbach, Harold Nebenzal and Andrew J. Fenady; and actors Maggie Blye, Kirk Taylor, Gene Davis, Robert F. Lyons, Kathleen Wilhoite, Angel Tompkins, Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Joy, and Diane Ladd. Profusely illustrated with rare promotional materials, behind-the-scenes photos, and images from deleted scenes, Bronson’s Loose Again!: On the Set with Charles Bronson is loaded with previously untold insight into one of the most elusive and unique icons in cinema history. Paul Talbot is the author of the books Bronson’s Loose!: The Making of the ‘Death Wish’ Films, Mondo Mandingo: The Falconhurst Books and Films, and The Films of the Dionne Quintuplets as well as numerous articles for magazines such as Video Watchdog, CinemaRetro, Psychotronic, Films of the Golden Age, Shock Cinema, Screem, and Weng’s Chop. He has contributed liner notes, extras, and/or commentary tracks for DVD and Blu-rays including commentaries for three Charles Bronson films: CABO BLANCO (to be released by Kino Lorber September 27th), DEATH WISH 2 (from Shout Factory July 26th) and (MR MAJESTYK (currently available from Signal One as a U.K. Region 2 Disc) .

MURPHY'S LAW, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Bronson, 1986, (c) Cannon Films — **Bronson with Carrie Snodgress in MURPHY’S LAW**

Paul Talbot took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks‘ Tom Stockman about his books and the career of Charles Bronson

Interview Conducted by Tom Stockman May 19th, 2016

Tom Stockman: What was the first Charles Bronson film you saw and when did you see it?

Paul Talbot : I grew up in the 1970s. My mom was a big Elvis fan and I always watched Elvis movies on TV with her. When we watched KID GALAHAD, it was the first time I saw Bronson. I was really intrigued by his persona. Shortly after that, my dad and I watched my dad’s favorite movie: THE GREAT ESCAPE. How did you become such a Bronson fan?

Bronson and Elvis in KID GALAHAD

TS: I remember the day. It was in the late 60s when THE DIRTY DOZEN first played on network television. It was on a Sunday night. My parents wouldn’t let me stay up and watch the end because it ran late and I remember asking my dad the next morning what happened at the climax. He told me all of the Dirty Dozen had died except that one guy – Bronson! A few months later I saw THE GREAT ESCAPE and thought it was so cool that practically the only guy who got away was that same guy from THE DIRTY DOZEN who lived. I became a big fan right then and he’s been my favorite movie star since. So what is your very favorite Bronson movie?

PT: I like a lot of them but I have to say that my favorite would be the original DEATH WISH.

TS: I think that’s his best performance. He’s so good in that film.

PT: Yes, it’s one of his best performances, and it’s such a rich, deep movie. It really had a lot to say back in 1974. I think it’s one of the best movies of the 70s, I would put it up there with THE GODFATHER and TAXI DRIVER, and any of those really gritty, realistic movies from the 70s. What is your favorite?

TS: I would say ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST is the best thing he was ever in, but as far as 70s showcase Bronson films go, HARD TIMES would be my favorite.

HARD TIMES

PT: I love both of those movies too. They’re both masterpieces. Bronson is just so extraordinary in HARD TIMES.

TS: Yes, he surrounded by all of these great character actors like James Coburn and Strother Martin, but the audience just stays focused on Bronson. You’ve recorded a commentary for the upcoming uncut Blu-ray of DEATH WISH 2, which I have never seen. I’ve heard that brutal rape scene with the maid goes on and on.

PT: Yes both rape scenes, the one with the maid and one with Paul Kersey’s (Bronson’s character) daughter, go on for over a minute longer each. Also the death of the daughter has a couple of extra gory shots.

TS: Those scenes are pretty rough even in the R-rated version.

DEATH WISH 2

PT: Oh yeah, they’re just over-the-top. David Engelbach, who wrote the script for DEATH WISH 2, was so appalled when he saw the rape scenes in the R-rated version he wanted to take his name off of the credits.

TS: What did Bronson think of that?

PT: He was enraged. Robin Sherwood (the actress who played his daughter) told me that when he saw the uncut version he was incredibly angry at director Michael Winner for including that stuff.

TS: Yet he went on to work with Winner for part three.

PT: Yes, part three was kind of the nail in the coffin in terms of the relationship between Bronson and Winner. Bronson vowed never to work with him again.

TS: I recall seeing an interview on The Today Show in 1985 with Jane Pauley when he was promoting DEATH WISH 3, and he just went off on Michael Winner, calling him “the worst” and saying he couldn’t stand him. I remember him being really hostile to Jane Pauley during this interview. She also brought up Bernard Goetz, the real-life subway vigilante that was making headlines around that time, and Bronson was really rubbed the wrong way with that line of questioning as well. I think he got tired of people asking him about Goetz. At the end of the interview Jane Pauley looked at the camera said “We’ll air part two of my interview with Charles Bronson tomorrow” I tuned in the next day but they never aired the second half of the interview.

PT: Ha! I would like to have seen that.

DEATH WISH 3

TS: How did you get the idea to write these two books about Charles Bronson?

PT: I’d always been a Bronson fan and one night, long before the days of DVD, I watched the original DEATH WISH again, and thought about what an incredible movie it was and how well it held up. Soon after that I had a marathon. I went to several stores and rented all five of the DEATH WISH movies and watched them all in one weekend and thought “holy crap, how did we get from DEATH WISH to DEATH WISH 5?!” They’re all so different which is odd because the first three were directed by the same guy. So I decided I needed to write an article about the first three. I did a lot of research and set up an interview with director Michael Winner. He lives in England so I had to call him at about five in the morning. We had a great talk, talked for about an hour about all three of those films. So I put together this article with this interview in it and I sent it to every single movie magazine out there. Nobody showed any interest in publishing it though. But I knew there was an audience for this kind of information, so I did even more research and wrote about parts four and five and spent years writing my first Bronson book Bronson’s Loose! the Making of the Death Wish Films. I sent that to all the companies that publish books about movies. Nobody was interested, so I did some research on self-publishing. And that’s what I did. The book has established a pretty decent following now and has sold pretty well. I’ve gotten a lot of good response from it. About two years ago, a friend of mine who I met through Facebook contacted me and told me that his cousin had written the screenplay for THE EVIL THAT MEN DO and he put me in touch with him. So I interviewed him, his name is John Crowther and he also worked on the script for LOVE AND BULLETS and was the casting director on 10 TO MIDNIGHT. I sent that interview to a bunch of magazines and nobody was interested so I thought that since there’s so many actors left that were in these Bronson movies, I’d write a sequel to Bronson’s Loose called Bronson’s Loose Again!. So over the course of two years I put that book together. I dealt with a company called Bear Manor Media that specializes in movie books, ones with topics that no one else would publish. So that’s how Bronson’s Loose Again! came about.

DEATH WISH

TS: Who were some people you wanted to interview that you were unable to track down?

PT: Not being able to interview director Walter Hill about HARD TIMES was a big regret. I was in contact with his publicist but I was never able to set up an interview. But I still think the HARD TIMES chapter is one of the best in the book. Also, there was an actor that I spent a long time tracking down. But he wanted a thousand bucks for an interview and since the book was self-published, I couldn’t afford to pay anybody for an interview. He wouldn’t budge. For a long time, I considered taking out a loan for the grand. I hated to lose that information. I don’t want to say who he was. There were some people that declined my requests to be interviewed. I’m not exactly sure why, but I think it was because they did not like Bronson and it was a “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything” situation.

TS: Were there some interviews you conducted but ended up not using?

PT: No. I used material from all of the interviews I did.

TS: Did you ever try contacting Bronson’s 3^rd wife Kim Weeks?

PT: I did, but didn’t get anywhere. I haven’t found any interviews she did about Bronson. She seems to be a private person. I had an address for her. Andrew Fenaday, who wrote and produced YES VIRGINIA THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS (a TV movie Bronson starred in in 1981) and THE SEA WOLF is still friends with her so I put word through him to her that I would like to talk to her. Also Catherine Mary Stewart, who costarred in THE SEA WOLF is still friends with her. She inherited a lot of money and I’ve never seen her do any interviews, so I guess she’s just not interested.

Bronson with third wife Kim Weeks

TS: She just stays home and counts her money I guess. It seems like perceptions of Bronson’s personality were all over the map in your interviews. Some said he was friendly and approachable on the set and others claim he was just the opposite. How do you account for this division?

PT: It seemed that he was more guarded and angry during his middle years and then he mellowed out in his later years. I think because of his tough early life in the coal mines and in the Army, he had a lifelong distrust of adult male authority figures. He seemed to be very friendly and approachable to women on the sets and younger male actors. I think people’s perceptions of him were often based on whether they happened to catch him on a bad day or not. While conducting the interviews, I did occasionally hear some negative things about Bronson that I did not put in the book. Some of it was information that I did not believe to be true and some of it was distasteful and I didn’t feel the need to print it.

TS: Books are still being written about Bronson. Do you see his cult status ascending among younger film fans now over 12 years after his death (I do). If so, what do you attribute that to?

PT: His cult is definitely ascending. When I published the first book, Bronson’s Loose! the Making of the Death Wish Films, in 2006, I thought the readers would all be in their 40s and older. But many of the readers were between fifteen and thirty. And when the new book came out, many of the readers were, again, in that age group. Many of his movies have been coming out on Blu-ray and it’s mostly the young audiences that are buying them. I see kids all the time with Bronson t-shirts and tattoos. I spoke before a screening of 10 TO MIDNIGHT a few months ago. The theater only sat 100 but it was sold out and the entire audience was under 35. Many of them had never seen a Bronson movie before, but that film brought the house down. I think the Bronson revival is due to the fact that there has never been a screen presence like him. When people see him, they’re captivated and they want to see more of his movies. Also, there are no “personality” action stars making movies today. Meaning that there are no action movies today that can draw an audience just because a certain star is in it.

10 TO MIDNIGHT

TS: Is there a reason you did not cover any pre-DEATH WISH films in Bronson’s Loose Again!?

PT: I decided to only cover the movies for which I could secure at least one primary interview. Unfortunately, most of the cast and crew of the earlier movies have passed away. In fact, five of the people I interviewed for BRONSON’S LOOSE AGAIN! have passed away since the interview. I’m glad that I was able to collect their stories before it was too late. I also didn’t want to cover movies that had already been extensively documented in other books, documentaries, or DVD/Blu-ray supplements.

TS: Several quickie books about Bronson were written in the mid-70s at the height of his popularity. Your newest book fills in the gaps on his later career. Did you keep that in mind when you were writing this?

PT: Absolutely. For example, the 70s paperback Charles Bronson Superstar is a cut-and-paste job and it’s padded with superfluous info. But it’s well put together and loaded with valuable information. I didn’t want to repeat too much of the info that was in those earlier books. I wanted to gather material that hadn’t been covered. In addition to my interviews, I also dug through newspaper microfilm. And I spent a couple days at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts digging through well over 100 newspaper/magazines clippings from the 1950s until the 90s dealing with Bronson. I also used pressbooks, press kits, and multiple drafts of screenplays.

Several books were written about Bronson at the height of his popularity

TS: According to Bronson’s first wife Harriett, his closest friend and confidante was his brother Dempsey. Do you know much about him?

PT: I do mention Dempsey twice in the book. (He’s in the Index as “Dempsey Buchinsky.”) I briefly discuss that he was Bronson’s favorite brother; that he was Bronson’s personal assistant prior to Kim Weeks; and that Bronson was devastated by the trio of deaths—wife Jill Ireland, stepson Jason McCallum, and Dempsey—that all happened close together. I don’t know much else about Dempsey, but he seems like a great guy that, like Charles, overcame a difficult early life. He certainly turned out much better than the ill-fated brother Roy, who ended up on Skid Row as a chronic alcoholic.

TS: What do you think about DEATH WISH 3’s current status as a cult film?

PT: It certainly doesn’t surprise me. That movie is a laugh-riot that demands multiple viewings. People should be very careful about what they drink or smoke before watching that movie because it can cause permanent brain damage and/or aneurisms. I saw that movie opening night with some fraternity brothers. We thought we were going to see a traditional Bronson action movie. Instead, we got a surrealistic comic strip set in an alternate universe. We didn’t know what hit us. I was, literally, on the floor screaming with laughter. But as much as I love DEATH WISH 3, I have mixed feelings about it. I think it’s the Bronson vehicle in which he comes off the worst. It looks like he wasn’t in on the joke. Plus, he’s unflatteringly photographed and hideously costumed, except for the black leather jacket and jeans he wears in the climax.

TS: Did you see the documentary ELECTRIC BOOGALOO, THE WILD UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS?

PT: Yes, in fact they contacted me when they were making that. I put them in touch with some people that I had talked to, people like Robin Sherwood from DEATH WISH 2. I’m in the credits of that movie.

TS: That documentary has a brief clip from the set of DEATH WISH 3 that shows Bronson working alongside his stuntman.

PT: Yes, Cannon did a short “Making of DEATH WISH 3” promo film. That’s what that is from. It may be on YouTube.

TS: Why do you think Bronson’s $1.98 project never got off the ground ($1.98 was an autobiographical film about life in the coal mines that Bronson and Jill Ireland tried to produce)?

PT: He worked on that script from 1974 until the late 80s but never got the script the way he wanted it. It went through many drafts, writers, producers, and production companies. Bronson and Ireland co-wrote the original script and were going to star with Bronson directing. Bronson spent a lot of his own money developing the script. One draft was to feature Paul Williams as a singing preacher who sang with Ireland’s character. He finally gave up on the project when Ireland got sick. The tone of the drafts constantly changed. Some drafts were set in the 1930s, at least one was set in the 70s. I think the main reason that it was never made is that the studios never saw a draft that seemed commercial enough to invest in.

TS: Did you ever see a draft of the script?

PT: I recently read a draft of $1.98 that was written by Rospo Pallenberg (EXORCIST II, EXCALIBUR). This draft is horrendous. It was set in the 70s and reads like an R-rated drive-in movie with lots of sleazy stuff. I got this screenplay from an estate sale of scripts that had been submitted to Paul Kohner, Bronson’s agent. It contained a note stating that Kohner and Bronson hated it. If I had read this script while writing Bronson’s Loose Again!, I would have included a whole chapter on $1.98. I will write an article someday on that aborted dream project.

TS: What do you think of Jill Ireland’s presence in so many Bronson films? She took a lot of heat for her lack of acting skills but someone had to play those roles.

PT: I think she’s an underrated actress. She is excellent in HARD TIMES and FROM NOON TILL THREE. I don’t see how anyone could criticize her performances in those two films. And she is appealing in almost all of the other Bronson movies she appears in. The only one that she is terrible in is LOVE AND BULLETS. But that was also a poorly-written character and she was out of her range. Of course, Bronson always insisted that she be cast.

Bronson and Jill Ireland in FROM NOON TILL THREE

TS: You call her an underrated actress, but I think her more of an underrated presence. It used to bug me that she was always in these Bronson movies and she wasn’t a very good actress. Bronson would sometimes co-star with other actresses such as Jacqueline Bissett or Kim Novak but it seemed Jill was there more often than not. But now I find it sort of comforting watching these old Bronson movies and seeing Jill there. The guy was the highest-paid actor in the world, and then on top of that, the producers were contractually obligated to provide a large role for his wife. I don’t know of any other major star before or since that’s been able to make that kind of demand, and now I think that’s just one of the many things that made Bronson so unique.

PT: She was an actress before she met him. At first after they got married, she had small featured roles like RIDER ON THE RAIN and COLD SWEAT. Supposedly she started putting a lot of pressure on him to get her bigger roles in these films, getting closer to being a lead. That really started with SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR. After that he insisted to the producers that she play the female lead. I read some producer’s notes where they would show him a script and say what a great part there was for Jill, and then say “look, there’s a great part for you in this film as well”. They enticed him are using that. I think that in some instances, putting her in the movie hurt its quality, and also he turned down some good movies because they wouldn’t cast her in the lead. I know one of the producers, Charles Winkler who went on to do ROCKY, had breakfast with Bronson once and told him that they were going to cast a different actress for a role in THE MECHANIC. Supposedly Bronson said “well, find someone else to play my part too”. Same with BREAKOUT, which was originally supposed to be directed by Michael Ritchie, but he dropped out because Bronson insisted that Jill play the lead in that as well. So he lost some good projects and some good directors because he insisted that she be in so many of his movies.

Bronson and Jill Ireland in SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR

TS: That may be, but I have a feeling Bronson never had any regrets about losing those roles.

PT: I agree and at one point there was no shortage of money being offered to him. If he turned down five movies, there was another 10 scripts being offered to him for his asking price.

TS: Do you think Bronson really cared about acting as art?

PT: I think he did. On one hand I think he didn’t want to lose his audience. He knew what his audience wanted and expected from him. On the other hand, there were some unusual projects that he did, for example FROM NOON TIL THREE, which was a very strange, offbeat movie and a definite artistic choice. HARD TIMES was in some sense an artistic choice as well. He was hoping he would get an Oscar nomination for that one and there were more traditional action movies that he was offered at that time that he could have done instead.

TS: And he took a supporting role much later in his career in the Sean Penn-directed film INDIAN RUNNER (1991). I’m wondering why more directors didn’t offer him supporting roles in artful films like that.

PT: He did the made-for-HBO movie ACT OF VENGEANCE and in one of the interviews he did promoting that film he said he hoped he would get out of the rut he was in and maybe get some more interesting supporting roles. That was 1986 and I think he knew his days as a big action star were nearing an end and he wanted to do supporting parts. But after MURPHY’S LAW in 1986, Cannon Films offered him an exclusive six picture deal at $1 million per picture which was more than anyone else was offering him, so he figured he’d be a fool to turn that down, so at that point in his career he really didn’t have a chance to do any supporting roles. And when he did offbeat films such as FROM NOON TIL THREE and INDIAN RUNNER, they didn’t do very well.

Bronson in INDIAN RUNNER (1991)

TS: True, but he did get some acclaim. I recall Siskel and Ebert reviewing INDIAN RUNNER and singling out Bronson’s terrific performance in that, saying they couldn’t imagine anyone else in that role. You mentioned some of the actors that you tracked down and interviewed for Bronson’s Loose Again! have already passed away.

PT: Yes, Maggie Blye from HARD TIMES, Menahem Golan, the famous Cannon producer. Denny Miller who was one of the villains in CABO BLANCO. Also Sylvana Gallardo, the maid in DEATH WISH 2, and Frank Gilroy, the writer and director of FROM NOON TIL THREE. So that’s five people that have died since I’ve interviewed them, but most of these people were in their 70s and 80s when I talk to them so I guess it’s not terribly surprising.

TS: Would you write a third book? What more is there to be said about Bronson’s career?

PT: Well, when I wrote the original Bronson’s Loose!, I had no intention of writing another. But ten years later, I published a sequel that was more than three times the size of the original. I provided the commentary for the MR. MAJESTYK Region B Blu-ray that was recently released by Signal One Entertainment. A few days ago, I recorded a commentary for an upcoming Region A Bronson Blu-ray. And I’ve got another one due in June. (I can’t say the titles until they’re officially announced.) I don’t know if I’ll write another book, but I will continue to research and share info about the life, films, and legend of Charles Bronson.

THE CHARLES BRONSON EXHIBIT on Display April 1st at Schlafly Bottleworks

They’re brewing up some Bronson at Schlafly Bottleworks next Wednesday, April 1st! HARD TIMES screens as part of Webster University’s ‘Strange Brew’ Film Series (read more about HARD TIMES and the screening HERE). The movie starts at 8pm and admission is $5. A yummy variety of food from Schlafly’s kitchen is available as are plenty of pints of their famous home-brewed beer.

Some of the Charles Bronson model kits that will be on display

As a bonus, I’ll be setting up the most significant collection of Charles Bronson memorabilia you’ve ever seen – it’s The Charles Bronson Exhibit, a one-of-a-kind display of movie paper, figures, models kits, toys, and other odd memorabilia all about the great action star. I’ve been collecting Charles Bronson memorabilia for thirty years now. I have suitcases full of Charles Bronson movie posters, stills and lobby cards. When I hosted the Super-8 Charles Bronson Movie Madness show at the Way Out Club in July of 2010, I set up the The Charles Bronson Exhibit there and I decorated the walls of the Way Out Club with dozens of Charles Bronson posters. I won’t be setting up as many posters at Schlafly, but my collection of Bronson model kits and other unusual items has grown in the past five years, and it will be an impressive display indeed. The last time I displayed a one-night exhibit was two years ago when I assembled the Ray Harryhausen Tribute Exhibit at the Way Out Club when I hosted The Ray Harryhausen Super-8 Tribute. I also curated The Vincent Price Exhibit at the Sheldon Galleries in Spring of 2011, but that exhibit stayed up for four months (an article about that exhibit can be found HERE)

The walls of the Way Out Club in July of 2010

I’m super-excited to be showing off my collection of Charles Bronson memorabilia next Wednesday April 1st at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar in Maplewood (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, MO 63143). Don’t miss it! Doors open at 7pm. I’ll have Charles Bronson movie trivia beginning at 8pm with a stack of Bronson DVDs to give away as prizes as well as a few choice pieces of Bronson movie memorabilia. HARD TIMES, my favorite Bronson movie from the ’70s, will begin after that. And if that isn’t enough Bronson for you, the guys at Destroy the Brain will be showing DEATH WISH 3 at the Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave) midnights April 3rd and 4th as part of the Late Night Grindhouse Film Series. Next week really is Bronson Week in St. Louis!

The Ray Harryhausen Exhibit that displayed at The Way Out Club in July of 2013

The Facebook invite for the HARD TIMES and the Charles Bronson Exhibit can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/862054807192415/

Here is how some of my Charles Bronson memorabilia looks as it’s displayed currently in my home:

HARD TIMES and the Charles Bronson Exhibit April 1st at Schlafly Bottleworks

“I suppose you’ve been down the long, hard road?”
“Who hasn’t?”

You never know what’s brewing at Webster University’s Strange Brew cult film series. It’s always the first Wednesday evening of every month, and they always come up with some cult classic to show while enjoying some good food and great suds. The fun happens at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar in Maplewood (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, MO 63143).

This month, they’re brewing up some Bronson! HARD TIMES screens at Schlafly Bottleworks Wednesday, April 1^st as part of Webster University’s ‘Strange Brew’ Film Series. The ‘Charles Bronson Exhibit’, a collection of movie paper, figures, models kits, toys, and other odd memorabilia will be on display that night at Schlafly.

No one could touch Charles Bronson in terms of global popularity throughout the 1970’s and HARD TIMES (1975) was his best film from that decade (my favorite for cinema, the only films from the ‘70s I would personally rate above HARD TIMES are TAXI DRIVER, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and THE GODFATHER). Director Walter Hill made a remarkably earthy and entertaining film about illegal fighting in Depression-era New Orleans. HARD TIMES, whose succinct tag line read “New Orleans 1933, in those days words didn’t buy much”, perfectly exploits Bronson’s granite presence and is a concise, almost mythical celebration of men who only communicate with their fists. Bronson played Chaney, a hardened loner who hops off a boxcar in New Orleans where he tries to score some quick cash the only way he knows how – with his fists. He teams up with Speed (James Coburn), who acts as his manager, who sets up the fights, which are are all-out and bare-knuckle, held in warehouses and alleys and open by invitation to men with cash to wager.

Seemingly authentic, rather than over-choreographed, the fight scenes in HARD TIMES are expertly staged and framed by Hill, especially the film’s centerpiece; an underground match in a steel-mesh cage between Bronson and a grinning goon named ‘Skinhead’ played by Robert ‘Mr. Clean’ Tessier. HARD TIMES was the directorial debut for Hill, who had written THE GETAWAY for his friend, director Sam Peckinpah, and would go on to helm some of the smartest action films of the late ‘70s and ‘80s including THE WARRIORS, THE LONG RIDERS, 48 HOURS, and STREETS OF FIRE. Hill said in interviews that enjoyed his experience with Bronson and wanted to work with the star again. But Hill made the mistake of criticizing the performance of Bronson’s wife Jill Ireland, who had a minor role as a hooker who earns Chaney’s affection (at this point, if a producer wanted Bronson, they had to have Jill too – the couple made 15 films together!). Bronson was not thin-skinned, just protective enough of his wife that he refused to work with Hill again because of the sleight, which is too bad because the director’s economic action sensibilities are perfectly in tune with the scruffy street dignity Bronson was capable of and the pair could have made some great films together.

The HARD TIMES cast includes Strother Martin as an opium-hooked doctor, James Coburn as Speed, Chaney’s manager, Ben Johnson, Bruce Glover, and the great Nick Dimitri as Street, Chaney’s final foe. These vets all bring their A-game but it’s Bronson, whose expression never changes, that commands all the attention. Bronson’s Chaney is a man of few words and no past and it’s perhaps his most fitting role. Acclaimed in 1975, HARD TIMES is the perfect Charles Bronson movie for people who claim not to like Charles Bronson movies and even critics who had previously overlooked Bronson’s abilities were impressed.

I saw HARD TIMES in 1975 when it was new, riding my bike at 13 to the Des Peres 4 theater with some friends. In the summer of 1978 I attended wrestling camp at the University of Missouri and one night for entertainment, we were screened a 16mm print of HARD TIMES. I now have my own 16mm print of HARD TIME and also an 18-minute Super-8 condensed version of the film that I’ve shown at my monthly Super-8 Movie Madness show. It’s printed on black-and-white stock and dubbed into German, but it still gets the crowd worked upped. When the gang at the Webster University Film Series suggested I choose a film to show at their monthly ‘Strange Brew’ Cult movie series at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, I knew immediately that HARD TIMES would be my choice. It’s the film in my ‘Top Ten of All Time’ list that I have not seen on the big screen in the longest time. Don’t miss HARD TIMES when it screens at Schlafly Bottleworks Wednesday, April 1^st at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar in Maplewood (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, MO 63143). The movie starts at 8pm and admission is $5. A yummy variety of food from Schlafly’s kitchen is available as are plenty of pints of their famous home-brewed beer.

The Facebook invite for this event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/862054807192415/

Charles Bronson Died Ten Years Ago Today – Here Are His Ten Best Films

I think everyone remembers where they were August 31^st, 2003 when they heard that Charles Bronson had died. I was visiting my brother in Atlanta when my nephew knocked on my door and informed me that CNN had announced his death. I collapsed into a sobbing heap. Bronson was my hero, my muse, my role model. Hollywood’s brightest star would shine no more. It’s hard to believe he’s been gone ten years.

Charles Bronson was the unlikeliest of movie stars. Of all the leading men in the history of Hollywood, Charles Bronson had the least range as an actor. He rarely emoted or even changed his expression, and when he did speak, his voice was a reedy whisper. But Charles Bronson could coast on presence, charisma, and silent brooding menace like no one’s business and he wound up the world’s most bankable movie star throughout most of the 1970’s. Bronson did not rise quickly in the Hollywood ranks. His film debut was in 1951 and he spent the next two decades as a solid character actor with a rugged face, muscular physique and everyman ethnicity that kept him busy in supporting roles as indians, convicts, cowboys, boxers, and gangsters. It wasn’t until he was in his late 40’s, after the international success of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST in 1968 (American audiences wouldn’t embrace him until DEATH WISH became a hit five years later) that he became a worldwide megastar. A man of few words onscreen and off, Bronson was never a critic’s darling and he had no illusions about his own stardom. “I don’t make movies for critics”, he once said, “since they don’t pay to see them anyhow”. Charles Bronson appeared in 93 films in his five decades as an actor, and here what I think are his ten best (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE DIRTY DOZEN and THE GREAT ESCAPE should make the cut, but in those films Bronson is part of large ensemble casts so I’ve excluded them here).

10. DEATH WISH 3

9. RIDER ON THE RAIN

8. MURPHY’S LAW

7. THE VALACHI PAPERS

6. DEATH WISH

In the 1974 revenge fantasy DEATH WISH, Charles Bronson played Paul Kersey, which would become his most identifiable role. Bronson was hugely popular in Europe and other parts of the world at this time thanks to the success of films such as ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and RIDER ON THE RAIN, but those had failed to find big audiences in the U.S. A box-office smash, DEATH WISH finally cemented Bronson’s status as a major star in Hollywood as well, but it was a part he almost didn’t get. In Brian Garfield’s 1972 source novel, the character was more a wimpy everyman, a bleeding heart liberal whose descent into vigilante behavior was more a contrast to his passive disposition before his wife and daughter are attacked (Bronson did not want wife Jill Ireland, almost always cast in his films then, to film the brutal rape scene so Hope Lange was given the part). Garfield was strongly against casting Bronson and claims Dustin Hoffman was his first choice but it’s doubtful Hoffman even read the script, as he would have just finished STRAW DOGS with its similar themes. Jack Lemmon was at one point attached to the project but dropped out then Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, and Frank Sinatra all turned down the evolving role. Enter Bronson, who made DEATH WISH more a rousing action film that advocated vigilante philosophy than the essay on crime and punishment it was originally conceived. Kersey was the role that honed Bronson’s big-screen persona as a steely instrument of violence and Bronson was accused by some of spending the rest of his career remaking DEATH WISH in one way or another. DEATH WISH did indeed spawn four diverse sequels over the next twenty years, all entertaining in their own way, and remains an influential film.

5. THE WHITE BUFFALO

4. THE MECHANIC

3. VIOLENT CITY

2. HARD TIMES

1. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST

Much of this article was posted in June of 2009 as Top Ten Tuesday – The Best of Charles Bronson.

HARD TIMES – The Blu Review

No one could touch Charles Bronson in terms of global popularity throughout the 1970’s and HARD TIMES was his best film from that decade (my favorite for cinema, the only films from the ‘70s I would personally rate above HARD TIMES are TAXI DRIVER, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and THE GODFATHER). Walter Hill, in his 1976 directorial debut, made a remarkably earthy and entertaining film about illegal bare-knuckle fighting in Depression-era New Orleans. HARD TIMES, whose succinct tag line read “New Orleans 1933, in those days words didn’t buy much”, perfectly exploits Bronson’s granite presence and is a concise, almost mythical celebration of men who only communicate with their fists. Bronson is Chaney, a hardened loner who hops off a freight train in New Orleans where he tries to score some quick cash the only way he knows how-with his fists.

The fight scenes in HARD TIMES, which seem authentic rather over-choreographed, are expertly staged and framed by Hill, especially the films centerpiece; an underground cage match between Bronson and a grinning goon named ‘Skinhead’ played by Robert ‘Mr. Clean’ Tessier. Supporting vets Strother Martin, James Coburn, and Ben Johnson all act up a storm but it’s Bronson, whose expression never changes, that commands all the attention. Bronson’s Chaney is a man of few words and no past and it’s perhaps his most fitting role. Acclaimed in 1976, HARD TIMES is the perfect Charles Bronson movie for people who claim not to like Charles Bronson movies and even critics who had previously overlooked Bronson’s abilities were impressed.

I saw HARD TIMES in 1976 when it was new, riding my bike at 14 to the Des Peres 4 theater with some friends. In the summer of 1978 I attended wrestling camp at the University of Missouri and one night for entertainment, we were screened a 16mm print of HARD TIMES. I have an 18-minute Super-8 condensed version of the film that I’ve shown at my monthly Super-8 Movie Madness show. It’s printed on black-and-white stock and dubbed into German, but it always gets the crowd worked up.

The 2.35:1 1080p transfer of HARD TIMES is immaculate and looks as good as the film ever has, doing justice to Philip Lathrop’s outstanding cinematography. The image is incredibly sharp. The blood and sweat of the boxers comes across nicely and there isn’t a bad looking sequence in the picture. The colors are strong and feature some thick, deep blacks, supplemented with lighter-washed-out tones (stylistically representative of the Depression). The enhanced resolution gives the fighting matches more bounce and with the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround mix, you can almost feel Bronson’s bare fists pounding the bones of his opponents. Barry De Vorzon’s folksy score sounds terrific as well.

If I have a complaint, it’s with the extras on the disc. Aside from a trailer, there aren’t any. A dream release would have deleted scenes. I know Hill shot a lot more footage including a fight with black actor Frank McRae (photos from that excised fight scene are printed in the HARD TIMES paperback tie-in) and I read in an interview with actor Bruce Glover in Shock Cinema magazine that Hill’s original cut ran just over two hours (as opposed to the 94 minutes it clocks in at). Hill is notoriously reticent about discussing his films (he’s never done a commentary) and I wonder where these lost scenes are.

Inside the keepcase alongside the disc is a booklet of liner notes that offer welcome perspective and history on the movie nicely written by Julie Kirgo.

This Blu-ray presentation from Twilight Time is being issued in a limited edition of 3,000 copies, so those who are interested are well-advised to visit the Screen Archives website to confirm that it is still available. Some knuckleheads on ebay are trying to get $60 for it, but I ordered mine from Screen Archives last week for the retail price of $29.99 and it was in my mailbox two days later. Hurry up and grab your HARD TIMES Blu-ray before they’re gone or Charles Bronson will kick your ass.

my Charles Bronson HARD TIMES resin model kit painted by Dan Jorgenson – editor of Kitbuilders Magazine

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