crego
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Post by crego on Jun 6, 2009 2:36:32 GMT -5
No, sorry, never heard of it. Tessier appeared in Bronson's next film "BREAKHEART PASS", so I guess no one got too badly hurt !
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 6, 2009 2:29:32 GMT -5
A good little western, directed by " HOUSE OF WAX" director De Toth, and starring Randolph Scott. Bronson has a fairly large role, as Pinto a vicious bad guy, obsessed by revenge. He's the last to die, at the very last minute.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 5, 2009 11:52:15 GMT -5
In 1954, Bronson still went by his real name of Charles Buchinsky. And in " VERA CRUZ", the exciting Lancaster-Cooper vehicle, he had a small role : he played Pittsburgh, one of Joe Erin's men, a filthy "gringo", with a bad habit of raping girls. His only redeeming quality, was his talent for music. Pittsburgh played the harmonica ! 14 years before " ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST", Bronson played the harmonica in " VERA CRUZ", and Jack Elam and Ernest Borgnine danced on his music. Long before Cinecittà.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 5, 2009 9:41:57 GMT -5
Yes, very good and disturbing thriller. Winner said that in the original script, Bishop and Steve had a homosexual relationship, but he changed that before sending it to Bronson. Nevertheless... It remains traces of this strange relationship in the film. If you look closely, you'll see a physical resemblance between the two men, like a perverted father-son link. Arthur Bishop is one of the best hitmen in movie history, with " LE SAMOURAÏ" and " THE KILLER".
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 5, 2009 8:21:36 GMT -5
Chaney is probably Bronson's best performance as an actor and a star : the perfect casting. Who else could've play the role ? He looks tough, mean, old, sad, smart. The fight scenes are amazing, and his chemistry with James Coburn is simply fantastic. I wonder if Walter Hill managed to achieve a better film than " HARD TIMES"... Bronson in a fight scene cut from the film.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 5, 2009 8:14:55 GMT -5
A 51 years old Bronson, plays an italian mobster in his twenties.A french-italian production, made just in the wake of " THE GODFATHER", " THE VALACHI PAPERS" can't compete with Coppola's masterpiece. It's interesting if you want to learn Cosa Nostra's way of life (and death), but it's badly done, and the casting is weak. Even with tons of wigs and make-up, Bronson will never look italian, and his Valachi is just not believable. It was obviously a part for a Danny Aiello or a Joe Viterelli. Bronson is in fact pretty good in the fim, just miscast. Jill Ireland is even worse, as a sicilian young virgin. Lino Ventura and the always impressive Joseph Wiseman are perfect mafiosi.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 5, 2009 2:00:13 GMT -5
Shot in Spain, this biopic is not as good as it looks. Maurice Jarre wrote a great score, reminiscent of his own " THE PROFESSIONALS", but Sam Peckinpah's script has been butchered, and Yul Brynner, in a terrible wig, is badly miscast as the revolutionary leader. It's a shame, because in his first role with a mustache, Bronson is great as Villa's henchman, a ruthless killer. The director made Fierro a sadistic clown, and Bronson is surprinsgly good at comedy. Jill Ireland can be spotted in a restaurant scene, at the end with Mitchum, her first of many films with her husband. But something doesn't work in " VILLA RIDES !", and the film is a disapointment, sometimes as cheap as a bad spaghetti western. Bronson being "good with a gun", quoting Mitchum.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 5, 2009 1:33:15 GMT -5
This is one of the three TV series Bronson made as a regular. The star was 12 years old Kurt Russell, as a motherless kid going West with a wagon train. Bronson was Linc Murdock, the wagonmaster. A very good role, pretty close to characters like O'Reilly or even Harmonica : a silent and reliable saddle tramp, deadly with a gun. It was shot in black & white, it had good guest stars : Martin Landau, David McCallum, Burgess Meredith, and it would be nice to see it in a DVD box set, one day. Bronson with Kurt Russell, in an episode of the 1964 series.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 5, 2009 1:25:09 GMT -5
Hate I don't know, contempt for sure. I think Mitchum meant that holding a gun was the only thing Bronson could do as an actor... The strange thing is that Bronson apparently admired Mitchum, and said in an interview "I like his brains". Not meant for each other, I guess. Bob & Charlie throwing bombs on Colorados from a plane.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 4, 2009 15:42:41 GMT -5
It's a B grade version of " DIRTY HARRY", with lots of gore and nudity, lots of Andrew Stevens and Gene Davis, and not enough of Bronson. I must say I'm not crazy about what Bronson did to his face, in this film... It makes him look weirder, not younger. He still had his old great face in " DEATH WISH II" he made a few months before.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 4, 2009 11:55:44 GMT -5
The plot is interesting, but the film is boring, and I've seen Bronson better. Not his fault, just bad casting. Difficult to believe he's a not too bright amnesiac serial rapist... Maybe he would've been better as the doctor, and Perkins as the amnesiac ? It's not Norman Bates vs. Paul Kersey, it's just "SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR".
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crego
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Telefon
Jun 4, 2009 11:44:39 GMT -5
Post by crego on Jun 4, 2009 11:44:39 GMT -5
It was not a real conflict, but Bronson refused to shave for the U.S. scenes ("No mustache, no Bronson"), he thought Siegel was making fun of him, when he only gave him directions. The fact remains they never worked together again. And it's really too bad.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 4, 2009 11:41:11 GMT -5
It's an old personal collection... I'm more than happy to share it with real fans of "Old stone face".
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 2, 2009 9:01:11 GMT -5
" RED SUN" is a strange product : a french-spanish-english coproduction, made for the japanese market, where Delon, Mifune and Bronson were in 1970 the top stars. No masterpiece, for sure, almost a "so bad it's good" film, but " RED SUN" ages surprisingly well, and the Mifune/ Bronson team works beautifully. The great japanese actor takes the Bronsonish stoic silent type role, and Bronson gives a light and verbal performance. Too bad the film wasn't handled by a real director, even a Burt Kennedy would have been a better choice. But despite its numerous flaws (ugly locations, awful secondary players) " RED SUN" has its rewards.
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crego
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Post by crego on Jun 2, 2009 6:21:37 GMT -5
Very cool ! If you take a close look, you'll see that in " THE MECHANIC", there's an hommage to this scene : Bronson and the same actor Frank DeKova are together in a scene with a panther ! It can't be just a coincidence... Kelly's not afraid of the tiger. As long as it's behind bars.
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