Death Wish (1974)

Director:

Michael Winner

Writers:

Brian Garfield (novel)
Wendell Mayes (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 July 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Tagline:

Vigilante, city style -- Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Plot:

A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks in which he randomly goes out and kills would-be muggers on the mean streets after dark.

Plot Keywords:

New York | Gun | City | Architect | Police

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Charles Bronson	...	Paul Kersey
Hope Lange	...	Joanna Kersey
Vincent Gardenia	...	Detective Frank Ochoa
Steven Keats	...	Jack Toby
William Redfield	...	Sam Kreutzer
Stuart Margolin	...	Ames Jainchill
Stephen Elliott	...	Police Commissioner
Kathleen Tolan	...	Carol Toby
Jack Wallace	...	Hank
Fred J. Scollay	...	District Attorney
Chris Gampel	...	Ives
Robert Kya-Hill	...	Joe Charles
Edward Grover	...	Lt. Briggs (as Ed Grover)
Jeff Goldblum	...	Freak #1
Christopher Logan	...	Freak #2

Also Known As:

The Sidewalk Vigilante (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2003) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (1974) (cut) | Iceland:16 | UK:18 (re-rating) (2006) (uncut) | West Germany:18 (f) | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Brazil:14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | France:-16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

2 Park Avenue, Murray Hill, East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Dino De Laurentiis Company

Trivia:

The name "Paul Kersey" for the Charles Bronson character was the actual name of one of the extras hired for the movie. He allowed the use of his name in exchange for his appearing in all possible scenes requiring an extra.

Goofs:

Continuity: Kersey's first shooting victim is hit in the abdomen, but a police investigator at the crime scene the next morning refers to a bullet hole in his chest.

Quotes:

Paul Kersey: Nothing to do but cut and run, huh? What else? What about the old American social custom of self-defense? If the police don't defense us, maybe we ought to do it ourselves.
Jack Toby: We're not pioneers anymore, Dad.
Paul Kersey: What are we, Jack?
Jack Toby: What do you mean?
Paul Kersey: I mean, if we're not pioneers, what have we become? What do you call people who, when they're faced with a condition or fear, do nothing about it, they just run and hide?
Jack Toby: Civilized?
Paul Kersey: No.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Two Senoritas (1975)

unquestionably Charles Bronson's finest screen hour.

An animated performance by the normally stoic Charles Bronson lifts what would have been a standard revenge yard to new heights. Bronson plays Paul Kersey, a typical liberal New Yorker who struggles with his bleeding heart ideals after his family become the victims of a violent crime.

Frustrated by the police's inability to solve the crime, Kersey considers taking matters into his own hands. After much soul searching he begins taking to the streets and hunting criminals.

Soon punks start turning up dead. The press glorifies the killings. The public considers the vigilante a hero. The police search in vain for the killer. And Kersey slowly begins to enjoy his new mantle of dispenser of justice.

It all ends somewhat predictably albeit satisfactorily.

Kersey's transformation from arch-liberal to gun-toting Vigilante is classic. This is unquestionably Bronson's finest on screen hour.