Death Wish Information

Death Wish is a 1974 crime thriller film loosely based on the novel Death Wish by Brian Garfield. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, a man who becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually assaulted by muggers.

The film was a commercial success, and generated a movie franchise with four sequels over the next twenty years. The film was disliked by many critics due to it advocating vigilantism and unlimited punishment to criminals. The novel denounced vigilantism, whereas the film embraced the notion. Yet, it was seen as echoing a growing mood in the United States as crime rose during the 1970s.

This is the first and only film in the Death Wish franchise to be distributed by Paramount Pictures (for the US and UK). The international releases for the film were distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Plot

Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) and his wife Joanna (Hope Lange) vacation in Hawaii. They return to New York City, where Paul works as an architect.

Joanna and their daughter Carol Anne (Kathleen Tolan) shop for groceries at D'Agostino's Market. Three bloodthirsty hooligans (one played by Jeff Goldblum in his first movie appearance) are creating havoc in the local grocery store. They catch Joanna's address after she asks that her groceries be delivered. They follow her to the apartment, burst in and trash the apartment. They search for money but find only $7. The hooligans then rape Carol and savagely beat Joanna, escaping scot-free.

Paul's son-in-law Jack Toby (Steven Keats) calls to tell him only that Joanna and Carol are in the hospital. After waiting impatiently, Paul is told by a doctor that his daughter is OK and that she was sedated and put to bed, but Paul is also informed that his wife has died. Devastated, he is told by police that the likelihood of catching the criminals is small.

The next day, Paul's boss gives him an extended business vacation to Tucson, Arizona to meet a client, Ames Jainchill (Stuart Margolin), who shows him the ropes. Paul witnesses a mock gunfight at Old Tucson, a reconstructed Western frontier town used as a movie set. At a gun club, Ames is impressed when Paul shoots with near bulls-eye accuracy. Paul reveals that he was a "CO" (conscientious objector) during the Korean War who served his country as a combat medic. Paul had been taught to handle firearms at a young age by his father, but after his father was killed in a hunting accident Paul decided to forswear the use of firearms for any purpose. After Paul makes substantial improvements to Ames' plans for a residential development, a thoroughly pleased Ames drops him at the airport, slipping a little going-away present into Paul's bag.

Back in Manhattan, his daughter is catatonic. Paul opens his suitcase and discovers that Ames' "going-away present" is a nickel-plated .32 Colt Police Positive revolver. He pockets the gun and takes a stroll. Paul encounters a mugger, an ex-convict named Thomas Leroy Marston who attempts to rob him at gunpoint with a .38 Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver. Paul shoots him with the revolver, killing him.

Shocked that he just killed a human being, Paul runs home and throws up. But his vigilantism continues the following night, when he guns down three more men (one of whom is Denzel Washington also making his screen debut) who are robbing a defenseless old man in a vacant alley.

A few nights later, two muggers see Paul on a subway. They attempt to rob him at knife-point but Paul shoots them both with the revolver.

The next scene has Paul then sitting in a sleazy Times Square coffee shop surrounded by prostitutes and assorted street people. He pays his bill to the cashier purposely revealing a wallet full of cash. He leaves followed by two thugs who have taken the bait. Yet again a robbery attempt is made. Paul shoots one but the other manages to stab him in his shoulder. As a wounded Paul stumbles off, the one who stabbed him gets away mortally wounded, dying at a hospital.

NYPD Lt. Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) investigates the vigilante killings. His department narrows a list to men who have had a family member recently killed by muggers and who are war veterans. The public, meanwhile, is happy that somebody is doing something about crime.

Ochoa soon suspects Paul. He is about to make an arrest when the District Attorney (Fred J. Scollay) intervenes and tells Ochoa to "let him loose" in another city instead. Ochoa doesn't like the idea, but relents.

Paul shoots two more muggers before being wounded by a third mugger with a M1911A1 pistol at a warehouse. His gun is discovered by a young patrolman (Christopher Guest) who hands it to Ochoa, who tells him to forget that he ever saw it and additionally tells the press that the wounded Paul is just another mugging victim. Hospitalized, Paul is ordered by Ochoa to leave New York, permanently. Paul replies, "By sundown?"

Paul arrives in Chicago Union Station by train. Being greeted by a company representative, he notices a group of hoodlums harassing a young woman. He excuses himself and helps the woman. The hoodlums make obscene gestures, but Paul points his right hand like a gun and smiles, suggesting that his vigilantism will continue.

Cast

• Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey
• Hope Lange as Joanna Kersey
• Vincent Gardenia as NYPD Lt. Frank Ochoa
• William Redfield as Sam Kreutzer
• Steven Keats as Jack Toby
• Stuart Margolin as Ames Jainchill
• Stephen Elliott as Police Commissioner
• Kathleen Tolan as Carol Toby
• Christopher Guest as Jackson Reilly
• Jeff Goldblum as Freak #1
• Olympia Dukakis as Cop at Precinct
• Paul Dooley (uncredited) as Cop at Hospital
• Eric Laneuville (uncredited) as Subway Mugger
• Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (uncredited) as Mugger in Park
• Sonia Manzano (uncredited) as Grocery Clerk

Character actor Robert Miano had a minor role as a mugger in the film. Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who would later co-star on the highly successful TV show Welcome Back, Kotter, had an uncredited role as one of the Central Park muggers near the end of the film. Denzel Washington made his screen debut as an uncredited alley mugger who, ironically, was the first mugger killed in that scene. Actress Helen Martin, who had a minor role, subsequently appeared in the television sitcoms Good Times and 227. Sonia Manzano, 'Maria' from Sesame Street has an uncredited role as a supermarket checkout clerk. Christopher Guest makes one of his earliest film appearances as a young police officer who finds Kersey's gun.

Production

Originally Sidney Lumet was to have directed Jack Lemmon as Paul and Henry Fonda as Lt Ochoa until the original producer was replaced by Italian film mogul Dino De Laurentiis and marketed by Paramount Pictures.

Death Wish was first released to American audiences in July 1974. The film was rejected by other studios because of its controversial subject matter and was dropped by United Artists after budget constraints forced producers Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts to liquidate their rights.

The original film was written by Wendell Mayes, also known for such thrillers as Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Michael Winner, a favorite director of De Laurentiis, oversaw its filming and would later direct the first two sequels. Of the five Death Wish films, the original most adheres to Garfield's novel.

Soundtrack

Multiple Grammy award winning Jazz musician Herbie Hancock produced and composed the original score for the soundtrack to the original Death Wish movie. This would be his third film score, behind the 1966 movie Blow-Up and 1973's The Spook Who Sat By The Door. Michael Winner said, "[Dino] De Laurentiis said 'Get a cheap English band.' Because the English bands were very successful. But I had a girlfriend who was in Sesame Street, a Puerto Rican actress (Sonia Manzano), who played a checkout girl at the supermarket [in Death Wish], and she was a great jazz fan. She said, 'Well, you should have Herbie Hancock. He's got this record out called Head Hunters.' She gave me Head Hunters, which was staggering. And I said, 'Dino, never mind a cheap English band, we'll have Herbie Hancock.' Which we did."

Critical reception

Death Wish received mixed to extremely negative reviews upon its release, due to its support of vigilantism, but it had an impact on U.S. audiences and began widespread debate over how to deal with rampant crime. The film's graphic violence, particularly the brutal rape scene of Kersey's daughter as well as the explicit portrayal of Bronson's premeditated slayings, was considered exploitative, but realistic in the context of an urban U.S. atmosphere of rising crime rates.

Many critics were displeased with the film, considering it an "immoral threat to society" and an encouragement of antisocial behavior. Vincent Canby of the New York Times was one of the most outspoken writers, condemning Death Wish in two extensive articles. Brian Garfield was also unhappy with the final product, calling the film 'incendiary', and even stated that the following sequels are all pointless and rancid, since they all advocate vigilantism, unlike his two novels, which are the exact opposite. The result of this film, led him to write a follow-up titled Death Sentence, which was published a year after the film's release. In later years, the film would be liked for its disturbing, serious view of one man's violent war on crime. Charles Bronson defended the film: he felt it was intended to be a commentary on violence and was meant to attack violence, not romanticize it. And even many critics began to like the original film more than the sequels, which were more exploitative and contrived.

The film holds a score of 67% "Fresh" with an average rating of 5.9/10 on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Paul Kersey " Nominated Hero
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills - Nominated

Impact and influence

Death Wish was a watershed for Charles Bronson, who was better known in Europe and Asia at the time mostly due to his role in The Great Escape. Bronson became an American film icon who experienced great popularity over the next twenty years.

In the series' later years, the Death Wish franchise became a subject of parody for its high level of violence and the advancing age of Bronson (An episode of The Simpsons named "A Star Is Burns" showed a fictional advertisement for Death Wish 9, consisting of a bed-ridden Bronson saying "I wish I was dead"). However, the Death Wish franchise remained lucrative and drew support from fans of exploitation cinema. The series continues to have widespread following on home video and is occasionally broadcast on various television stations within the US and in Europe.

In an episode of American Dad, "The One That Got Away", Roger dresses up similar to the leading protagonist when he plans revenge on an alternate personality of himself. He tells an alternate character that Death Wish was a movie, when his reference via outfit is misconstrued.

VHS and DVD Release

The film was first released on VHS in 1980. It was re-released on DVD in 2001 and again in 2006, but both DVDs have no special features other than the film trailer. Currently, the VHS and DVDs are out of print and there are no plans for a Blu-ray release.

Remake

In late January 2012, The Hollywood Reporter stated that a remake was confirmed and would be written and directed by Joe Carnahan.