Death Wish is a 1974 American vigilante action-thriller film directed by Michael Winner. The film, loosely based on the 1972 novel of the same title by Brian Garfield and the first installment in the Death Wish film series, stars Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, alongside Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, William Redfield, Kathleen Tolan, Christopher Guest and Jeff Goldblum in his film debut. In the film, Paul Kersey, an architect leading a peaceful life, resorts to vigilantism after his wife Joanna is murdered and daughter Carol Kersey Toby is raped during a home invasion.
At the time of release, Death Wish was criticized for its apparent support of vigilantism and advocating unlimited punishment of criminals. The novel allegedly denounced vigilantism, whereas the film embraced the notion. The film was a commercial success and resonated with the public in the United States, which was experiencing increasing crime rates during the 1970s.
Plot Paul Kersey is a middle-aged architect who lives in Manhattan with his wife, Joanna. Their adult daughter, Carol, and her husband, Jack Toby, live nearby. One day, Joanna and Carol are followed home from the grocery store by three muggers who invade the Kersey apartment. Discovering that the women only have $7, the goons severely beat and slash Joanna and sexually assault Carol before fleeing. At the hospital, Joanna dies from her injuries. After her funeral, Paul has an encounter with a mugger and fights back with a homemade weapon, causing the mugger to run away. Paul is left shaken and energized by the encounter.
A few days later, Paul's boss, Henry Ives, sends him to Tucson to work with real estate developer Ames Jainchill, a client with a residential development project. Ames is impressed with Paul's pistol marksmanship at the target range. Paul reveals that he was a conscientious objector during the Korean War, serving as a combat medic. He helps Ames plan his residential housing development. After a couple of weeks, Ames drives Paul back to Tucson Airport and places a gift into Paul's checked luggage.
In Manhattan, Paul learns that Carol is catatonic, and an elective mute, refusing to speak to Jack. With Paul's support, Jack commits Carol to a mental rehabilitation institute in Mill Neck on Long Island. At home, Paul opens Ames' gift to discover that it is a Colt .32 revolver with a box of ammunition. He loads the gun, takes a late-night walk, and is mugged at gunpoint, but he fatally shoots the mugger. Over the next several weeks, Paul walks through the city looking for criminals, killing several muggers by luring them into a confrontation or when he sees them attacking innocent people. Police Inspector Frank Ochoa investigates the vigilante killings. His department narrows it down to a list of men who have had a family member recently killed by muggers or are war veterans.
Paul visits Carol at the institute, where she remains depressed and unable to speak to Jack or show him any affection. Ochoa soon suspects Paul and is about to make an arrest when District Attorney Peters intervenes. Peters and Police Commissioner Dryer do not want the statistics to get out that Paul's vigilantism has led to a drastic decrease in street crime. They fear that if that information becomes public, the city will descend into vigilante chaos. If Paul is arrested, he can be labeled a martyr, and people will copy his example. Ochoa reluctantly relents and opts for "scaring him off" instead. One night, Paul shoots two more muggers before being wounded in the leg by a third. He pursues the mugger and corners him at a warehouse, where he proposes a fast draw contest, only to faint because of blood loss while the mugger escapes.
Patrolman Officer Jackson Reilly discovers Paul's gun and hands it to Ochoa, who orders him to forget that he found it. At a local hospital, Ochoa visits Paul, who is recovering. Ochoa offers to dispose of the revolver in exchange for Paul's permanent exile from New York. Paul takes the deal, and his company agrees to transfer him to Chicago. He arrives in Chicago Union Station by train. Being greeted by company representative Fred Brown, he notices hoodlums harassing a young woman. He excuses himself and helps her. As the hoodlums mock him, Paul smiles while making a finger gun gesture at them, implying his vigilantism will continue.
Cast
John Herzfeld played the greaser who slashes Paul Kersey's newspaper, while Robert Miano had a minor role as a mugger in the film. Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who later co-starred on the television show Welcome Back, Kotter, had an uncredited role as one of the Central Park muggers near the end of the film. It has been rumored that Denzel Washington made his screen debut as an uncredited alley mugger since in a long shot, the actor shown appears to resemble him, but Washington stated that not to be true.
Actress Helen Martin, who had a minor role as a mugging victim who fights off her attackers with a hatpin, subsequently appeared in the television sitcoms Good Times and 227. Christopher Guest made one of his earliest film appearances as Officer Jackson Reilly, a young police officer who finds Kersey's gun. Marcia Jean Kurtz, who played the receptionist at Paul's office, has appeared in multiple roles on the TV series Law & Order. Sonia Manzano, who played Maria Rodriguez on Sesame Street, had an uncredited role as a supermarket checkout clerk.
The film marked Jeff Goldblum's screen debut, playing one of the "freaks" who assaults Kersey's family early in the film. The producers of Death Wish were Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts. Bobby Roberts was also the manager of the rock group Steppenwolf at that time. Apparently, Jeff Goldblum struck up a friendship with Steppenwolf keyboardist, Goldy McJohn, because McJohn once said that Goldblum was his cigarette-mooching pal.
Production
Development
The film was based on Brian Garfield's 1972 novel of the same name. Garfield was inspired to use the theme of vigilantism following incidents in his personal life. In one incident, his wife's purse was stolen; in another, his car was vandalized. His initial thought each time was that he could kill "the son of a bitch" responsible. He later considered that these were primitive thoughts, contemplated in an unguarded moment. He then thought of writing a novel about a man who entered that way of thinking in a moment of rage and then never emerged from it.Talbot (2006), p. 1-31
The original novel received favorable reviews but was not a bestseller. Garfield sold screen rights to both Death Wish and Relentless to the only film producers who approached him, Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts. He was offered 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 film. Wendell Mayes was then hired to write the screenplay for Death Wish. He later said "I was immensely intrigued with the book. I must tell you, from the moment I read it, I knew it was going to be a blockbuster because it was coming at just the right time. The outrage at crime in the streets was a big item. It didn't surprise me when I read in the papers later on—I was in London at the time of the opening—that audiences were stamping their feet and screaming in the theaters."
Mayes 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 film.
Mayes' early drafts for the screenplay had different endings from the final one. In one, he followed an idea from Garfield. Paul confronts the three thugs who attacked his family and ends up dead at their hands. Detective Frank Ochoa discovers the dead man's weapon and considers following in his footsteps. In another, Paul 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 is left unclear.
Mayes said "I had a great deal to do with how the film turned out; I could see it in my mind before I put a word on paper. I didn't stick to the book very much. I had to do an awful lot of inventing, which I must say [the author] Brian Garfield was not very happy with. But sometimes novelists are not happy, and there's not much you can do about that."
Casting
Originally, Sidney Lumet was to have directed Jack Lemmon as Paul and Henry Fonda as Ochoa. Lumet bowed out of the project to direct Serpico (1973), requiring a search for another director. Several were considered, including Peter Medak who wanted Henry Fonda as Paul.p. 23 Ross, Cai Ghost Buster in Cinema Retro Vol 15 Issue #43 Winter 2019 United Artists eventually chose Michael Winner, due to his track record of gritty, violent action films. The examples of his work considered included The Mechanic (1972), Scorpio (1973), and The Stone Killer (1973).
The film was rejected by other studios because of its controversial subject matter and the perceived difficulty of casting someone in the vigilante role. Several actors were considered, including Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Burt Lancaster, George C. Scott, Frank Sinatra, Lee Marvin and even Elvis Presley. Winner attempted to recruit Bronson, but there were two problems for the actor. One was that his agent, Paul Kohner, believed the film carried a dangerous message. The other was that the screenplay followed the original novel in describing Paul as a meek accountant, hardly a suitable role for Bronson. "I was really a miscast person," Bronson said later. "It was more a theme that would have been better for Dustin Hoffman or somebody who could play a weaker kind of man. I told them that at the time."For Bronson, Piecework Is a Virtue: Movies Piecework a Virtue for Charles Bronson Piecework a Virtue for Bronson Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 2 Nov 1975: o1
Winner was anxious about his decision to cast Jill Ireland, Bronson's real life wife for the role of Paul Kersey's wife, Joanna Kersey. After Winner told this to Bronson, he said, "No. I don't want her humiliated and messed around by these actors who play muggers. You know the sort of person we want? Someone who looks like Hope Lange.", to which Winner replied, "Well, Charlie, the person who looks most like Hope Lange is Hope Lange. So I'll get her." Ireland later played Kersey's love interest Geri Nichols in Death Wish II. The film project was dropped by United Artists after budget constraints forced producers Landers and Roberts to liquidate their rights. The original producers were replaced by Italian film mogul Dino De Laurentiis.
De Laurentiis convinced Charles Bluhdorn to bring the project to Paramount Pictures. Paramount purchased the distribution rights of the film in the United States market, while Columbia Pictures licensed the distribution rights for international markets, however Paramount also distributed the film in the United Kingdom through Cinema International Corporation, 20th Century-Fox distributed the film in Spain. De Laurentiis raised the $3 million budget of the film by pre-selling the distribution rights.
With funding secured, screenwriter Gerald Wilson was hired to revise the script. His first task was changing 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 his not seeing combat duty changed from serving as an army accountant to being a conscientious objector. Several vignettes from Mayes' script were deemed unnecessary and so were deleted.
Filming