Charles Bronson

[Sydward Lartle]

Not the criminal recently portrayed by Tom Hardy, but the actor from Death Wish and other things. I'm a big fan of his. I know he made some crap over the years, and he wasn't the greatest actor in the world, but I just find him compulsively watchable. I think I'm right in saying he was a huge star in Europe and Japan while he was still just a jobbing character actor in the States, hence Michael Winner persuading studios to cast him in the Stone Killer, Chato's Land and the Mechanic because he knew they'd quickly make their (minimal) budgets back from overseas territories even if they sank without trace in the US. After Death Wish, studios tried to slot him into a couple of glossy high-concept thrillers (Telefon and St Ives) but that didn't really work, so it was Cannon to the rescue in the eighties with the 'exploitation Bronson' era - Ten to Midnight, the Evil That Men Do, Murphy's Law and so on. As always, mileage may vary, but he was always a compelling screen presence.

And he co-starred with Elvis the Pelvis!

[McChesney Duntz]

Still his greatest work, inarguably:

https://youtu.be/XEqA84R0lYU

[zomgmouse]

Once Upon a Time in the West! What a role in what a film. BLOW THAT HARMONICA.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

He peaked with Pat and Mike.

[Sydward Lartle]

Still his greatest work, inarguably:

https://youtu.be/XEqA84R0lYU

Ha, fucking hell! I've honestly never seen that before. Just sat here and laughed my head off at that. Brilliant.

The downside is, the moment he stepped outside his apartment wearing that much MANDOM^TM he got stang to fuck by a swarm of wasps. Didn't hurt, though. Bronson's body was carved from the side of a goddamn mountain.

[wosl]

He wasn't bad in The Magnificent Seven, was he.  Clunky but affecting in The Great Escape, too.  As I remember, Liv Ullmann wasn't especially complimentary about him in one of her volumes of memoirs.  An odd pairing, but she and Bronson co-starred in Cold Sweat, an early 70s kidnap thriller.  Without digging out the book to check, she remembers that Bronson spent most of his time between takes working on his biceps, and that he exchanged nary a word to her that wasn't scripted, during the filming.  Along with Kirk Douglas and Jack Palance, another granite-faced, tough-guy actor with Slavic forebears.

[biggytitbo]

Death Wish 3 is a truly, mind boggling great film. In my opinion Branson didn't even get going as an action star until he was a pensioner.

[Sydward Lartle]

As I remember, Liv Ullmann wasn't especially complimentary about him in one of her volumes of memoirs.  An odd pairing, but she and Bronson co-starred in Cold Sweat, an early 70s kidnap thriller.  Without digging out the book to check, she remembers that Bronson spent most of his time between takes working on his biceps, and that he exchanged nary a word to her that wasn't scripted, during the filming.

From what I can gather, his reticence was borne not of arrogance, but of shyness. Andrew Stevens, who played alongside him in Death Hunt and Ten to Midnight, said he was a very private man who kept to himself, but if other people were similarly reticent, their silence would draw him in and he'd strike up a conversation. Something else to take into account, which might seem surprising, is that he was apparently phobic about germs and bacteria - he didn't shake hands with 'the filthy public' unless there was absolutely no avoiding it, and when he did, he'd immediately set off for the nearest bathroom to wash his hands.

Another fun fact - Bronson's neighbour in the Hollywood hills was Dick Van Dyke, and they used to exchange cakes every Christmas, Bronson's favourite being the lemon drizzle.

[wosl]

Something else to take into account, which might seem surprising, is that he was apparently phobic about germs and bacteria

Which might explain why he used to go so mental with the Mandom - taking advantage of its antibacterial high alcohol content.

[zomgmouse]

It's really interesting seeing him pop up in early stuff before he got famous. He was in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents alongside Claude Rains, and I also saw him in Crime Wave (1954).

[Sydward Lartle]

And Master of the World (1961).

[Shit Good Nose]

He was capable of being a genuinely half decent actor when pushed by directors (most of the best examples have already been mentioned, but Walter Hill's Hard Times and Irvin Kershner's Raid On Enttebbe are two others that haven't had a namecheck yet), but the problem is he didn't like being pushed - he just wanted to show up, say his lines and do any action sequences in the least number of takes possible.  That's why he did so many films for Cannon and with J. Lee "one take, even if it's shit" Thompson.  Bronson even got tired of Michael Winner, who could never exactly be accused of taking his time on scenes.  There was a bit of an element of wasted talent there, I reckon, but there's still enough decent films in his career to overlook the large amount of toilet.

[Black_Bart]

Dean Martin Roasts.

[TheWoodenSpoon]

Sadly underappreciated (although he didn't really help himself much) actor who ended up finishing his career in that Family of Cops thing where it's screamingly obvious that he just doesn't want to be there.

[Funcrusher]

I saw the great Elmore Leonard interviewed a few years back , and he said that the problem he had with Charles Bronson, who starred in Mr Majestyk, which Leonard had written with Clint Eastwood in mind, was that he always put the stress on the wrong word in every line he delivered.

[Shit Good Nose]

Just to complete the trilogy started off in the tags - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bt4Ly9_9Qg

[Sydward Lartle]

Michael Winner and Cupid Stunt

"He's so beefy and meaty and chunky!"
"You make him sound like a stew!"