Death Wish (lm)

Death Wish is a 1974 American vigilante action lm

loosely based on the novel Death Wish by Brian Gareld.
The lm was directed by Michael Winner and stars
Charles Bronson as a man who becomes a vigilante after
his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually assaulted
during a home invasion. It was the rst of a franchise, the
Death Wish (lm series).

ex-convict named Thomas Leroy Marston, who attempts

to rob him at gunpoint with a .38 Smith & Wesson Model
36 revolver. Paul then shoots Marston with his own revolver, killing him.
Shocked that he just killed a human being, Paul runs
home and is violently ill. But motivated by his desire for
revenge, he continues to ambush criminals. The following night, Paul again deliberately walks through the city
at night in order to invite an attack. He guns down three
more men, 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.

At the time of release, the lm was attacked by many lm

critics due to its support of vigilantism and advocating unlimited punishment of criminals.[4] The novel denounced
vigilantism, whereas the lm embraced the notion. Nevertheless, the lm was a commercial success and was embraced by the public in the United States, who were facing increasing crime rates during the 1970s.[5] Since then,
the lm has been considered a Cult Film and has generated a strong following among fans of vigilante lms, who
regard it as one of the rst lms to introduce the pedestrian vigilante.

The next scene has Paul then sitting in a sleazy Times

Square coee 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 o,
the one who stabbed him gets away mortally wounded,
dying at a hospital.

Plot

NYPD Lt. Frank Ochoa 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 intervenes and tells Ochoa to let him
The next day, Pauls boss gives him an extended business loose in another city instead. Ochoa doesn't like the idea,
vacation, and he ies to Tucson, Arizona to meet a client, but relents.
Ames Jainchill. Paul witnesses a mock gunght at Old
Paul shoots two more muggers before being wounded by a
Tucson, a reconstructed Western frontier town used as a
third mugger with a M1911A1 pistol at a warehouse. His
movie set. At a gun club, Ames is impressed when Paul
gun is discovered by a young patrolman, Jackson Reilly,
shoots with near bulls-eye accuracy. Paul reveals that he
who hands it to Ochoa, who tells him to forget that he ever
was a conscientious objector during the Korean War who
saw it and additionally tells the press that the wounded
served as a combat medic. Paul had been taught to handle
Paul is just another mugging victim. Hospitalized, Paul is
rearms at a young age by his father, but after his father
ordered by Ochoa to leave New York, permanently. Paul
was killed in a hunting accident Paul decided to forswear
replies, By sundown?".
the use of rearms for any purpose. After Paul makes
substantial improvements to Ames plans for a residen- Paul arrives in Chicago Union Station by train. Being
tial development, a thoroughly pleased Ames drives Paul greeted by a company representative, he notices a group
back to the Tucson airport, and presents Paul with a gift, of hoodlums harassing a young woman. He excuses himself and helps the woman. The hoodlums make obscene
which he places into Pauls checked luggage.
gestures, but Paul points his right hand like a gun and
Back in Manhattan, Pauls daughter is catatonic from the
smiles, suggesting that his vigilantism will continue.
assault. He opens his suitcase and discovers that Ames
gift is a nickel-plated .32 Colt Police Positive revolver.
He loads the revolver, places it into his overcoat, and
takes a late night stroll. Paul encounters a mugger, an
Paul Kersey is an architect living in Manhattan with his
wife Joanna and daughter Carol Toby. One day, Joanna
and Carol are followed home from the store by a group of
thugs who break into the apartment, beat Joanna and sexually assault Carol. Paul rushes to the hospital to discover
that his wife has died of her injuries.

Cast
Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey
Hope Lange as Joanna Kersey
Vincent Gardenia as NYPD Lt. Frank Ochoa
William Redeld as Samuel Sam Kreutzer
Steven Keats as Jack Toby
Stuart Margolin as Ames Jainchill
Stephen Elliott as Police Commissioner
Kathleen Tolan as Carol Toby
Jack Wallace as Hank
Christopher Guest as Jackson Reilly
Je Goldblum as Street punk #1
Olympia Dukakis as Cop at precinct

Uncredited
Paul Dooley as Cop at hospital
Eric Laneuville as Subway mugger
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Park mugger
Sonia Manzano as Grocery clerk
Tom Hayden as E.R. doctor
Denzel Washington as Alley mugger #1
Character actor Robert Miano had a minor role as a mugger in the lm. 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 lm. Denzel Washington made his screen debut as an uncredited alley mugger. 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 lm appearances as a young police ocer who nds Kerseys gun.

PRODUCTION

considered that these were primitive thoughts, contemplated in an unguarded moment. He then considered the
idea of writing a novel about a man who entered this way
of thinking in a moment of rage and then never emerged
from it.[6] The original novel received favorable reviews
but was not a best seller. Gareld sold screen rights to
both Death Wish and Relentless to the only lm producers who approached him on the subject, Hal Landers and
Bobby Roberts. He was oered the chance to write a
screenplay adapting one of the two novels, and chose Relentless. He simply considered it the easier of the two to
turn into a lm.[6]
Wendell Mayes was then hired to write the screenplay.
He preserved the basic structure of the novel and much
of the philosophical dialogue. It was his idea to turn police detective Frank Ochoa into a major character of the
lm.[6] His early drafts for the screenplay had dierent
endings than the nal one. In one, he followed an idea
from Gareld. The vigilante confronts the three thugs
who attacked his family and ends up dead at their hands.
Ochoa discovers the dead mans weapon and considers
following in his footsteps.[6] In another, the vigilante is
wounded and rushed to a hospital. His fate is left ambiguous. Meanwhile, Ochoa has found the weapon and
struggles with the decision to use it. His decision left
unclear.[6]
Originally, Sidney Lumet was to have directed Jack Lemmon as Paul and Henry Fonda as Ochoa.[7] Lumet bowed
out of the lm project to direct Serpico (1973), requiring
a search for another director.[6] Several were considered.
United Artists eventually chose Michael Winner, due to
his recent track record of gritty, violent action lms. The
examples of his work considered included The Mechanic
(1972), Scorpio (1973), and The Stone Killer (1973).[6]
The lm was rejected by other studios because of its controversial subject matter, and the perceived diculty of
casting someone in the vigilante role. Winner attempted
to recruit Bronson, but there were two problems for the
actor. First, his agent Paul Kohner considered that the
lm carried a dangerous message. Second, at this point
the screenplay followed the original novel in describing
the vigilante as a meek accountanthardly a suitable role
for Bronson.[6]

The lm project was dropped by United Artists after budget constraints forced producers Hal Landers and Bobby
Roberts to liquidate their rights. The original producers were replaced by Italian lm mogul Dino De Laurentiis.[8] De Laurentiis convinced Charles Bluhdorn to bring
the project to Paramount Pictures. Paramount purchased
3 Production
the distribution rights of the lm in the United States
market, while Columbia Pictures licensed the distribuThe lm was based on Brian Gareld's 1972 novel of the tion rights for international markets. De Laurentiis raised
same name, who was inspired to use the theme of vig- the 3-million-dollar budget of the lm by pre-selling the
ilantism following incidents in his personal life. In one distribution rights.[9]
incident, the purse of his wife was stolen; in another, his
With funding secured, screenwriter Gerald Wilson was
car was vandalized. His initial thought each time was that
hired to revise the script. His rst task was changing
he could kill the son of a bitch responsible. He later

3
the identity of the vigilante to make the role more suitable for Bronson. Paul Benjamin was renamed to Paul
Kersey. His job was changed from accountant to architect. His background changed from a World War II veteran to a Korean War veteran. The reason for him not
seeing combat duty changed from serving as an army accountant to being a conscientious objector.[6] Several vignettes from Mayes script were deemed unnecessary and
were therefore deleted.[6]
Winner himself asked for several revisions in the script.
Both the novel and the original script had no scenes showing the vigilante interacting with his wife. Winner decided to include a prologue depicting a happy relationship, so the prologue of the lm depicts the couple vacationing in Hawaii.[6] The early draft of the script had
the vigilante being inspired by seeing a ght scene in the
Western lm High Noon. Winner decided on a more elaborate scene, involving a ght scene in a recreation of the
Wild West, taking place in Tucson, Arizona. The nal
script had the vigilante making the occasional reference
to Westerns. While confronting an armed mugger, he
asks him to draw. When Ochoa asks him to leave town,
he asks if he has until sundown to do so.[6] The killing
in the subway station was supposed to remain o-screen
in Mayes script, but Winner himself decided to turn this
into an actual, brutal scene.[6]
A minor argument occurred when it came to a shooting
location for the lm. Bronson asked for a Californiabased location so he could visit his family in Bel Air,
Los Angeles. Winner insisted on New York City and De
Laurentiis agreed. Ultimately, Bronson backed down.[6]
Death Wish was shot on location in New York City, during the winter of 1973-1974.[6] Death Wish was rst released to American audiences in July 1974. The world
premiere took place on July 24 in the Loews Theater of
New York City.[6]

Soundtrack

Main article: Death Wish (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 lm score, behind the 1966 movie
Blow-Up and 1973s 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. Hes got this record out called
Head Hunters.' She gave me Head Hunters, which was
staggering. And I said, 'Dino, never mind a cheap En-

glish band, we'll have Herbie Hancock.' Which we did.

Hancocks theme for the lm was quoted in "Judge, Jury
and Executioner, a 2013 single by Atoms for Peace
(band). The title of the song is apparently a reference to
a phrase on the theatrical release poster for Death Wish,
shown above, and the bassline of Judge, Jury and Executioner strongly resembles that of the movies main
theme.

5 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 lms
graphic violence, particularly the brutal rape scene of
Kerseys daughter as well as the explicit portrayal of Bronsons premeditated slayings, was considered exploitative,
but realistic in the context of an urban U.S. atmosphere
of rising crime rates.[10][11]
Many critics were displeased with the lm, 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.[12][13][14]
Gareld was also unhappy with the nal product, calling
the lm '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 lm, led him to write a
follow-up titled Death Sentence, which was published a
year after the lms release. In later years, the lm would
be liked for its disturbing, serious view of one mans violent war on crime. Bronson defended the lm: 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 lm more than the
sequels, which were more exploitative and contrived.
The lm holds a 67% rating based on 24 reviews with an
average rating of 5.8/10 on the review aggregate website
Rotten Tomatoes.[15]
AFIs 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains:
Paul Kersey Nominated Hero
AFIs 100 Years... 100 Thrills - Nominated

6 Impact and inuence

Death Wish was a watershed for Bronson, who was 53
years old at the time and who was better known in Europe and Asia at the time mostly due to his role in The
Great Escape. Bronson became an American lm icon

10

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
ctional 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 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 outt is misconstrued.
Bronson is mentioned in the 1997 Notorious B.I.G
classic Kick in the Door. In the song, Biggie proclaims: Sold more powder than Johnson and Johnson/Tote steel like Bronson, vigilante/You wanna get
on son, you need to ask me.
In the 1990 Spider-Man comic arc "The Death of
Jean DeWol", Bronson makes a small appearance
in one panel, holding a newspaper with the headline
vigilante.
A clip from the lm of Goldblums character yelling
Goddamn rich cunt!" is often played on The Opie
and Anthony Show.

REFERENCES

9 Sources
Talbot, Paul (2006), Death Wish: Vigilante, City
Style - Judge, Jury, and Executioner, Bronsons
Loose!: The Making of the Death Wish Films,
iUniverse, ISBN 978-0595379828

10 References
[1] "DEATH WISH (X)". British Board of Film Classication.
October 23, 1974. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
[2] Death Wish, Box Oce Information. Box Oce Mojo.
Retrieved January 29, 2012.
[3] Death Wish, Box Oce Information. The Numbers.
Retrieved January 29, 2012.
[4] "Death Wish Movie Reviews. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
[5] Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New
York, New York: Basic Books. p. 13. ISBN 0-46504195-7.
[6] Talbot (2006), p. 1-31
[7] Nikki Tranter.
Gareld.

Historian:

Interview with Brian

[8] Nikki Tranter.

Gareld.

Historian:

Interview with Brian

[9] Nikki Tranter.

Gareld.

Historian:

Interview with Brian

[10] Death Wish. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2010-1203.

[11] Death Wish. Variety. 1973-12-31. Retrieved 2010-0105.

In 2011 Takis Magazine proled a white national- [12] Canby, Vincent (1974-08-04). Screen: 'Death Wish'
Exploits Fear Irresponsibly; 'Death Wish' Exploits Our
ist author and blogger who adopted the pseudonym
Fear. The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
Paul Kersey after the Bronson character.[16]

Home media

[13] Canby, Vincent (1974-07-25). Screen: 'Death Wish'

Hunts Muggers:The Cast Story of Gunman Takes Dim
View of City. The New York Times. Retrieved 201111-06.

The lm was rst released on VHS and LaserDisc in [14] Severo, Richard (2003-09-01). Charles Bronson, 81,
Movie Tough Guy, Dies. The New York Times. Re1980. It was later released on DVD in 2001 and 2006.
trieved 2010-01-05.
Currently, the VHS, laserdisc, and DVDs are out of print.
A 40th Anniversary Edition was released on Blu-ray in [15] Death Wish at Rotten Tomatoes
2014.[17]
[16] Shaidle, Kathy (August 22, 2011). The Charles Bronson
of Race. Takis Magazine.

Remake

In late January 2012, The Hollywood Reporter stated that

a remake was conrmed and would be written and directed by Joe Carnahan.[18]

[17] http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=12439
[18] Gilchrist, Todd. "'The Grey' Director Joe Carnahan to
Remake 'Death Wish'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 5, 2012. Published online January 31,
2012.

11

External links

Death Wish at the Internet Movie Database

Death Wish at Box Oce Mojo
Death Wish at Rotten Tomatoes

12

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