Tagged: The Mechanic (1972)
The Mechanic: Charles Bronson’s Deck Jacket
Charles Bronson in The Mechanic (1972)
Vitals
Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop, disciplined but depressed contract killer
Los Angeles, Fall 1972
Film: The Mechanic
Release Date: November 17, 1972
Director: Michael Winner
Costume Designer: Lambert Marks
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Action star and Army veteran Charles Bronson was born 103 years ago today on November 3, 1921. Born and raised in the Allegheny Mountains of western Pennsylvania where he mined coal before joining the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, Bronson brought his tough guy bona fides to supporting roles in 1960s war films and westerns like The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
Bronson emerged as the world’s top box-office star by the early 1970s during collaborations with director Michael Winner that included Chato’s Land (1972), The Mechanic (1972), The Stone Killer (1973), and Death Wish (1974). Their sophomore collaboration, The Mechanic, may be my favorite of this group. Conceptualized and written by Lewis John Carlino, the story centers around the skilled but anxiety-ridden assassin Arthur Bishop, whose personal and professional comfort is disrupted after hiring a hotheaded protégé.
True to Carlino’s nuanced original vision, the first sixteen minutes of The Mechanic are devoid of dialogue as we follow the solitary Arthur through the motions of one of his artistic assassinations. Continue reading
The Mechanic: Charles Bronson’s Black Leather Racer Jacket
Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop in The Mechanic (1972). Photo by MGM.
Vitals
Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop, disciplined but depressed contract killer
Los Angeles to Naples, Italy, Fall 1972
Film: The Mechanic
Release Date: November 17, 1972
Director: Michael Winner
Costume Designer: Lambert Marks
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After serving in supporting roles for many great Westerns and war movies of the ’60s—including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen, and Once Upon a Time in the West—Hollywood was ready for Charles Bronson to take on leading roles that would establish him as one of the greatest silver screen “tough guys” of all time.
The Mechanic starred Bronson as Arthur Bishop, a skilled assassin whose quiet, luxurious lifestyle is disrupted when he takes on a protégé, Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent), the hotheaded, sociopathic son of his former boss “Big Harry” (Keenan Wynn) who he was assigned to kill. Arthur begins mentoring Steve after Big Harry’s death, taking the narcissistic young man flying, giving him shooting lessons, and eventually bringing him along for several hits.