ALAIN DELON WITH CHARLES BRONSON IN 'FAREWELL, FRIEND'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_-31b4KOwIYtc8boMIiREqcabWNd08wmN_oPfFBWlAMUUPWf4j040-MnR7szF6socpk4hariW4s_td_l1QqFd5BNvicPBfCSf-tklf5WSYkhmR6pzwh-PmLhi6j-LhyphenhyphenVN5sLcfKQSaQV0RF0Q-hAsElRYBfIER5LahlyQXIk890E5DaE-6KWVetSqGY_/s2112/Screen%20Shot%202026-08-22%20at%201.58.46%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="2112" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_-31b4KOwIYtc8boMIiREqcabWNd08wmN_oPfFBWlAMUUPWf4j040-MnR7szF6socpk4hariW4s_td_l1QqFd5BNvicPBfCSf-tklf5WSYkhmR6pzwh-PmLhi6j-LhyphenhyphenVN5sLcfKQSaQV0RF0Q-hAsElRYBfIER5LahlyQXIk890E5DaE-6KWVetSqGY_/w400-h265/Screen%20Shot%202026-08-22%20at%201.58.46%20PM.png" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>FAREWELL, FRIEND Year: 1968 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The title FAREWELL, FRIEND makes no sense yet are actual words spoken by one of two anti-buddy buddies who'd spent years in the Foreign Legion without knowing each other, but they get off the same boat with a load of expository dialogue that you best keep a scorecard to follow the shoddy pulp-inspired plot as, basically and ultimately, this odd couple... one a French medic, the other a crooked American... attempt to crack a big safe in a large, well-armed, multi-guarded building... And why the title's nonsensical is that Bronson's pimp character says things for no apparent reason, especially "Yeah!" whenever something happens that makes him feel like saying... "Yeah!" </p><p></p><p>But Alain Delon is the tough silent type, and this film's obvious lead, actually having hand-picked Bronson from admiring his zesty performance as <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/08/early-chuck.html">MACHINE GUN KELLY</a> eight-years earlier... What's ironic is Delon keeps Bronson from reaching equally ferocious heights by either a punch in the nose or a macho wrestling match, especially in a painfully overlong sequence where, during that epic second-act heist, both get locked inside a strongroom, close to death, followed by Bronson being beaten/interrogated and Delon beating-up the film's nice girl Brigitte Fossey while having initially fallen sap to sneaky double-crossing femme fatalle Olga Georges-Picot... Perhaps if FAREWELL, FRIEND was a dark comedy, and didn't take itself so seriously, it'd have a more even-keeled groove... And get this... Bronson <i>wouldn't </i>be the straight man!</p><span></span>

alain delon, brigitte fossey, buddy, charles bronson, crime, exploitation, french, heist, mob, olga georges-picot, seventies

ALAIN DELON WITH CHARLES BRONSON IN 'FAREWELL, FRIEND'

FAREWELL, FRIEND Year: 1968 Rating: *** The title FAREWELL, FRIEND makes no sense yet are actual words spoken by one of two anti-buddy buddi...

CHARLES BRONSON'S LAST CANNON 'KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SECRETS'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_ueo47qC0tLC3nXtxNp_UFoPtS-V79vCCUZMsBoYMWad8kvA_KvJkq4wP9aqxiUhNuZPQUQQ2ul4aUKqZdjubYsQuM_r4g8ISlIx0zXbWKjRxWResSLYBU3heT0vGUXU_GO1neFKhaXWSv45dtGMya5dx-JSc67lSSTXt0scsx6aGbzCjFML9d_eJnZR/s1608/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-29%20at%202.32.07%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_ueo47qC0tLC3nXtxNp_UFoPtS-V79vCCUZMsBoYMWad8kvA_KvJkq4wP9aqxiUhNuZPQUQQ2ul4aUKqZdjubYsQuM_r4g8ISlIx0zXbWKjRxWResSLYBU3heT0vGUXU_GO1neFKhaXWSv45dtGMya5dx-JSc67lSSTXt0scsx6aGbzCjFML9d_eJnZR/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-29%20at%202.32.07%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SECRETS Year: 1989 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The final Cannon production starring Charles Bronson (and director J. Lee Thompson) couldn't be more of an exploitation flick (surpassing even DEATH WISH 2), spending more time on the underage girls of a sleazy pimp than Bronson and detective partner Perry Lopez are trying to figure things out...<br><br>In KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SECRETS, initially/ironically involving a sex-obsessed Japanese father whose daughter (Kumiko Hayakawa) winds up one the youngest, most vulnerable victims of an underground sex-slave market...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1slfyP935-EK7xsjbuXVlt3fPXG-CwooMAYmHTRTevvv9sOsGP0pKEkARIObu9ROvICIBtCHUxVfE9OeN7fQVTCqmDY1k6rmF8cyzR96TUBdInVKdiPLCx9EFF-DfUFFPQorUV5wfmI41GuqttEBGyw8kuPQfCv1gmwDKjoxdI60fsCw01629YefmcTPa/s1724/2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="1724" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1slfyP935-EK7xsjbuXVlt3fPXG-CwooMAYmHTRTevvv9sOsGP0pKEkARIObu9ROvICIBtCHUxVfE9OeN7fQVTCqmDY1k6rmF8cyzR96TUBdInVKdiPLCx9EFF-DfUFFPQorUV5wfmI41GuqttEBGyw8kuPQfCv1gmwDKjoxdI60fsCw01629YefmcTPa/s16000/2.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SECRETS</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Opening with blonde starlet Nicole Eggert as the most experienced, the actual leading young-lady's Amy Hathaway, even blonder, cuter and who just so happens to be Bronson's daughter, on the verge of the neon-noir-inspired criminal web led by CROCODILE DUNDEE II villain Juan Fernández... <br><br>Perhaps one of the sleaziest villains in Bronson cinema... providing the usual gun-blasting DEATH WISH-style vengeance that happens far too late to matter: overall making KINJITE more glossy expose than edgy crime-thriller. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, amy hathaway, bill mckinney, cannon, charles bronson, eighties, juan fernandez, neo noir, peggy lipton, perry lopez, sy richardson

CHARLES BRONSON'S LAST CANNON 'KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SECRETS'

Charles Bronson in KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SECRETS Year: 1989 Rating: ***1/2 The final Cannon production starring Charles Bronson (and director J...

CHARLES BRONSON AND JILL IRELAND IN 'FROM NOON TILL THREE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCUbsRtPiqvn4ypqvIQejiaECI5WMzysBiKX5yHIZnBYIEQfBREgWmW5sM6rKXCa39y2OfUWLvaz-fvIPMagUGZ1WXR1w3nzLIVWPVqVAA3xmuJEyri4uSgxYn-ZIlybm-k-lgZq0GuEMavjyUw61X69q4I3u8gVYX4ZGh9X47HJWz-hWGEtNN5M68tTa/s1366/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-18%20at%201.45.30%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCUbsRtPiqvn4ypqvIQejiaECI5WMzysBiKX5yHIZnBYIEQfBREgWmW5sM6rKXCa39y2OfUWLvaz-fvIPMagUGZ1WXR1w3nzLIVWPVqVAA3xmuJEyri4uSgxYn-ZIlybm-k-lgZq0GuEMavjyUw61X69q4I3u8gVYX4ZGh9X47HJWz-hWGEtNN5M68tTa/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-18%20at%201.45.30%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland in From Noon Till Three Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In another 1970's Charles Bronson vehicle that aesthetically looks more like a high-quality backlot-shot TV-movie than theatrical b-movie, Charles Bronson and wife Jill Ireland star in what seems like (and is promoted as) a comedy/western... when it's actually an offbeat fable that's ultimately <i>Meta</i>...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Part of a gang of the usual surly outlaws, which turns out being mostly a dream turned nightmare, Bronson eventually... while the boys hit a bank off-screen... holes up at rich sophisticated lady Jill Ireland's middle-of-nowhere-mansion... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

ann ramsey, charles bronson, comedy, dennis fowley, don red barry, frank d. gilroy, jill ireland, seventies, stan haze, western

CHARLES BRONSON AND JILL IRELAND IN 'FROM NOON TILL THREE'

Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland in From Noon Till Three Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2 In another 1970's Charles Bronson vehicle that aesthe...

BRODERICK CRAWFORD, NEVILLE BRAND & RICHARD KILEY 'THE MOB'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimn1AJq9VekXaZx_cNcVAKhiTfN6RBvnOC4TdycYZkNVBRyf_JsZv-LKTE83hoDxC_ghmjuldUigkGDWh_SR12I3rXSvAKdDkYX1M0s6awIA5g8Nma8bulcTMkbDtZIv4gMlqxFlOwvhSU0A-rRvIBZw9JQKNF1U9LaQBrNuGI4KPSE_6ezBLvVcAdvRji/s1768/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-07%20at%2010.23.56%20PM%202%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1768" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimn1AJq9VekXaZx_cNcVAKhiTfN6RBvnOC4TdycYZkNVBRyf_JsZv-LKTE83hoDxC_ghmjuldUigkGDWh_SR12I3rXSvAKdDkYX1M0s6awIA5g8Nma8bulcTMkbDtZIv4gMlqxFlOwvhSU0A-rRvIBZw9JQKNF1U9LaQBrNuGI4KPSE_6ezBLvVcAdvRji/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-07%20at%2010.23.56%20PM%202%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1951 Cast: Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, John Marley, Neville Brand, Richard Kiley  Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1955, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/charles%20bronson">Charles Bronson</a> played a cellmate to Broderick Crawford in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/06/BHUSA.html">BIG HOUSE USA</a> — and only four-years earlier, Bronson (known as Charles Buchinsky), had a quick yet important part in the Waterfront film noir THE MOB...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Where Crawford's an undercover cop (after the opening theme later used for THE BIG HEAT) seeking the leader/boss of a crime-syndicate screwing around the workers by choosing only their own...  and Bronson's the one guy complaining during his single scene where they're calling out rigged names for work (overseen by future GODFATHER horse-head victim John Marley), while Crawford and his newfound working-class buddy Richard Kiley look on...</p><p><span></span></p>

broderick crawford, charles bronson, emile meyer, ernest borgnine, fifties, film noir or melodrama, john marley, lynn baggett, mobster, neville brand, richard kiley, thriller

BRODERICK CRAWFORD, NEVILLE BRAND & RICHARD KILEY 'THE MOB'

Year: 1951 Cast: Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, John Marley, Neville Brand, Richard Kiley  Rating: ***1/2 In 1955, Charles Bronson pl...

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'THE FAMILY' THAT IMPROVES 'VIOLENT CITY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRe1rPaZE6MzRFpGDTITAGsfP7OJzZMkhSzMpGq0eZZp-sdWxvZDKhiBC6zx0WGFErSi_C2amP5nV9E743MYL-md8dVgczupbw3_2j0Ty13Sd0yt2p5s83OESJ_5HDnL1tN42zpwkTKpz-pg-o3sdmhm8Kgg8by6-YTIZGJvpgJN8KmaQzOzo5Q2G_MVzT/s2080/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-04%20at%2010.16.29%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="2080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRe1rPaZE6MzRFpGDTITAGsfP7OJzZMkhSzMpGq0eZZp-sdWxvZDKhiBC6zx0WGFErSi_C2amP5nV9E743MYL-md8dVgczupbw3_2j0Ty13Sd0yt2p5s83OESJ_5HDnL1tN42zpwkTKpz-pg-o3sdmhm8Kgg8by6-YTIZGJvpgJN8KmaQzOzo5Q2G_MVzT/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-04%20at%2010.16.29%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in THE FAMILY (Improved English-Only Version of VIOLENT CITY) Year: 1970 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sergio Sollima's Italian-crime thriller VIOLENT CITY starring Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas and Jill Ireland is a bizarre cinematic tragedy being a worthwhile neo-noir on the one hand — while the other awkwardly serves the main problem...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Right when the audience settles into a romance between Bronson's hit-man character Jeff Heston during a tropical vacation, opening with Sollima filming Ireland's body like he would a pristine statue, Heston's shot, nearly killed and, now in prison, the inmates suddenly... without any explanation (and without subtitles)... speak Italian: wherein Bronson's low-dubbed voice sounds nothing like his own...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, charles bronson, crime, hit man, italian, jill ireland, mafia, michel constantin, neo noir, prison, sergio sollima, seventies, telly savalas, thriller, umberto orsini

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'THE FAMILY' THAT IMPROVES 'VIOLENT CITY'

Charles Bronson in THE FAMILY (Improved English-Only Version of VIOLENT CITY) Year: 1970 Rating: **** Sergio Sollima's Italian-crime thr...

CHARLES BRONSON WITH JILL IRELAND IN 'BREAKHEART PASS'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47WLsuSa_j2WwCGqbfwrwJvmr1rz_7F2l_-hn_hQpqxYsgxA-2WuPcihuhwoY4CE7HN5VPq-GhyEo5RCwwBo-u5Zpxj7ccUmrvUMzyevDoB_grsEhb9jFmTdQ-j0HVpHPza8KyT43ugFiFXYxdUDi40dsKMpP582Ve4JYKiq250Bh4WktLQVV7fV3-Ybn/s1256/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-08%20at%208.22.21%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="1256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47WLsuSa_j2WwCGqbfwrwJvmr1rz_7F2l_-hn_hQpqxYsgxA-2WuPcihuhwoY4CE7HN5VPq-GhyEo5RCwwBo-u5Zpxj7ccUmrvUMzyevDoB_grsEhb9jFmTdQ-j0HVpHPza8KyT43ugFiFXYxdUDi40dsKMpP582Ve4JYKiq250Bh4WktLQVV7fV3-Ybn/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-08%20at%208.22.21%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in BREAKHEART PASS Year: 1975 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>British actress Jill Ireland sporadically appearing in husband Charles Bronson's films was really a matter of convenience, providing the family a kind of busman's holiday that was great for them, but not always the audience since her overacting often clashed with the comparably slow-burn cadence of vehicles like THE MECHANIC or HARD TIMES: the latter making an enemy out of writer/director Walter Hill, shooting as few scenes with Ireland as possible, so he never worked with a perturbed Bronson again...</p><p></p><p>But in the case of (the same years') BREAKOUT director Tom Gries's Mystery/Western BREAKHEART PASS, Jill Ireland fit perfectly since her character... the daughter of a post-Civil War Northern General... is fitfully classy and sophisticated, making one particular opposites-attract scene really spark while helping Bronson's supposedly captured-outlaw Deakin, tied uncomfortably inside an otherwise fancy train car and... although he's the central lead, PASS is mainly an ensemble, equally balancing the other characters, all suspects...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

ben johnson, bill mckinney, charles bronson, ed lauter, jill ireland, mystery, rayford barnes, richard crenna, sally kirkland, thriller, tom gries, western

CHARLES BRONSON WITH JILL IRELAND IN 'BREAKHEART PASS'

Charles Bronson in BREAKHEART PASS Year: 1975 Rating: ****1/2 British actress Jill Ireland sporadically appearing in husband Charles Bronson...

CHARLES BRONSON'S 'MAN WITH A CAMERA' WITH YVONNE CRAIG

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5WoXTFB1jWAKKvw6DmRU50GTniBnUxu3SeoO-m2Rm2nGl3UkOinxkAjGfGHSQ2FyNPhyphenhyphenYKqsPAc4p7PsSmHNXHBQdTsZ_hyBXMe1xDheFOMlH3l45fy6S3qhxZ-eXdts0tKFBQRzDV1qqPR3nZm5lrnLPucPS5qTEvD5zz6IkgLmaNwuTBcJX1Le2QU9/s2040/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="2040" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5WoXTFB1jWAKKvw6DmRU50GTniBnUxu3SeoO-m2Rm2nGl3UkOinxkAjGfGHSQ2FyNPhyphenhyphenYKqsPAc4p7PsSmHNXHBQdTsZ_hyBXMe1xDheFOMlH3l45fy6S3qhxZ-eXdts0tKFBQRzDV1qqPR3nZm5lrnLPucPS5qTEvD5zz6IkgLmaNwuTBcJX1Le2QU9/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Yvonne Craig & Charles Bronson in Man With A Camera: Hot Ice Cream 1960 Rates: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At the end of Lawrence Tierney's career's first stretch, of playing menacing heavies on the big screen, which includes central bad guys from DILLINGER and THE HOODLUM to tough heroes in BODYGUARD, STEP BY STEP and KILL OR BE KILLED, Tierney — resembling an older version of his original self instead of a young Joe Cabot from RESERVOIR DOGS — appeared on the TV-series MAN WITH A CAMERA starring Charles Bronson... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In what's the best (and highest rated) episode of a nifty noirish two-season show where Bronson plays Mike Kovac, THE MAN WITH A CAMERA who’s either hired by friends or the law to solve crimes... and he even has a semi-famous crime-photographer reputation, thus providing a young fan for HOT ICE CREAM...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, charles bronson, crime, film noir or melodrama, howard mcnear, lawrence tierney, sixties, thriller, tv series, yvonne craig

CHARLES BRONSON'S 'MAN WITH A CAMERA' WITH YVONNE CRAIG

Yvonne Craig & Charles Bronson in Man With A Camera: Hot Ice Cream 1960 Rates: ****1/2 At the end of Lawrence Tierney's career's...

PARENTHETICAL ANALYSIS OF MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE MECHANIC'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmL7Q2y1FPuEm0DdLrwGQIjzwg2GKEorCvWTM_rGT7j6iO5E2z-YTj-urOvSAClQsuNMkAWZDl3zFfOvmOn5UjJsMBurr6x3ubTdNeG5VNgK0OQbaWqetbMWRj9cjU1lY8nLpMBsBsKO0zpiZNtYSvd1bifl1YClGvjcBEfgSfgycAXzngBvMsxPwjQRP/s2056/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-15%20at%209.36.38%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="2056" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmL7Q2y1FPuEm0DdLrwGQIjzwg2GKEorCvWTM_rGT7j6iO5E2z-YTj-urOvSAClQsuNMkAWZDl3zFfOvmOn5UjJsMBurr6x3ubTdNeG5VNgK0OQbaWqetbMWRj9cjU1lY8nLpMBsBsKO0zpiZNtYSvd1bifl1YClGvjcBEfgSfgycAXzngBvMsxPwjQRP/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-15%20at%209.36.38%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in THE MECHANIC from 1974 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time professional hit-man Arthur Bishop, skillfully underplayed by Charles Bronson... starring in the first of the 1972-1974 unconnected crime trilogy under the creative direction of eclectic British auteur Michael Winner... meets his match in young upstart Jan-Michael Vincent, the best part of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/BW2-MECH.html">THE MECHANIC</a> had already occurred...  <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Centering on the titular eccentric hired-killer slumming in a shabby Los Angeles motel, strategically rented across the street from his human target's non-rented room... providing a smooth, menial, fifteen-minute killer-at-work sequence that, given his narrowed, exacting professionalism, deliberately lacks suspense while replete with Winner's signature camera movements, from dramatic zooms to quick cuts, and herein, most importantly, no dialogue...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfF4YXy6iB31ckrPPXZIHJBZdeOY2fN_WZSE_ljHVBc_7sfYypRbDgVy4E_Z6c4z9ZyYzFAOsZFaKMNPKWzGcq3eO3xICz2RCqX1-2kpjricHQ-iaNBwTXBDZ53y1b-XF2i-z1Rf0oU_rN6vtmS_iJ0daqeTEoG-KWly0STxq1_stBOjim_Oq3jNuS-s1/s2260/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-02%20at%208.21.08%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="2260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfF4YXy6iB31ckrPPXZIHJBZdeOY2fN_WZSE_ljHVBc_7sfYypRbDgVy4E_Z6c4z9ZyYzFAOsZFaKMNPKWzGcq3eO3xICz2RCqX1-2kpjricHQ-iaNBwTXBDZ53y1b-XF2i-z1Rf0oU_rN6vtmS_iJ0daqeTEoG-KWly0STxq1_stBOjim_Oq3jNuS-s1/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-02%20at%208.21.08%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jerry Fielding credit from THE MECHANIC</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Instead filled with underrated composer Jerry Fielding's rich and cerebral, classically orchestrated yet equally jazz-induced score that also worked for Dustin Hoffman's mind-game marriage from Sam Peckpinpah's<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/11/peckinpahdogs.html"> STRAW DOGS</a> (after having successfully tracked Peckinpah's blockbuster THE WILD BUNCH); Warren Oates's exhausted contemplation in the same director's BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA; or building tension for Clint Eastwood in either THE ENFORCER or <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/11/clintclimbs.html">THE EIGER SANCTION</a>... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A few examples of how and where Jerry Fielding's music fits tough and paranoiac, melancholy souls suffering personal battles so that the inevitable violence remains on the verge of eruption, even during meditative downtime — providing brooding overtures <i>inside</i> as well as <i>about</i> the characters...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, article, charles bronson, crime, hit-man, jan-michael vincent, jerry fielding, jill ireland, michael winner, neo noir, seventies, team-up, thriller

PARENTHETICAL ANALYSIS OF MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE MECHANIC'

Charles Bronson in THE MECHANIC from 1974 Rating: **** By the time professional hit-man Arthur Bishop, skillfully underplayed by Charles Bro...

MICHAEL WINNER REDIRECTS CHARLES BRONSON IN 'DEATH WISH II'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijfDfMBrLwkZFwN8GLTiXp1uksU1XHj9AvRBSAlCtOnEMhpvoJ9qyYpyfxEL4DvnRjYtUzE4IkxS6bhsaNBPmPyJFFaOEAOmJnY8Gsq8vtPmcSfugRpq1RvgPv-GBSxlos0tGo6vnX53UDlcHLhKGuwfCpX3bIY34ultGOJpygbM06mIsr0A6QHvv9M4lW/s1785/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-04%20at%205.07.42%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="1785" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijfDfMBrLwkZFwN8GLTiXp1uksU1XHj9AvRBSAlCtOnEMhpvoJ9qyYpyfxEL4DvnRjYtUzE4IkxS6bhsaNBPmPyJFFaOEAOmJnY8Gsq8vtPmcSfugRpq1RvgPv-GBSxlos0tGo6vnX53UDlcHLhKGuwfCpX3bIY34ultGOJpygbM06mIsr0A6QHvv9M4lW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-04%20at%205.07.42%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DEATH WISH II Year: 1982 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Losing his wife entirely and daughter mentally to lethal hoods from the first movie had aged Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey eight-years when it's only supposed to be two.... which is how long it'd been since DEATH WISH made the already popular cult actor Charles Bronson a superstar... and now, in his last stretch at 60 years old, having joined the ranks of ambitious low-budget Cannon Films, the safest bet was a sequel... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Along with Bronson, cinema had also changed from the early 1970's crime exploitation into the early 1980's horror/terror element, which is what Kersey... still a successful architect but now in Los Angeles instead of New York... is up against in the form of an ultra-violent gang as opposed to, from the original, random criminals coaxed from the streets (after the initial trio, led by Jeff Goldblum, were never heard of since) or saving innocent people from them... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

body count, cannon, charles bronson, eighties, exploitation, franchise, gang, jimmy page, laurence fishburne, michael winner, sequel

MICHAEL WINNER REDIRECTS CHARLES BRONSON IN 'DEATH WISH II'

Title: DEATH WISH II Year: 1982 Rating: **** Losing his wife entirely and daughter mentally to lethal hoods from the first movie had aged Ch...

MICHAEL WINNER DIRECTS CHARLES BRONSON IN 'DEATH WISH'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYbaChH4HKKV2DsEUgSfKBKg2dORohHbuqSTpqvl5hjwznWcvqAHoItyiAyBK8dJPRo4Fn7egyuhpfsSLsJ1xBT7HqL-1k-8WMxQlR7Nr4-uRb37XKk-sm23oZW_fTbYVZIYmNMypTx2QC-yE9PkZD-FxGbiRYtogbQvpehLu3kJrJcH8jh-dwyFCO4_n/s1092/later%202%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="1092" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYbaChH4HKKV2DsEUgSfKBKg2dORohHbuqSTpqvl5hjwznWcvqAHoItyiAyBK8dJPRo4Fn7egyuhpfsSLsJ1xBT7HqL-1k-8WMxQlR7Nr4-uRb37XKk-sm23oZW_fTbYVZIYmNMypTx2QC-yE9PkZD-FxGbiRYtogbQvpehLu3kJrJcH8jh-dwyFCO4_n/s16000/later%202%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DEATH WISH Year: 1974 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Of director Michael Winner and actor Charles Bronson's crime-trilogy spanning three consecutive years from 1972 to 1974... centering on hit-men for THE MECHANIC and cops in THE STONE KILLER... the most popular was saved for last as DEATH WISH centers on a vigilante — ironically a cross between lawman and assassin... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's also more skillfully directed and acted: specifically providing tough guy Charles Bronson... also a former character-actor dating back to the 1950's... a comparably grounded and vulnerable (starring) role...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, body count, charles bronson, christopher guest, death wish, edward grover, exploitation, hope lange, jeff goldblum, michael winner, seventies, steven keats, stuart margolin

MICHAEL WINNER DIRECTS CHARLES BRONSON IN 'DEATH WISH'

Title: DEATH WISH Year: 1974 Rating: ***** Of director Michael Winner and actor Charles Bronson's crime-trilogy spanning three consecuti...

CHARLES BRONSON 'SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR' ANTHONY PERKINS

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43OvFQeoAKMVIwH2Ybmcvt2ytnPIZqte8_Q87z6-84iNChYWuzNGwTLrR0hwBzw9jttzEnE5ImUlpZUmKlHMFPIYiPElSeFzHLBch3wRPjGOb4Y__4G0bQmvDbqpYwd7KBqhyRCLF2CPHbpX8sNvGiElyaO13i75iOnwUVpFzI-zTKZmDZflIEgdY2x0f/s1960/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-21%20at%205.58.08%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43OvFQeoAKMVIwH2Ybmcvt2ytnPIZqte8_Q87z6-84iNChYWuzNGwTLrR0hwBzw9jttzEnE5ImUlpZUmKlHMFPIYiPElSeFzHLBch3wRPjGOb4Y__4G0bQmvDbqpYwd7KBqhyRCLF2CPHbpX8sNvGiElyaO13i75iOnwUVpFzI-zTKZmDZflIEgdY2x0f/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-21%20at%205.58.08%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: 1971 Title: SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>French shot/English speaking psychological thriller mirroring François Truffaut mirroring Alfred Hitchcock has a perfectly cast Anthony Perkins as a neurosurgeon taking an amnesiac patient to his plush home in order to (supposedly) help the nameless stranger, played by an only slightly miscast Charles Bronson, pacing taut and timid like a caged beast during his pre-fame <i>European Phase</i>... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But this is really Perkins' ride... more logical than <i>psycho</i> in a psychological thriller... providing another hiding-a-dark-secret creepy guy role... And from the mellow cadence, what could have been cat-and-mouse is more like mouse-and-mouse, or mouse and toothless cat, even during Bronson's sporadic tantrums in a noirish plot involving Jill Ireland as the doc's cheating wife (employing a cute Agathe Natanson as their maid, who'd have fit the ingenue role better)... </p><span></span>

agathe natanson, anthony perkins, charles bronson, french, jill ireland, mystery, nicolas gessner, seventies, thriller

CHARLES BRONSON 'SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR' ANTHONY PERKINS

Title: 1971 Title: SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR Rating: ***1/2 French shot/English speaking psychological thriller mirroring François Truffaut mi...

SEAN PENN DIRECTS VIGGO MORTENSEN IN 'THE INDIAN RUNNER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHNpD96Jo2YLx8mSKzZ6SGbveUJbylpPHbj0460JA5Zg1DiaNytShQl7X9NHiHvbn8jyaG8-snmGPfOhu3EwokYWJyVooL-iK7MacLS1ZdSwRg6Ig-z0WomwsLjsctoJ5QduvkPsNE9J6ALoZJMdqNlL7qwOjlZlfbhU3DB5m6NZ8wMQpvnRQaeXQY9V-/s1962/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-14%20at%203.55.44%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHNpD96Jo2YLx8mSKzZ6SGbveUJbylpPHbj0460JA5Zg1DiaNytShQl7X9NHiHvbn8jyaG8-snmGPfOhu3EwokYWJyVooL-iK7MacLS1ZdSwRg6Ig-z0WomwsLjsctoJ5QduvkPsNE9J6ALoZJMdqNlL7qwOjlZlfbhU3DB5m6NZ8wMQpvnRQaeXQY9V-/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-14%20at%203.55.44%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE INDIAN RUNNER Year: 1993 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sean Penn wrote and directed THE INDIAN RUNNER about two brothers that couldn't be more different: the central lead is David Morse as Joe Roberts, a humble cop in a small town the movie's set, deliberately outshined by the focal point for both the audience and Joe himself...  </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Enter Viggo Mortensen as the scene-stealing ex-con rebel Frank, visually a perfect-looking Marlboro Man with a sleazy antagonistic voice, he's one of those harsh, uncompromising born-losers that hurts everyone and everything, making RUNNER his own character-driven tragedy that, during the Vietnam war, also makes him a jilted returning-veteran: although the time-period aspect seems a bit forced and unnecessary...</p><p><span></span></p>

charles bronson, david morse, dennis hopper, drama, jordan rhodes, melodrama, nineties, patricia arquette, sean penn, vietnam, viggo mortensen

SEAN PENN DIRECTS VIGGO MORTENSEN IN 'THE INDIAN RUNNER'

Title: THE INDIAN RUNNER Year: 1993 Rating: **** Sean Penn wrote and directed THE INDIAN RUNNER about two brothers that couldn't be more...

CHARLES BRONSON IN TERENCE YOUNG'S 'THE VALACHI PAPERS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSpFOXXwlggHMeqznOQnygZ_m8BtigJ8l2JIcdq_eC8cfnLlFENXJB3HMOsZ6e64M7Luzxkb0uDQQmULabcIu03F44z5nhDLvLXALWcqHuYRn-_LX3M5SioReRGi1eDw8gNyU5JZrwUTC/s1137/s-l1600.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1137" data-original-width="1104" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSpFOXXwlggHMeqznOQnygZ_m8BtigJ8l2JIcdq_eC8cfnLlFENXJB3HMOsZ6e64M7Luzxkb0uDQQmULabcIu03F44z5nhDLvLXALWcqHuYRn-_LX3M5SioReRGi1eDw8gNyU5JZrwUTC/w389-h400/s-l1600.jpeg" width="389"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Valachi Papers Year: 1972 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the last Charles Bronson roles as a moody and irritable, tempermental <i>characte</i>r, soon mellowing int strong-silent types after DEATH WISH while director Terence Young follows along the exploitation crime template of their European venture <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/12/bronson70.html">COLD SWEAT</a> (before RED SUN); yet THE VALACHI PAPERS is an American-backed feature that <i>had to be</i> shot in Italy, thus resembling Bronson's European phase and, like THE GODFATHER the same year, two main time periods are used: back when gangster's reigned and later as they're being gathered up and thrown away... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Beginning with Bronson's gray-haired Valachi in prison, surviving various shiv-driven attempts and ending up seated in a tape-recorded backroom telling cop's cop IN COLD BLOOD actor Gerald S. O'Loughlin his story as a mob driver seen in flashbacks while randomly (and intrusively) heard narrating throughout the action... </p><p>A sparse, violent tale with Classic Gangster Cinema cliches from loaded cement dumped in the ocean to Tommy Guns blasting, there's enough antique visual style even during overlong detours and a convoluted plot involving Valachi forced to end the career of mob boss Lino Ventura. But the Italian veteran actor's underused, not as important as need be given the primary task; Valachi's initial boss Joseph Wiseman is far more interesting as overall PAPERS has an unfocused story eventually marred by forced ingenue Jill Ireland in another dull performance, which isn't entirely her fault since this particular tough guy flick needn't an ingenue at all. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, charles bronson, depression-era, gerald s. o'loughlin, italian, jill ireland, joseph wiseman, lino ventura, mobster, seventies, terence young

CHARLES BRONSON IN TERENCE YOUNG'S 'THE VALACHI PAPERS'

The Valachi Papers Year: 1972 Rating: **1/2 One of the last Charles Bronson roles as a moody and irritable, tempermental characte r, soon me...

RALPH MEEKER IN 'BIG HOUSE U.S.A.' WITH CHARLES BRONSON

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKkZnpKXBnyjd9lTtLvP1wbuMzWwsG5TVp7Gu-mBs1OFFJof6PR1q5qc5TrHeuEAI6Fwzesh5ZoZqizOD1CdX3G0xBaQilcjk6glty3m1l_NtE_lPdN2FbZ8pRQT6jGLkLA60EpaqtB6JgVNI67SzMgesclZXjSd79KZUb5cVsKgrk_3nn6VtDAzdl-w/s1554/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-30%20at%2010.33.38%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="1554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKkZnpKXBnyjd9lTtLvP1wbuMzWwsG5TVp7Gu-mBs1OFFJof6PR1q5qc5TrHeuEAI6Fwzesh5ZoZqizOD1CdX3G0xBaQilcjk6glty3m1l_NtE_lPdN2FbZ8pRQT6jGLkLA60EpaqtB6JgVNI67SzMgesclZXjSd79KZUb5cVsKgrk_3nn6VtDAzdl-w/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-30%20at%2010.33.38%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for BIG HOUSE U.S.A. Year: 1955 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A strange, investigative, manipulative, adventurous sort of crime/prison flick begins at a rural setting with Ralph Meeker involved in the botched kidnapping of a sickly young boy at summer camp: This gritty b-picture has been disputed by some of the more uptight viewers as a legit Film Noir since the main character doesn't have the necessary "moral ambiguity," although the otherwise vicious convicts serving at THE BIG HOUSE must realize, with a "child abductor" residing in the cell, maybe they're not so bad after all: perhaps, then, it's a kind of Film Noir in reverse...<br> <br> One scene has pre-PERRY MASON lawyer and post-ARMORED CAR ROBBERY firebrand William Talman suffering guilt-ridden doubts when cold-blooded kingpin Broderick Crawford tells him, once the gang has escaped from the island fortress and are "hidden" on a fishing boat within a foggy ocean, to strategically kill a sleeping friend...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

bel air productions, broderick crawford, charles bronson, fifties, film noir or melodrama, lon chaney jr., prison, ralph meeker

RALPH MEEKER IN 'BIG HOUSE U.S.A.' WITH CHARLES BRONSON

Poster for BIG HOUSE U.S.A. Year: 1955 Rating: ****1/2 A strange, investigative, manipulative, adventurous sort of crime/prison flick begin...

CHARLES BRONSON & ROBERT DUVALL BAND APART FOR 'BREAKOUT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhvd0Sb_UlVtNIuL63ZQOfL81SqBuBygSDz1JTK1ukn63MWGpGT5WAnnmPIqSvDQ1tgOhFDw3GSbju3ss6EQTBxhF5xEfrc14PuDtwQm06WKkDO9wAUzNfAkYptgNHbGnYIB4hEoVULKiQxGMOZKtCfOFhyreqzWr7cOlSa3CFML6vUoewq8OST7WCw/s2182/2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="2182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhvd0Sb_UlVtNIuL63ZQOfL81SqBuBygSDz1JTK1ukn63MWGpGT5WAnnmPIqSvDQ1tgOhFDw3GSbju3ss6EQTBxhF5xEfrc14PuDtwQm06WKkDO9wAUzNfAkYptgNHbGnYIB4hEoVULKiQxGMOZKtCfOFhyreqzWr7cOlSa3CFML6vUoewq8OST7WCw/s16000/2.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in BREAKOUT Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The violent prologue of the 1975 Tom Gries jailbreak flick is so Sam Peckinpah you could call it BRING ME THE HEAD OF ROBERT DUVALL, and the Bloody Sam similarities include echoed gunshots under the hot Mexico sun; a white shirt soaked with gory, bright red blood; a slow-motion body falling to the ground as the opening credits appear across  paused-images as Jerry Goldsmith's score opens with soft, skeletal vibes into a Spanish groove... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And even beyond all that, BREAKOUT is a modern Spaghetti Western (released the same year as Gries/Bronson's actual Western BREAKHEART PASS) wherein action hero Charles Bronson is similar to his colorful MR. MAJESTYK character, only even more playfully cocky and wisecracking... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, alan vint, charles bronson, escape, jailbreak, jill ireland, john huston, mexico, prison, randy quaid, robert duvall, roy jenson, rural, seventies, sheree north, tom gries

CHARLES BRONSON & ROBERT DUVALL BAND APART FOR 'BREAKOUT'

Charles Bronson in BREAKOUT Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2 The violent prologue of the 1975 Tom Gries jailbreak flick is so Sam Peckinpah you cou...

ROBERT ALDRICH'S WAR MISSION ENSEMBLE OF 'THE DIRTY DOZEN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A3mAlkqkzEWXXuE7iD67pT2OI90JhKxiFPx_lKve_b-yiye7g-VQxzZ0RnjcpIPZllqFN6piNJxUjA5YpFqWclE3J951hevwjrPpoM2uaAqIUn7G2o67Anh9P73Xgereg3N4fzDempdGd83nl7jkM5RCvo5TD-u2tDPsfM3B_PqjKVxc_U2pIy4dJQ/s1946/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-29%20at%205.48.43%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A3mAlkqkzEWXXuE7iD67pT2OI90JhKxiFPx_lKve_b-yiye7g-VQxzZ0RnjcpIPZllqFN6piNJxUjA5YpFqWclE3J951hevwjrPpoM2uaAqIUn7G2o67Anh9P73Xgereg3N4fzDempdGd83nl7jkM5RCvo5TD-u2tDPsfM3B_PqjKVxc_U2pIy4dJQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-29%20at%205.48.43%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson and Jim Brown in THE DIRTY DOZEN Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Both THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE DIRTY DOZEN have a lot in common yet are completely different as World War II adventure films... the first has a group of POW's escaping from the Germans while the second involves American convicts training to <i>enter</i> Germany, as both somewhat awkwardly balance comedy with drama, and, while entertaining popcorn time-fillers, they're predictably and painfully mainstream...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>While ESCAPE centered on many men hoping to tunnel out, only a handful are centered on, which happens with DOZEN: but THE DIRTY HALF-DOZEN lacks the catchy alliteration... </p><p><span></span></p>

charles bronson, clint walker, donald sutherland, jim brown, john cassavetes, lee marvin, mission, ralph meeker, robert aldrich, telly savalas, war, world war II

ROBERT ALDRICH'S WAR MISSION ENSEMBLE OF 'THE DIRTY DOZEN'

Charles Bronson and Jim Brown in THE DIRTY DOZEN Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2 Both THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE DIRTY DOZEN have a lot in common ye...

CHARLES BRONSON RUSSIAN THROUGH DON SIEGEL'S 'TELEFON'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0wPk2F3UiXPMSEYZa4jOtRgDMKlKM5nzrGSJxxwLGu1KEehOEWWzUMrQY6PngvaBqltQFTRfDl4fafN88zL_bIa2nCMllFO7WHgWrsELj4hQq7zCvO8J_8VVTPX8SwYyRBVmphYa9BJVnaaAMzjbTtuW6rRDyAiid6NUcyGX8sn_LuLadGiSAXalew/s1624/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0wPk2F3UiXPMSEYZa4jOtRgDMKlKM5nzrGSJxxwLGu1KEehOEWWzUMrQY6PngvaBqltQFTRfDl4fafN88zL_bIa2nCMllFO7WHgWrsELj4hQq7zCvO8J_8VVTPX8SwYyRBVmphYa9BJVnaaAMzjbTtuW6rRDyAiid6NUcyGX8sn_LuLadGiSAXalew/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in TELEFON Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With a plot-device highly influenced by THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE before and spoofed later in THE NAKED GUN, a string of random telephone calls to ordinary Americans, with a monotone voice reciting a Robert Frost poem to hypnotize each target... from a gas station owner to a charter pilot to a bathrobe-donning housewife... is causing plenty of explosive mayhem to various military installations...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And for a spy movie, Donald Pleasence fits perfectly as the villain: he's the one making those calls and then, from a station wagon, watches the suicide-bombing destruction first hand... </p><p><span></span></p>

alan badel, charles bronson, cold war, donald pleasence, hit-man, lee remick, patrick magee, seventies, spy, thriller, tyne daley

CHARLES BRONSON RUSSIAN THROUGH DON SIEGEL'S 'TELEFON'

Charles Bronson in TELEFON Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2 With a plot-device highly influenced by THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE before and spoofed lat...

CHARLES BRONSON IN THE SLEEPY CRIME THRILLER 'BORDERLINE'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx30gY_lYEktEuHIAP_SWvkFK0rgMQmBDY_p9acxg4dGaOWnhRUJxIDRiymb4x53vnUW1381vBd_xPFTQNHEZYKierW5ObINr8PBjCpdl_8p0gQ4z7ZusWw6SlpdVgXPP3lH7CjlcY948wleBT1D0M4P8CgEZhkccWkVHXI3eqigKpJlg2fSN7UPHccA/s1553/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-08%20at%2010.42.44%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="1553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx30gY_lYEktEuHIAP_SWvkFK0rgMQmBDY_p9acxg4dGaOWnhRUJxIDRiymb4x53vnUW1381vBd_xPFTQNHEZYKierW5ObINr8PBjCpdl_8p0gQ4z7ZusWw6SlpdVgXPP3lH7CjlcY948wleBT1D0M4P8CgEZhkccWkVHXI3eqigKpJlg2fSN7UPHccA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-08%20at%2010.42.44%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>title: BORDERLINE year: 1980 stars: Charles Bronson rating: *</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before Charles Bronson spent the 1980's working with Cannon Films, usually noted as his worst period, he starred in a few ITC productions that make Cannon seem like MGM, including the neo noir road picture LOVE & BULLETS, the intentional CASABLANCA knockoff CABOBLANCO and, before the limp exploitation THE EVIL THAT MEN DO is his worst latter film <i>and </i>performance in BORDERLINE...</p><p></p><p></p><p>It's actually more of a non-performance of a mild-mannered Border cop investigating the murder of another agent, played by Wilford Brimley in a scene where a young "Introducing" Ed Harris proves himself a cunning villain, only he's hardly in the picture at all, and never really goes head-to-head with Bronson... at least not all that intensely...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

bert remsen, bruno kirby, charles bronson, crime, ed harris, eighties, john ashton, mexico, wilford brimley

CHARLES BRONSON IN THE SLEEPY CRIME THRILLER 'BORDERLINE'

title: BORDERLINE year: 1980 stars: Charles Bronson rating: * Before Charles Bronson spent the 1980's working with Cannon Films, usually...

STEVE MCQUEEN AND JAMES GARNER MAKE 'THE GREAT ESCAPE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oyNg-8zJuTkddWXiGvHty-UhhMSusP9Ql93nfeMymLAmBCLp0pwflQUmBUuzTS7oaW40S4HzxE_4QluqDK-4W4VFo6l88FSSxW-FUgwErG_Oj8fgSfau-DfliGWCtsIuUOiWBRaq3HMybtlSyMwFns6ZsB2m-1GRrFVi3XoVvG2bwf1UWtNBuCG_DA/s1921/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1189" data-original-width="1921" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oyNg-8zJuTkddWXiGvHty-UhhMSusP9Ql93nfeMymLAmBCLp0pwflQUmBUuzTS7oaW40S4HzxE_4QluqDK-4W4VFo6l88FSSxW-FUgwErG_Oj8fgSfau-DfliGWCtsIuUOiWBRaq3HMybtlSyMwFns6ZsB2m-1GRrFVi3XoVvG2bwf1UWtNBuCG_DA/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE GREAT ESCAPE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While the World War II German-set Prison-of-War movie THE GREAT ESCAPE was being filmed, and would eventually make Steve McQueen a superstar, he was doing everything possible to ruin that potential since he wanted as many lines as other cast members, and would often storm off the set and at one point nearly flew back home... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Being especially envious of James Garner as Scrounger, the token sneaky resilient fella who can get anything, and — teamed with Donald Pleasance as a completely vulnerable Forger slowly going blind — he's the most interesting and overall entertaining character, with the right combination of affable humor and focused determination... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

charles bronson, david mccallum, donald pleasence, ensemble, escape, james coburn, james donald, james garner, john leyton, prison, richard attenborough, sixties, steve mcqueen, world war II

STEVE MCQUEEN AND JAMES GARNER MAKE 'THE GREAT ESCAPE'

Title: THE GREAT ESCAPE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2 While the World War II German-set Prison-of-War movie THE GREAT ESCAPE was being filmed, a...

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'LOVE AND BULLETS' FEATURING PAUL KOSLO

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsSKgj_AJnTU574DcE55pTen_bQ3s6E88AhI9hAAsURHmKjCuPri_DhdS5R-UrbPb23nAqvPq0WZGDC-M0Ni33aXNfNIXACcUnFpPwXx1B8kviTyN-w5S8kSV6P4X5kW-XlCMATmjprFgILWJLuyuZN_-bn9Q-6RbrJ6eIobxnqpRzs1lgHN5S1wOkw/s1777/Screen%20Shot%202021-07-13%20at%205.48.18%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1777" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsSKgj_AJnTU574DcE55pTen_bQ3s6E88AhI9hAAsURHmKjCuPri_DhdS5R-UrbPb23nAqvPq0WZGDC-M0Ni33aXNfNIXACcUnFpPwXx1B8kviTyN-w5S8kSV6P4X5kW-XlCMATmjprFgILWJLuyuZN_-bn9Q-6RbrJ6eIobxnqpRzs1lgHN5S1wOkw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202021-07-13%20at%205.48.18%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in LOVE AND BULLETS Year: 1979 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For some, during Charles Bronson's Cannon era, sadly gone felt the MGM days. But it was Lew Grade's ITC that bridged the action star in-between, and LOVE AND BULLETS... once again casting Bronson alongside wife Jill Ireland, keeping her protected from killers... makes the similar, decade-later action/adventure ASSASSINATION seem like THE MECHANIC by comparison... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Only instead of the Secret Service protecting the President's wife it's an Arizona cop protecting a gangster's moll from being killed by a hit man hired by said gangster. Providing Henry Silva another coldblooded turn, partnered with Bronson-flick regular Paul Koslo, both working for (or rather getting paid by) a stuttering mobster overacted by Rod Steiger, whose performance still fares better than Ireland's incessant dumb blonde (in a dumb blonde wig)...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, billy gray, bradford dillman, charles bronson, europe, hit-man, jill ireland, mafia, paul koslo, rod steiger, seventies, strother martin

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'LOVE AND BULLETS' FEATURING PAUL KOSLO

Charles Bronson in LOVE AND BULLETS Year: 1979 Rating: *** For some, during Charles Bronson's Cannon era, sadly gone felt the MGM days. ...